Moving back to UK after 13 years

[Roy67 1]

Hi, my wife and I are returning to the UK after 13 years in Australia. We have renewed our GB passports and have an exemption to leave. Our TOR has been submitted. Sadly I closed my UK bank account down two years ago and I could kick myself for doing that. 
I hate the idea of transferring my money to a third party money transfer agent and then waiting until we get to the UK before we can open a bank account etc. This could take a while as we don’t have anything with a UK address on. We will be living with family for a short while when we get back. Using the bank to bank transfer is an expensive option. I have read various reviews of a few transfer agents and they range from moderate to terrible.
Has anyone got any advice as to how they transferred their money back to the UK please. 

[Marisawright 10,066]

Moneycorp and Transferwise are the most often recommended. However, you don’t have to transfer your money before you leave Australia. You’re going to have to use your Australian debit and credit cards for your day to day living until you get your UK bank account sorted, so just keep your Australian accounts open

[Roy67 1]

Hi, thanks for the response. I’ve considered using the two you mention. Problem is, once I’ve got to the UK won’t there be a limit imposed by my bank in Australia as to how much I can transfer over the phone or through an app once I’m in the UK. 

[Marisawright 10,066]

18 minutes ago, Roy67 said:

Hi, thanks for the response. I’ve considered using the two you mention. Problem is, once I’ve got to the UK won’t there be a limit imposed by my bank in Australia as to how much I can transfer over the phone or through an app once I’m in the UK. 

Your daily limits wouldn't change from what they are currently, because you'd be transferring from your Australian bank account to Moneycorp/Transferwise in Australia.  So check with your own bank. If you'd currently need to go into the bank to arrange a large transfer then obviously you'll have to do it before you go. 

A tip to get your UK bank account approved faster:   A month before you go, change the address on your Australian bank account to your family's address in the UK (don't use "c/o" or their name, just use their address as if it's your own).   If you don't currently get paper statements, see if you can change to paper.  If not, then request a printed bank statement.    Either way, the paper statement should be waiting for you when you arrive in the UK, and you can go straight in and make an appointment with the bank of your choice, using that statement as proof of your address.

You will just need to keep a straight face and say, "yes" when they ask you whether the address is your permanent address.

Edited August 30, 2020 by Marisawright

[Roy67 1]

Wow, thanks very much, that is fantastic advice. Much appreciated.

[Marisawright 10,066]

Have you checked your UK credit score?  That was our biggest problem when we returned, because we'd been away too long.  The UK isn't like Australia - your credit score rules your world.  If you still had a bank account recently, you might still have one.

[AliQ 335]

1 hour ago, Roy67 said:

Hi, my wife and I are returning to the UK after 13 years in Australia. We have renewed our GB passports and have an exemption to leave. Our TOR has been submitted. Sadly I closed my UK bank account down two years ago and I could kick myself for doing that. 
I hate the idea of transferring my money to a third party money transfer agent and then waiting until we get to the UK before we can open a bank account etc. This could take a while as we don’t have anything with a UK address on. We will be living with family for a short while when we get back. Using the bank to bank transfer is an expensive option. I have read various reviews of a few transfer agents and they range from moderate to terrible.
Has anyone got any advice as to how they transferred their money back to the UK please. 

Hi Roy,  when we returned two years ago, we found it relatively easy to set up life again. We used OFX for large transfers, opened a UK bank account with our tenancy agreement, but as you are living with family you will have an address to use which is great.

Keep your Australian mobile phone sim, you need to be able to receive SMS codes for some money transfers. 

Good luck with your move

 

 

[Roy67 1]

30 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

Have you checked your UK credit score?  That was our biggest problem when we returned, because we'd been away too long.  The UK isn't like Australia - your credit score rules your world.  If you still had a bank account recently, you might still have one.

 

[Roy67 1]

No that’s not something I thought of. I’ll do this next week, thanks. 

[Roy67 1]

16 minutes ago, AliQ said:

Hi Roy,  when we returned two years ago, we found it relatively easy to set up life again. We used OFX for large transfers, opened a UK bank account with our tenancy agreement, but as you are living with family you will have an address to use which is great.

Keep your Australian mobile phone sim, you need to be able to receive SMS codes for some money transfers. 

Good luck with your move

 

 

 

[Roy67 1]

Thanks for the advice, that’s great. 

[Tulip1 4,597]

I think you’ll find you will have to do an online application for a U.K. bank account at the moment.  With Covid, banks cannot offer face to face appointments with customers at present.  As you won’t show on the voters roll, the online application will ask you to visit a branch with proof of your address and your application will then move on to the next stage.  

[Marisawright 10,066]

3 hours ago, AliQ said:

Hi Roy,  when we returned two years ago, we found it relatively easy to set up life again. We used OFX for large transfers, opened a UK bank account with our tenancy agreement, but as you are living with family you will have an address to use which is great.

 

 

Actually living with family makes it harder, because you must provide a document to prove it’s your permanent residence. If you’re living with family, all the bills etc will be in their name and therefore don’t count. 

That is why you need to use the trick with the Aussie bank statement 

[Roy67 1]

Thanks everyone for your advice, it’s given us a few things to check and think of. Much appreciated.

