UK Bank Accounts not requiring you to be UK resident

[P]

Looked at a number of UK bank and building society websites and all seem to say that to have one you need to be UK resident.

As our intention is to move permanently to France in the very near future which UK banks and building societies do allow you to have account when not UK resident?

Have just looked at the Nationwide Flexaccount which someone was praising and that also states UK resident.

Paul

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Our UK bank (Lloyds) allowed us to keep our accounts already in place

at the time we moved but said that they could not open any new ones for

us once we were no longer UK resident. We still have these. This was a

few years ago, admittadly.

I think that UK banks will open sterling accounts for non-residents in

the Channel Islands or IOM though - might be worth checking?

[Deimos]

Before moving I also asked several banks and was surprised about the number that required you to be a UK resident (thou it was a few I was happy opening an account with and by no means all). the main reason for looking was to get access to some of the higher interest rate savings accounts as I was quite happy with the two banks I had current accounts with.

I checked with my two banks (Cater Allen and Citibank) and both were happy with non UK resident. After nearly 3 years as a non-resident I can recommend Cater Allen as there has been no problem with non-UK residency (particularly as I have now discovered some of their higher rate accounts that also pay gross interest). I would highly recommend Cater Allen.

Citibank are OK but, if you need to call them its a long wait to get through to the company that does their Customer Service and they are then very limited in what they can do for you and often do the wrong thing anyway. I would probably not recommend Citibank if you are a non-UK resident (from personal experience)

Ian

[Will]

When we changed addresses - admittedly a few years ago now - all of the various financial institutions, with one exception, were quite happy to deal with us at our French address. But as Jon says, this was because we already had accounts. Even then, it would have been difficult if not impossible to have opened new accounts from non-UK addresses. The exception was Cahoot, which I think is part of Abbey.

You will find some interesting glitches in the system, like one part of Marks & Spencer insisting that we should use their &More card to operate our account, while another part refuses to issue one to us because we are overseas. And the card companies that will, after a bit of persuasion, send a new card to France, but to activate it they insist you call an 0845 number that can only be accessed from British soil.

So the answer is, take your existing accounts with you as far as you can, and if you need any new ones open them before you leave.

[suein56]

P

So you are still resident in the UK?  If this is so, then I would suggest you open a Nationwide Flexaccount whilst you are still there and can comply with the UK residency requirements. You should be allowed to keep it when you move to France - you just notify them of change of address etc. The residency rules are for opening the account - not for maintaining it.

I can add that we made a daft mistake in not following this course of action before we came to France and so are stuck with the UK current accounts we had before we left. [:(]

Sue

[suein56]

[quote user="Will "]

 they insist you call an 0845 number that can only be accessed from British soil.

[/quote]

We can ring 0845 numbers using telerabais - I think it is 15cents a minute, but I usually then explain the situation and ask the organisation to ring me back - which they have always done - up to now!

Sue

[Will]

Sorry, my mistake, been out of the system for too llong. I should have said 0800 number. But yes, there's always a way round it. Incidentally, MBNA bank is very good, they will reverse the charges and pay for calls to customer services from abroad.

[Deimos]

One thing I have found with the credit card aspect of MBNA is a problem or two with their security. It has only happened to me twice so it is "limited experience". I have had my card refused when purchasing things. I live in France and thus use my card in France and the card is registered to my French address. When their security refuses the card they do not call me on my home nor mobile or anything and when I have called them back the refusal is "because it is in France" - to which I ask them where I live and get an "Oh yes - sorry" response.

I have no idea how close the MBNA credit card and banking operations are.

When I next have to call them I will try getting them to call me back.

I don't know if this is common with UK cards when used by French residents. My own interpretation is that they are not so brilliant at dealing with overseas things but not so bad as I'm looking to change and, as I say limited personal experience that may apply to other cards (though never had the same problem with my Morgan Stanley card).

Ian

[powerdesal]

My own impression (being a long term expat) is that a lot of UK bank staff cannot imagine that anyone lives outside UK. Overseas is where you go for holidays, no one actually lives there.

I have managed to open a new account whilst living here in the UAE but had a very strange letter asking me to justify my use of a P.O.Box number as a mailing address. Trying to get across the fact that we dont have home mail deliveries because (a) they dont exist and (b) most of us (at that time) didn't actually have house numbers, street names / numbers etc was like to explain the theory of relativity to a 3 year old. An address such as.. the third house on the left on the sand track behind Lal's supermarket after the third right beyond the last set of traffic lights etc etc ....just doesn't seem to work. We now have street names, plot numbers, area names seems perfectly acceptable but we still have to pick up mail from the P.O.Box anyway.

Lloyds TSB and Anglo-Irish dont object to us being overseas but Barclays is another matter. CIN in France dont have a problem either.

[Deimos]

powerdesal wrote: "Barclays is another matter"

That surprises me. Never had an account with them and have not heard comments but they always present themselves as a very international bank.

Ian

[Cassis]

Similar to what JonD said earlier, we kept our joint Co-op bank account when we moved here.  We just told them we were moving to France, gave them our French address and they now send our statements and bank cards here.  We still have access to Internet services with them as well.

