When money problems hit

[chessie]

One simple act - and the heavens fall in....!!

'He', 'him', OH - - lost our credit card.    We've advised UK credit card company - so both his and my credit cards have been blocked/frozen.   So we can't use them and waiting for new cards..

Our french bank account is very low and we're waiting for usual end of the month transfer of UK monies.

To cut long story short -

can we pay into our French bank account -

a UK cheque, written on our UK bank account, in ££s sterling - just to 'top up' the french account ?

Any help, as always, much appreciated ?

Chessie

[pomme]

You would need to check with your French bank. They'll probably charge a lot of commission and there is no guarantee of any speedy appearance of funds in your account.

Have you got someone you can write a cheque to who would delay cashing it but pay you euro in cash immediately?

Have you got an account with one of the money transfer services. Much quicker to use one of those to transfer money from the UK to a French bank account.

Then there are cards such as Monzo and Revolut where you can top them up by a UK bank transfer and spend/withdraw in euro. Worth getting one regardless.

[EuroTrash]

If you want to move money from your UK account to your French account, can't you do an online transfer from y, eg via TransferWise? I use my card to do the transfer because it's quicker (took 26 seconds last time) but I believe you can also get them to debit your account directly, though I don't know what's involved in the way of verifications if you do it that way.

I suppose you can pay a sterling cheque in, why not ask your bank, but I suspect it would result in quite high fees and I don't know how long it would take.

[Patf]

Have you been into your french bank to explain the situation? They might extend your overdraft allowance for a short time. Take with you a copy of your UK account to show that there are funds there.

If your french account is usually in credit.

We managed to do this once, and they obliged.

[richard51]

Chessie, don't be too hard on him. When we were buying our french house we arranged to meet the notaire and were going to fly down and hire a car for the event.

Unfortunately I couldn't find my card the day before and stupidly cancelled it. Problem was that for car hire you need the original card. Ended up having to drive down and we just about made it. OH wasn't happy as her card was cancelled too. Ironic that we were spending so much.

In this instance ET is giving good advice - if you have accounts in the UK and France then the simple solution is to do a interbank transfer on the internet.

Otherwise speak to your french bank and explain the situation. There really can't be too great a problem over such a simple mistake!!

NB on getting back to the UK the card was found on a shelf in the living room - OH was not happy!

[suein56]

+1 for exchanging/transferring ££ to €€ via Transferwise.

It is simple to set up a one off payment using them which will sort out your temporary problem.

Sending a UK cheque to your French bank is possible but will cost you an arm and a leg.

Sue

[idun]

You have had some good advice about using FX companies, they are usually quick, good exchange rate and cheap too. Although your own bank (not a building society, I don't think) should allow you to transfer too.

I rather think that FX companies would be a cheaper option than cards???? I use currency fair, but the rate they would advertise on their site is often worse than I actually get from them, so hard to tell who is the best.

When there were all the problems with banks and their systems not working in the not too distant past, I started keeping some cash stashed at home. Not a fortune, but enough to tide us over for a couple of weeks or so.

And doing that was not a hard decision to make, as years ago I ended up in a similar situation, with money in the bank in one country and unable to access it from another country. I remember clearly counting loose change to pay for some petrol and being very anxious about it all.

[mint]

Yes, Id, good idea to have cash in the house.  Nothing like some of the readies[:)]

[Judith]

Having had two of my cards nicked this year (happily not all of them) I too have starting thinking of paying more by cash, rather than credit card.  Interestingly the UK card (who were the ones to notice the theft, I don't take cash out on it, and the thieves had), replaced the card very quickly.  It took much longer for CA to spring into action, though they were told the same day, face to face, as the bank is just down the road.  I also had the carte vitale nicked at the same time, and that took some time to replace.

I now try only to carry them when I need them ... hence the keeping more cash available.

One good point is that using cash makes you more aware of how much you are spending, and so is another way to reduce spending, if you feel the need.

[AnOther]

In such circumstances I'd arrange for an immediate transfer from my UK bank to a friends account and for them to then give me the equivalent in Euros, UK bank to UK bank that can be done on line in a matter of minutes.

Not suggesting otherwise but that of course assumes that funds are available in UK.

[richard51]

yep interbank transfers are easy.

Also yep to cash - but for small amounts.

Do get somewhat annoys when french people still use cheques in supermarkets - same issue with theft, As for cash you definitely wouldn't get anything back.

Some changes can definitely be considered as progress.

[Loiseau]

Another +1 for transferring online from your UK bank direct to your French bank. Mine charges £10 to send up to £5k, which doesn’t seem too bad. If done before 3pm, it says money will arrive next working day.

[chessie]

Thanks for all the lovely help and advice - excellent.

Update for those interested - because it got even worse.

We tried to use our UK bank direct debit cards to get money from the local ATM.   Neither cards worked - even though there was plenty of ££s in the account.

