Keeping UK Bank Account- but no uk address

[mommysboy]

Thanks for all the replies by the way.  It's been a very useful post for me.

[twizzian]

7 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

How about existing ISAs?

 

Shush! Don't tell them.

I still have my ISA's for what the interest rate is worth these days.

[twizzian]

23 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

Thanks for all the replies by the way.  It's been a very useful post for me.

 

I use my sisters address for bank and any other correspondence.

For me it's also useful when traveling back with the mrs as I always print off her latest letters and bank statements as proof of uk residence to immigration if we have problems

[yardrunner]

8 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

How about existing ISAs?

i have a legal and general stocks and shares ISA taken out when i lived in the UK, legal and general are aware of my Thai address and i cannot add to the funds but i can leave the invested funds to hopefully grow

[yardrunner]

53 minutes ago, Tocher said:

As another poster pointed out they will not send credit/debit cards here.

i am with Santander UK and their call center told me we cant send bank cards to Thailand, an email of complaint to there chief executive followed up by a complaint to the FSA and suddenly we can put an exception on your account and will send your cards to Thailand, apparently because it is not ausual request most call center staff are not aware of this and you have to be willing to complain

[Surasak]

I have a Nationwide building society account with no address in the UK. My Thai address is all they have. No problems over the past 12 years.

[scubascuba3]

 
Shush! Don't tell them.
I still have my ISA's for what the interest rate is worth these days.

I plan to move my cash ISAs over to stocks & shares ISA. Its worth thinking about

[mommysboy]

24 minutes ago, yardrunner said:

i am with Santander UK and their call center told me we cant send bank cards to Thailand, an email of complaint to there chief executive followed up by a complaint to the FSA and suddenly we can put an exception on your account and will send your cards to Thailand, apparently because it is not ausual request most call center staff are not aware of this and you have to be willing to complain

Knowing my luck, the opposite effect would manifest: no cards and we've decided to close your account.  We're in a bit of a grey area.  My instinct tells me low profile.

[billy54]

No problem with RBS , but already had the account with them & Uk Address ,also after a lot of wrangling ( jobs worth etc ) they sent visa card blocked untill i recieved it and unblocked it , the only problem is quite often it wont let you pay online for some things , whereas LLoydds visa/debit i've never had a problem

[kidneyw]

HSBC no problem with you living in Thailand. They will also send your new credit cards (Visa etc.,) to you by regular post. All you have to do is activate them using online banking.

[hugh2121]

I also bank with Lloyds. While it is no problem to keep an account without a UK address, they will not renew credit or debit cards when they expire unless you do have a UK address.

I use my daughter's address as I do use my debit card and need it to be renewed.

[wordchild]

2 hours ago, Formaleins said:

As far as I know "Legally" you need to be resident or normally resident to hold a UK bank account, however, HSBC couldn't care less!

 

They phoned me a couple of years ago and took all my Thai details as primary address etc. but still keep my mothers UK address on file - I guess it covers their greedy asses in regards to the law. They don't care as long as they get your cash, bunch of crooks anyway the lot of them.

I am sorry but this is just nonsense.  Banks can "legally" have customers anywhere, however they are subject to the same rules and regulations all financial institutions are these days ie they have to be able to demonstrate procedures and checks which are designed to stop criminals and terrorists from moving money around. 

    I have 2 accounts with Lloyds one onshore (city of London branch) and one isle of man account which i opened when i first became an expat (20 plus years ago). i have always used my main home address in Thailand (since i have lived here)  and never had any problem with either account. As was mentioned above Lloyds will send cards to Thailand only via DHL these days and will charge you (around 8 pounds)  every time they do that.

    

[wordchild]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

I plan to move my cash ISAs over to stocks & shares ISA. Its worth thinking about

What is the point of an ISA if you are an expat?

[huainnews]

  No problem with Barclays, I left the UK 20 years ago and still have my works pension and my OAP credited to my account  each month.  I thought of changing   but at the time it would have meant receiving cheques instead of wire transfers.

  Trouble getting my credit card a couple of times as Thailand is a restricted country, probably because of their reputation for mail being mislaid. Twice they refused to post the new card but these last two times it has arrived by normal air mail. One time it arrived in an envelope that had 'Debit Card Services' printed on the flap!

[Bangkok Barry]

I was told that my new Barclay's visa card could not be sent to Thailand so I had it sent to my sister in Spain and it was sent on to me. A couple of years ago they then said that if I did not supply a UK address they would close my account of some 30 years. My HSBC ATM card is also a visa debit so that didn't bother me. After my deadline date with the Barclaycard they contacted me about something or other and I got in touch to say they had told me they were going to cancel the account. The person I spoke with said they had no record of that and the account was still live. Bizarre.