Roy

[AliQ 335]

1 hour ago, Roy67 said:

Thanks everyone for your advice, it’s given us a few things to check and think of. Much appreciated.

Roy

Get your UK driving licence re issued with a photo and your address as soon as you land. That is useful ID. We applied and received our news ones in just over a week, mind you, that was before covid. However,  we found the DVLA  very organised and efficient before and during covid.

[Roy67 1]

10 minutes ago, AliQ said:

Get your UK driving licence re issued with a photo and your address as soon as you land. That is useful ID. We applied and received our news ones in just over a week, mind you, that was before covid. However,  we found the DVLA  very organised and efficient before and during covid.

 

[Roy67 1]

Thanks, good advice about the licences. 

[Marisawright 10,066]

19 minutes ago, AliQ said:

Get your UK driving licence re issued with a photo and your address as soon as you land. That is useful ID. We applied and received our news ones in just over a week, mind you, that was before covid. However,  we found the DVLA  very organised and efficient before and during covid.

As he’s got an address he could use, Anyang to stop him sending in the application before leaving Australia?

[AliQ 335]

36 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

As he’s got an address he could use, Anyang to stop him sending in the application before leaving Australia?

It was a paper form,  picked up from a post office in the UK, and you had to attach a current photo. This was in 2018 though so it may have changed since then.  The DVLA website will direct Roy to the procedure he needs to follow.

 

 

[LKC 2,984]

1 hour ago, AliQ said:

Get your UK driving licence re issued with a photo and your address as soon as you land. That is useful ID. We applied and received our news ones in just over a week, mind you, that was before covid. However,  we found the DVLA  very organised and efficient before and during covid.

We did this the morning after we landed - I don't think I slept the night before, and I honestly look like a serial killer on my photo  That said, it was really handy to have for ID purposes. We went into a post office that had a kind of booth/kiosk thing, which did the photos and electronic signatures for the licence, they checked it and sent it, and we had them back within the week. If you look on the Royal Mail website for driving licence renewals, they'll tell you the nearest one that offers the service.

Money transfer wise, we used OFX. Due to the amount of money, we had to do several transfers, but we had spoken to the bank (went into the branch in Aus) beforehand, and they increased the limit. They (Westpac) also gave us a little gadget thing (SecurID Token) that generated a unique passcode every time we logged in to do a transfer, just as a second security measure, in case we weren't able to use our Aus phones for the SMS passcode. As it turns out, I managed to somehow lose the Aus SIM cards soon after we arrived (they were in a plain envelope, I think I must have thrown them away by accident), so I'm glad we'd sorted out the other thing!

Our house sale in Aus didn't go through until about two months after we left, due to our buyers needing an extended settlement, but the money transfer side of things was really no bother to arrange from the UK.

Edited August 30, 2020 by LKC

[Roy67 1]

14 minutes ago, LKC said:

We did this the morning after we landed - I don't think I slept the night before, and I honestly look like a serial killer on my photo  That said, it was really handy to have for ID purposes. We went into a post office that had a kind of booth/kiosk thing, which did the photos and electronic signatures for the licence, they checked it and sent it, and we had them back within the week. If you look on the Royal Mail website for driving licence renewals, they'll tell you the nearest one that offers the service.

Money transfer wise, we used OFX. Due to the amount of money, we had to do several transfers, but we had spoken to the bank (went into the branch in Aus) beforehand, and they increased the limit. They (Westpac) also gave us a little gadget thing (SecurID Token) that generated a unique passcode every time we logged in to do a transfer, just as a second security measure, in case we weren't able to use our Aus phones for the SMS passcode. As it turns out, I managed to somehow lose the Aus SIM cards soon after we arrived (they were in a plain envelope, I think I must have thrown them away by accident), so I'm glad we'd sorted out the other thing!

Our house sale in Aus didn't go through until about two months after we left, due to our buyers needing an extended settlement, but the money transfer side of things was really no bother to arrange from the UK.

 

[Roy67 1]

Hi, thanks for that. I’ve just looked up the securi token for my bank and they do issue them in exceptional circumstances. I’ll enquire about this in the morning. 
Great advice, thank you. 

[Martinbjulieb 174]

On 30/08/2020 at 02:55, Roy67 said:

Hi, my wife and I are returning to the UK after 13 years in Australia. We have renewed our GB passports and have an exemption to leave. Our TOR has been submitted. Sadly I closed my UK bank account down two years ago and I could kick myself for doing that. 
I hate the idea of transferring my money to a third party money transfer agent and then waiting until we get to the UK before we can open a bank account etc. This could take a while as we don’t have anything with a UK address on. We will be living with family for a short while when we get back. Using the bank to bank transfer is an expensive option. I have read various reviews of a few transfer agents and they range from moderate to terrible.
Has anyone got any advice as to how they transferred their money back to the UK please. 

We used HiFx one way to Australia and on the way back.  They were great. 

[Roy67 1]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice. One last quick question. Will my bank in the UK hit me with fees for receiving my money from Australia?

[Marisawright 10,066]

56 minutes ago, Roy67 said:

Hi everyone, thanks for all the advice. One last quick question. Will my bank in the UK hit me with fees for receiving my money from Australia?

This is why you use a transfer company like Moneycorp or Transferwise. They will pay the money into your bank in pounds so there will be no fees