So couldn't 'top up' that way.

I phoned our bank asking if they would do transfer to french account - sorry, can't be done on the phone.

The foreign xchange accounts mentioned need 3 or 4 days to be activated - ie confirmation of your ID.

We were then advised by bank that if we sent them a fax, then they would transfer the money to our french bank account within 24 hours - at a cost of £30.   We had no alternative.

Then tried to find somewhere with a fax machine.   Local tourist office - very sorry - no couldn't help.   Went to Mairie in nearest large town and were able to have fax sent - but it was time, trouble, and worry I could have done without.

Have now decided to keep a sum of cash 'hidden away just in case...' - we learn don't we?

Saga of cards not working - we've been sent new security PIN numbers - and one of them still doesn't work - won't release euros - so that's something to be dealt with.  (Second card and new PIN not yet tried - but not optimistic !).

The really, really, infuriating thing is that his wallet turned up - sitting on a dining chair which had been pushed back into place, and where he said he'd 'looked all over'.....!!! 

I could cry.

Fortunately I hadn't 'cancelled' the french cards - phew.

Thanks everyone for advice, help and bright ideas - very interesting.

Chessie.

[mint]

Poor Chessie......sending sympathetic thoughts to you!

Now you have contacted FX companies, why don't you just go ahead and register.  Will be useful for future transfers.

It's like that with bank cards, if you can't find them, it really IS best to report them as lost.  If your household is as disorderly as mine, we regularly lose car keys, bank cards, wallets, cartes vitales, mobile phones, spectacles etc.

Like you, it makes me fume but what to do?  I get more forgetful and more stupid by the year though I am sure you are nothing like as bad as that[:)]

[Cendrillon]

Grr! I'm really gutted for you Chessie. What a hassle and total waste of time and energy.

[nomoss]

chessie.

It might seem a nuisance to have another set of numbers and passwords to remember, but it really is quite useful to set up a Phonebank facility with your UK bank.

It is definitely worth having more than one way to access money, especially when travelling.

[chessie]

Thanks for kind words of support and sympathies - believe me - very, very much appreciated - thank you.

Those who suggested the currency exchange firms - thanks; another excellent idea and something I intend to set up as a 'just in case' measure.

As soon as I can get my hands on some filthy lucre from the ATM then I'm going to tuck that away in a very safe place.   No point in telling OH exactly where - his memory is bad and getting worse.

Think I should tell my daughter in UK where I've hidden the money, so in case something happens to me, she can tell him where to find some spare euros.   I know I can rely on my lovely daughter - she's brilliant.

Here's a thought - do you all know your card numbers ?  If not, maybe take a photocopy of card(s) to keep somewhere just in case it's/they are lost?  Same with cart vitale, and driving licence.  

Still have the on-going saga of direct debit bank cards not working - no money from ATM.   So that's another few phone calls to try and get that problem solved.

And all because I believed him, and didn't triple check.   Serves me right......!!!

As always, clever posters on here with good advice - thank you again.  

Chessie

[idun]

Is that the only way you transfer money, via your cards????

I thought that in general it was an expensive way to do it as exchange rates were not so good, and most banks/building societies make a charge?????

But my transfers are strictly from France, and I know how that works and using our french cards would be a no no.... way too expensive.

I like using fx companies, but I found that if I did not use their services over a period of time, they closed the account. At least they did with one, I used to use.

[ChezShells]

I used to transfer via 2 PayPal accounts, one UK one fr from bank to bank but after logging into my fr account in the UK it messed up the setup but it worked quite well.

A fairfx card is better now to withdraw cash when our clarity card isn't accepted. Top up when needed but they charge to withdraw at atm. Good ex rate.

[chessie]

Just to up-date;  we asked for replacement credit cards.   These were promised to be with us within 10 'working day's at the max.    They still hadn't arrived after 3 weeks;  still not arrived after nearly 4 weeks.

Had to phone credit card company again.   Of course, they then cancelled the cards that hadn't arrived, and promised to send second replacement cards by 1st class or courier.    They decided to send courier - should be with us in 5 days, and could be tracked.    The first set of replacement cards, which had subsequently been cancelled, turned up on a Saturday, 3 days after my second phone call.    The second set of replacement valid cards turned up on the following Tuesday !!

Word of warning to everyone;  seems that they treat 'urgent replacement' of lost cards in same way as routine batch send of replacement cards for those whose cards are close to expiry date.

If you ever 'lose' your cards be sure to ask that the replacements are sent as a matter of urgency and priority - even asking for courrier if necessary.

Otherwise they get sent second class, go on the European Grand Tour, and take nearly 4 weeks to arrive.

What a saga.   Now just waiting for next 'hiccup' to hit us.   Life is full of fun and games, and challenges, isn't it ?  !!

Happy Christmas everyone - and many thanks for the good advice you provided.

Chessie