[Graham & Brenda]

I kept my Nationwide Flex account and credit card just with a change of address. If you want a joint account make sure you include your partner before you leave the UK. They won't open or change the account once you are a French resident. We also have Barclays accounts upon which we just changed the address.

Neither bank will accept instructions to pay interest gross - they just refer you to their offshore departments. You can claim it back from the UK taxman though, whilst declaring it in France to the Impots.

 

[chessfou]

[i]As our intention is to move permanently to France in the very near

future which UK banks and building societies do allow you to have

account when not UK resident?[/i]

You need to check with each one but basic rules of thumb are:

1. Most banks won't allow you to open accounts (or, often, change) after you move out of the UK, although most are perfectly happy for you to keep existing ones.

2. "Internet" banks (Egg, ING, etc) will generally want you to close your existing accounts and certainly won't let you open any new ones.

3. More main stream banks (inc. the High St ones and, e.g. Nationwide) are happy for you to move overseas but  (usually) won't let you set up internet access to your accounts after you move (so, make sure you do so well in advance - in case of any problems, 'cos they'll only mail passwords and so on to your UK address).

[chessfou]

"but to activate it they insist you call an 0845 number that can only be accessed from British soil." [will]

If you use Skype (VOIP internet software) then 08 numbers are (at least usually) accessible.

[powerdesal]

A True story about UK Banking.

Scenario: We are on holiday in Germany, staying with daughter. Our existing visa / bank card expired. Rang the UK branch and asked for new card to be posted to daughters address in Gemany, gave address which was ' Us, c/o Cpl .........., X Regt etc, BFPO etc. NO says bank, we need Cpl...... service number, OK says I, its *********, oh no says bank, we need Cpl.........to tell us his service number. Cpl....... is in Afghanistan says I, wont be home for 4 months. Doesn't matter says bank, he must ring us and tell us his service number. He is in a combat zone, cant just ring the bank, not just like he's at the office (so to speak) says I, Doesn't matter says bank, he must ring us or no card for you.

Eventually, I say OK, leave card in branch, wife coming to UK in two weeks, will pick up card at branch.

Wife goes into branch says ' I'm Mrs *******, called for my new card, card handed over, no identity check, no proof of who she is at all.

Needing Cpl.......... service number is now a family by word!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[diotima]

In 1992 the ex and I were on holiday in the USA when we discovered our brand new Access cards started and expired on the same date. This was something of a setback, to say the least. Access were very helpful, they'd courier new cards to us if we could let them know where we'd be 36 hours later. We said Coulee City, Washington. Despite telling the person on the other end that it was up in the top lefthand corner of America, they still didn't have a map large scale enough to find it. They got our cards to us on schedule, sending them out with a uni student working as courier in his holiday, which didn't strike us as being very security minded. The courier was really pleased though, he was a civil engineering student; he changed his flight back and spent three happy days studying Grand Coulee Dam.

[verviale]

I work for one of the big banks and if you cannot provide confirmation of a U.K.address, ie; utility bill driving licence, then we would refer you to our offshore banking services, where you can have all the usual facilities but you pay an account charge.We make an exception for foreign students who study in the U.K.as they provide us with documentation from the university confirming their address on the university campus, but they get a very basic account , with just an electronic debit card.My advice to anybody is do not close your U.K. accounts.

[P]

Thanks everyone.

My expeiriences have been:

Bank with the Internet arm of the 'worlds largest bank'.

Can I keep my account when I move to France?

We will make a decision on that when the time comes

That to me equals 'I do not wish to bank with you

An account with another high street bank - I was advised 'give the address of a friend or relative in the UK and it will be OK' - which seems somewhat dishonest.

Will speak with some of those mentioned on here to get their reaction to this.

Paul 

[Sunday Driver]

When opening new accounts, UK high street banks have to comply with the UK money laundering regulations on customer identification.  The regulations specify a list of approved "UK" proofs of identity and residence which the bank must obtain in order to "know their customer". 

Applications from foreign residents are not acceptable to the mainstream UK banking system because non UK identity documents are not readily verifiable.  As mentioned, the bank's overseas department will consider new account applications, but they will charge for the additional identification work required.

Existing account holders who move abroad are already "known" to the bank, so unless terms and conditions say otherwise, there should be no reason to close the account.

 

 

[Cassis]

NB I know you would not class them as a bank, and obviously it is not a current account, but ING will not let you keep your UK savings account when you move abroad.  Any others like that?

[powerdesal]

Similarly not a bank although Royal Bank of Scotland are involved, the Share Centre required us to stop using an overseas address and give them a UK address to maintain our portfolio with them, that was about a year ago after quite a few years of using them with our UAE address.

[peebee]

We are with the HSBC and have had no problems with them before or since our move here to France.  In the run up to our move they were very helpful and supplied us with a personal phone number for our original local branch and of course their International 24 hour hotline number.  They even phoned us up here in France to inform us when the U.K based solicitor had deposited the funds in our account for our U.K house sale, because we didn't have internet access at the time. The internet access to our accounts hasn't been a problem once, of course, we were connected. We have had no problems with our two credit card companies (one is the HSBC) We just receive the monthly statements here in France and pay them up online.