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lloydstsb bank change to french address


Woody

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Don't want to pour cold water on things, but I get the impression that things now might not be as they were.

I don't have an account any more with Lloyds TSB bank itself (in my opinion the worst bank anywhere, and that includes French banks - great until the TSB merger then it all went wrong, but that's not the issue here). I do, however, have one of their credit cards. There was no problem with changing that to a French address about three years ago but I recently got a new chip and pin card. That meant I needed a PIN number, so I attempted phoning to ask for it to be sent. First ominous sign was that none of the numbers given on the literature (except for cards lost overseas) would work from our French line - I eventually got through (again, another story) and the customer services person refused to accept that I could have one of their cards registered to an overseas address, and, moreover, was unable to send a PIN number to either any address other than the registered cardholder address or anywhere outside the UK (having established that my card address was indeed in France). Eventually, after going to find a manager, she agreed to make an exception and send the PIN number to France. I haven't got it yet, after a week or so, but...

Then I needed to activate the new card, which could only be done by a UK freephone number. The same hassles again - "I can't do it for you and we don't give a number that can be used from overseas because you can't have a card registered to an overseas address". Having proved that I did, indeed, have a 'foreign' card it got activated, again after finding a manager.

I may have just been unlucky with ill-informed customer services staff (whose accents incidentally indicated they were Scottish rather than in Bangalore). I do fear, though, that people wanting to deal with Lloyds TSB from overseas may be in for some aggravation.

No difficulties with NatWest bank or my MBNA credit card, Cahoot however wouldn't allow me to keep either their card or bank account as a non-UK resident.

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[quote]when moving to france and changing address for post. do you think it is a problem for lloydstsb bank to change address from uk to france address.is there a fee for changing addresses to other countrie...[/quote]

Like most of the rest of the replies we have no problems with LLoydsTSB sending to France (no fees) but I agree with Will that things have changed in the UK. All the banks are scared stiff of money laundering and what they were willing to do a few years ago may not be allowable now. May I suggest you go and see them if you can, find out if there is a manager (they do exist!) and explain what you are doing. This may help to prevent your change of address being rejected.

Liz (29)
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In part answer to Will's point, when I complained bitterly about the call centre thing my 'personal adviser' (nice woman called Tracy) gave me her mobile number. I'm sure that if you explain the situation you can get a direct line into your branch somehow, and they can then do the rest for you.
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[quote]Don't want to pour cold water on things, but I get the impression that things now might not be as they were. I don't have an account any more with Lloyds TSB bank itself (in my opinion the worst ban...[/quote]

You make a good general point here Will. For a large number of "customer service" type organisations, 0845 numbers are given, and these just don't work from France. For organisations like the Inland Revenue, this is not a problem (phone ANY office and if you are polite they will find someone for you to talk to). For financial organisations, however, it really is worth getting a "normal" phone number from them before you quit the UK.
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I normally keep several bank accounts at any one time. When I started planning my move I checked with my “main bank” and they were fine with me being overseas. I then started with a few more: No, No, No. I never bothered to pursue the issue with then as, when in France I wanted some sort of “standard of service” and not the “I don’t know if …” responses.

I did find a 2nd Bank that was fine about it. However, things like some of the higher interest rate saving companies wont allow you to reside outside the UK.

Even whilst I was in the UK most of the High Street Banks I asked said “No if you are going to move overseas”. I found it quite interesting given that the UK is supposed to be part of Europe.

Do remember that, when in France it can be harder to open a new Bank Account in the UK with a bank that is OK with your being resident outside the UK so better to find out before departing rather than after the move.

Other things to consider are how your bank will accept instructions from you. My “main bank” requires you to sign a document (can’t remember what its called) authorising them to accept instructions from you by fax. Without this, they need certain instructions through the post (e.g. money transfers outside their bank). Make sure you get these setup before you need to use them as setting them up can take a bit of time.

(this is my personal experience within the last year – clearly others may have spoken to different people/banks/etc. and may have different experiences).

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[quote]You make a good general point here Will. For a large number of "customer service" type organisations, 0845 numbers are given, and these just don't work from France. For organisations like the Inland R...[/quote]

"For a large number of "customer service" type organisations, 0845 numbers are given, and these just don't work from France"

They do on my FT phone in 12

I regularly phone these and 0870 numbers my old tax office, HSBC and have no problems, in fact they are cheaper than "ordinary" UK calls. 

You are remembering to drop the 0 aren't you?????

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