UK Child Premium Bonds

[justsignedin]

My mother has been buying NS & I child premium for my son for many years. Some of the bonds have matured and are ready to cash in. My son must write a letter to NS&I and request payment, then they will issue a warrant type check. 

 

Question is, will a Thai bank accept this type of check - and will there be any additional taxes or charges to pay?

 

Also, if anyone has any experience with child premium bonds from UK for children in Thailand can you tell if the NS&I will deduct tax because the child is outside the UK?? 

[brewsterbudgen]

Premium Bonds don't mature.  You can cash them in at any time and you just get the value of the bond.  No tax is payable, as no profit has been made.

 

If you mean that some bonds have won a prize, I believe that winnings (up to a certain amount) can be transferred to a UK bank, as well as being issued in cheque form. Whether there is a tax implication would depend on the tax status of the holder and their income.  I don't believe NS&I deduct any tax.

[Briggsy]

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Premium Bonds don't mature.  You can cash them in at any time and you just get the value of the bond.  No tax is payable, as no profit has been made.

 

If you mean that some bonds have won a prize, I believe that winnings (up to a certain amount) can be transferred to a UK bank, as well as being issued in cheque form. Whether there is a tax implication would depend on the tax status of the holder and their income.  I don't believe NS&I deduct any tax.

The poster is not referring to Premium Bonds but rather Children's Bonds.

 

I believe that Thai banks will accept a warrant in sterling but there may well be steep bank charges, a long delay and confusion of the necessary process in all branches but the head office. I don't know how Children's Bonds are taxed. I doubt they are taxed at source since very few investments in the UK have tax withheld on interest.

 

You may wish to consider moving the investment to another NS&I product. It would avoid the administrative hassle and any Thai bank charges.

 

 

[justsignedin]

Ok thanks gentleman. I guess I should try and find out what the charges are likely to.

[justsignedin]

If anyone can offer a little advice on this topic, much appreciated.

My son has the cheques after cashing his child savings bonds from NS & I. Next step is to open a bank account and cash them.

 

Is there like to be a standard handling and currency exchange charge, or is it likely to vary from bank to bank. And does anyone know roughly what to expect.

 

He has 15 cheques, and the amounts range from 40 to 300+ GBP.

 

Thanks in advance for any tips. 

[KittenKong]

Paying these into an account here is probably going to be expensive and will take a long time. There will be a fairly large handling charge and of course there will be a forex charge too, though the amounts will vary from bank to bank.

Did you contact NS&I to see if they could offer an alternative method of payment?

Is there any possibility of your son opening an account in the UK as it would be much cheaper to make one single transfer with the money?

Bangkok Bank does have a branch in the UK so they may have some particular arrangement that might make it cheaper for you. I would ask them.

[justsignedin]

Thanks KittenKong. opening an account in the UK is out the question I think, unless a relative is allowed to do on his behalf, don't know if that's possible or not.

 

I did ask NS & I if they would pay to a Thai bank, they said no. They said something along the lines of "under exceptional circumstances" they would consider paying to a relative's bank in the UK.

 

Will try a few banks and see how it goes.

When you say "large handling fee" do you have a rough idea what it might be?

Edited February 14, 2019 by justsignedin

[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, justsignedin said:

They said something along the lines of "under exceptional circumstances" they would consider paying to a relative's bank in the UK.

I would be inclined to try pursuing that line. It will surely cost you a lot less to send one telegraphic transfer (or other payment such as Transferwise) than to process 15 cheques.

 

5 hours ago, justsignedin said:

When you say "large handling fee" do you have a rough idea what it might be?

I would be surprised if it was much less than 500-1000B per cheque, but it could be any amount and it would probably vary from bank to bank. You would have to ask the banks or look on their websites.

[justsignedin]

Thanks again KittenKong, will contact NS&I and see if they will go with cancelling the cheques and paying to UK bank such as my own bank. Will take a look at Transferwise, but I assume I would also need internet banking setup, which I don't have. 

[KittenKong]

Transferwise is simple enough to set up, and you can fund it with a UK debit card. For smaller amounts (ie under a few thousand Pounds) it generally works out cheaper than using SWIFT transfers from your bank, though there are some exceptions. Both would surely be much cheaper than paying in 15 UK cheques abroad though.

[Oxx]

Costs answered at https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1007606-cashing-uk-cheque-in-thailand/?do=findComment&comment=12377308