I have also had no trouble keeping my HSBC account with a Thai address, although it might be difficult or impossible now to open a new account with an overseas address. Money laundering and all that.

[huainnews]

  I had to close my HSBC account at my branch in Malta because I had not used it for more than half a year.  'Dormant' they call it, you may reopen in for any further transactions but I chose to just convert the balance to Stirling then transfer it to my Krungsri foreign currency account.

  Maybe Barclays are adopting similar procedures if you had not used the account for some time.

[scubascuba3]

What is the point of an ISA if you are an expat?

According to gov.uk you usually have to pay tax on UK income even if not a UK resident. But I'm not an expat yet so feel free to enlighten everyone.

[Andrew Dwyer]

  I had to close my HSBC account at my branch in Malta because I had not used it for more than half a year.  'Dormant' they call it, you may reopen in for any further transactions but I chose to just convert the balance to Stirling then transfer it to my Krungsri foreign currency account.
  Maybe Barclays are adopting similar procedures if you had not used the account for some time.

I had some money in a TSB account ( due to a better interest rate) that I hadn't touched for years , when I went to close it and withdraw the money they told me I had to reopen it first ( as it was now dormant) before closing it again !!
This took a week !

[trd]

  I had to close my HSBC account at my branch in Malta because I had not used it for more than half a year.  'Dormant' they call it, you may reopen in for any further transactions but I chose to just convert the balance to Stirling then transfer it to my Krungsri foreign currency account.
  Maybe Barclays are adopting similar procedures if you had not used the account for some time.

I'm just about to open a FC account at Krungsri. Is it working out okay for you? Good service etc?

[stbkk]

I have a First direct account in the UK (part of HSBC). No problem as long as I could provide proper documentary proof of address in Thailand.

[wordchild]

32 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

According to gov.uk you usually have to pay tax on UK income even if not a UK resident. But I'm not an expat yet so feel free to enlighten everyone.

Not true! E.g. No additional tax on U.K. Dividend  income if not U.K. Resident.  Property income ,broadly speaking, is still taxed; dividends and bank interest not. I will leave you to google the rest, yourself.

Edited March 25, 2017 by wordchild

[scubascuba3]

Not true! E.g. No additional tax on U.K. Dividend  income if not U.K. Resident.  Property income ,broadly speaking, is still taxed; dividends and bank interest not. I will leave you to google the rest, yourself.

I thought you might give minimal info. ISAs also stop CGT on gains, you didn't mention that one.

[jacko45k]

I was able to register my Thai address with one. The other I use a family member's address.

[wordchild]

9 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I thought you might give minimal info. ISAs also stop CGT on gains, you didn't mention that one.

no CGT as an expat, as long as you stay an expat and not return to the UK for the required period.

[Oxx]

Just received a message from Nationwide about their sending a credit card to Thailand:

 

"Unfortunately we are unable to mail to Thailand. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."

 

This appears to contradict what others have written about Nationwide.

[The Dark Lord]

22 hours ago, Oxx said:

One slight inconvenience will be that the bank probably won't send any debit or credit cards to your Thai address.  You'll need to pick them up in person at a bank branch.

That is not true. The Lloyds creeps will send you replacement credit cards but will charge you DHL (£7.50 last time) but debit cards just go through the post. HSBC send through post as well.

 

absolutely no problem with having just a Thai address.

[pattaya1234was]

It does seem that UK Banks have no set rules for Expats-like life it is a lottery.

I have been a Barclays/Barclaycard customer for nearly 60 years. At times I have had problems having my Debit card sent to Thailand but most of the time no problems. One year they told me they would send the card 'disguised' as a Birthday Card! It arrived in a pink envelope! Again, no problems with the Barclaycard until I changed address in Thailand 2 years ago. They cancelled my card almost immediately and when I pointed out the difficulties in obtaining a new credit card at my age they just said -too bad we have cancelled and that's that.

Whilst in the UK last year I called in at my Branch to discuss the Current account situation with them. All I could get was that Barclays are in the process of cancelling current accounts of customers resident in some countries. They could not tell me whether Thailand was one of those countries or whether it was likely to be in the future.

By the way, I did manage to obtain a Credit card from Amex and they have been extremely helpful. 

[Farang99]

On 24/03/2017 at 10:24 PM, mommysboy said:

Reassuring. Sounds good. But I won't have a UK address at all.

I have no UK address but managed to open an account with RBS after some to-ing and fro-ing, with the support of an existing customer.

[davidst01]

use mail boxes etc address. the bank will never know

[scubascuba3]

no CGT as an expat, as long as you stay an expat and not return to the UK for the required period.

Thailand isn't a tax haven though so i assume you register for tax there?