Keeping a UK account open?

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Hey all

 

We got our 457's approved today - we're really chuffed. Hopefully, we'll soon be starting our 2 years in Adelaide!

 

Anyway - our next step now is to arrange to rent out our UK home. There's a few other things we'll need to keep ticking over in the UK (contracts and insurance etc) and I was hoping I could leave my UK bank account open, "feed it" from Oz, and let direct debits and the like just run their normal course in the UK. Maybe even keep an eye on things via Internet Banking.

 

Anyone doing this?

 

Is it reasonably simple?

 

Hope you can help - all the best

 

RTL

[snifter]

It should be pretty straightforward. Internet banking being what it is these days. I know when my hubby moved over here from Aus he kept his Aussie account open and oversaw it from here in the UK.

 

You'll just need to do an international money transfer between accounts whenever you need to top up the UK account. Consider the exchange rate the bank will offer and also there is usually a smallish charge (can be at both ends). Whenever we transferred money between UK/Aus we always did decent amounts to save the charges. But it was never a massive amount cost wise.

 

You can do other forms of electronic transfers like Western Union or some such but I always preferred direct between our banks than using a middle man.

 

Just nip into your bank and ask about International money transfers (or read about it online) and once you have an Aus account do the same.

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Cool, thanks. I know internet banking takes LOTS of worry out of the equation, I mean, logging on and moving money 24/7 is pretty cool...... I just need to double check the Barclays site is available from Oz, and remember to take my chip & pin keypad!

 

I don't suppose anyone is using Barclays UK site in Adelaide?

 

Thanks again

 

Ryan

[jimmyskinner]

Hey all

 

We got our 457's approved today - we're really chuffed. Hopefully, we'll soon be starting our 2 years in Adelaide!

 

Anyway - our next step now is to arrange to rent out our UK home. There's a few other things we'll need to keep ticking over in the UK (contracts and insurance etc) and I was hoping I could leave my UK bank account open, "feed it" from Oz, and let direct debits and the like just run their normal course in the UK. Maybe even keep an eye on things via Internet Banking.

 

Anyone doing this?

 

Is it reasonably simple?

 

Hope you can help - all the best

 

RTL

Hi we are looking into opening a fresh account for when we leave ,Hsbc seems a good option as you can have a proper account in uk and in oz they have a branch in central Adelaide ,if yiy pay in £50,000 you get a private banker at both and you get free banking ,have a look it looks ok let me know if anyone thinks this is not a good idea

cheers jim

[jimmyskinner]

Hi we are looking into opening a fresh account for when we leave ,Hsbc seems a good option as you can have a proper account in uk and in oz they have a branch in central Adelaide ,if yiy pay in £50,000 you get a private banker at both and you get free banking ,have a look it looks ok let me know if anyone thinks this is not a good idea

cheers jim

Sorry forgot to say all your money can be left in the uk untill the exchange rate picks up and you can just transfer money as you need it .

[Guest mez10]

Hi we are looking into opening a fresh account for when we leave ,Hsbc seems a good option as you can have a proper account in uk and in oz they have a branch in central Adelaide ,if yiy pay in £50,000 you get a private banker at both and you get free banking ,have a look it looks ok let me know if anyone thinks this is not a good idea

cheers jim

Agree with Jimmyskinner - we stayed with HSBC and its so easy to keep a track of your money on their internet. They have really looked after us since we came to Oz.

The account is called 'Premier'

Its worth having a look at.

Good Luck

[taffygirl]

Hi Ryan, we have a UK bank account with Barclays and it is simple to access from here, just remember u need ure membership number, card and pin machine to access ur account. We no longer have paper statements from them its all done via internet, so easy these days! We also rent out our house in the Uk and transfer money from our australian account to our barclays account regularly with no problems, funds usually clear within 24 hours!

[Guest Chelseadownunder]

Hi Ryan,

I kept our Nat West account open and we have internet access here which has worked fine. Whenever we call them we use Skype. Also we have insurance with Norwich Union and they wanted the premiums paid by a UK bank account so we left a little there to pay it. Its also handy to keep some money available in the UK. One thing thats a pain is that we changed the address to our Oz address so if we want to buy stuff online from the UK once you get to the credit card payment page they only allow you to put in a UK address even if you are having the items sent to a UK address. In hindsite it would have been handy to keep a UK address and then we could have bought stuff from Next JB Sports etc and have it sent to my wifes parents address and they could have sent it on to us.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest darlo 2 adelaide]

there are very few cashpoints for hsbc, why not google the relevant cashpoints (ATM's they call them here), as this will help decidde ease of acess to your money.

My friend regretted joining HSBC ofr this exact reason. YOu get charged for using all other ATM machines i think, you lose out financially someways.

[Guest mez10]

Not many HSBC ATMs (Glenelg & City) I think, but Westpac is free and there's plenty of them.

[Guest Mitchell]

Just a thought about transferring money I was recommended to HiFX by Westpac when I opened my account with them in London. They don't charge any fees just skim a bit off the rate they quote. It takes a couple of minutes online to transfer funds between accounts and I get a better rate than with the bank and no fees at either end. Only takes a couple of working days to hit the other account. There are other companies who do the same also recommended on here. You can ring and negotiate for a good rate if you're transferring large amounts or just go online if it's within their normal limits (I think this was £250 to £70,000)

[lorluc]

have been here now for nearly 6 years, and still maintain an english account and credit card with the Nationwide.

 

Makes life very easy for people back in the Uk to pay money in for the kids birthdays and xmas....I then withdraw the cash here or i buy them a present with my english credit card and then pay it directly off via the internet from the cheque account...

[Anne B]

Cool, thanks. I know internet banking takes LOTS of worry out of the equation, I mean, logging on and moving money 24/7 is pretty cool...... I just need to double check the Barclays site is available from Oz, and remember to take my chip & pin keypad!

 

I don't suppose anyone is using Barclays UK site in Adelaide?

 

Thanks again

 

Ryan

 

We still have our Barclays account - just don't pack the keypad gizmo in your container, remember to take it with you on the plane (plus your online banking membership number). It's probably a good idea to go and have a chat at your local Barclays branch about what you are doing before you leave.

[Guest Ryan T. Lion]

Thanks all - that's really helped. Let's just hope there's 2 years of battery left in my chip & pin keypad !! !! !!

 

Cheers again

 

Ryan.