Posted 21 January OK, the phone call was useless in that the ostensibly helpful lady didn't re-start our old cards while we waited for the new ones, but in her defence she did organise the new ones and they have arrived. Without the buggerorf letter yet, either 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 26 January Premium bonds have been mentioned on this thread as a UK bank account is required to pay in prizes. Just in case this helps anyone else…. My daughter and I both have premium bond holdings. Before she was 16, I paid in her winnings cheques into my UK bank account. I then got a letter (DE address registered as holders) saying that she needs her own UK bank account. After accidentally posting her winning cheques with mine to my UK bank, and they were paid in, I just carried on doing this for our occasional wins. Our initials are the similar. Recently, some of her cheques weren’t paid in so I thought we have to sort this properly. A get round to it job! On nsandi.com, it states that holders can register for online and phone service registration. However, not from abroad. It then states that this can be done by telephone. Also not possible for a non UK address. However, I was guided to a form that can be sent by post. ‘Online and phone service Registration form’. Not sure if it’s true though I recently read that premium bond holders have a greater chance of winning if registered online. Even more so if enquiries are made regarding selling bonds. When I called this number, I got through very quickly. 00441772 329880 option 2. The advisor said that calling after 19:00 our time is quick. Sundays too. Once registered online, a UK bank account can be registered to receive prizes. I’m hoping the advisor was correct as he said that my daughter can register my bank account as her receiving account for prizes. So, if anyone has a trusted person in the UK, a bank account in one’s own name isn’t necessary. Not sure who could be trusted with a big win!? I’ll start this process soon and update how it all works. If anyone can’t find the form, PM me and I can email it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 26 January Recently had the pleasure of the new two step sécurity login at NSI unfortunately they did not ask us to check our phone numbers before introduction of the new system. And guess what ? My mobile has changed. Had to phone dad and have him answer the phone in UK and tell me the PIN. I got logged in... and found you cannot update your tél no... yippee. So I withdrew a large sum. This has not inspired them to give me a win. Thus far. I kept stats at one point and can assure you the draw is not random. The winnings pretty much came up in the same order of purchase of bonds... for a decade or so. Then stopped. You cannot purchase new bonds if non resident. Old bonds seem to sink to the bottom of the pile and never win. With the very occasional exception to keep us confused. I was quite freaked to have access denied before finding an unsatisfactory half baked solution with my dad's coopération. Virtual banking is only reassuring when it actually works. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 26 January 1 hour ago, optimista said: I kept stats at one point and can assure you the draw is not random. The winnings pretty much came up in the same order of purchase of bonds... for a decade or so. Then stopped. You cannot purchase new bonds if non resident. Old bonds seem to sink to the bottom of the pile and never win. With the very occasional exception to keep us confused. I was quite freaked to have access denied before finding an unsatisfactory half baked solution with my dad's coopération. Virtual banking is only reassuring when it actually works. Sounds like a pain! I too don’t think the draw is random. It would be a shame to have to sell though as there’s always a glimmer of hope every month. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 26 January Excel is your friend NSI bonds are backed by the treasury and not under the financial compensation scheme whereby you are covered for 100K per banking group. Most High St. Banks are all in the same group. This is the only advantage to having bonds. They are not in the club. Obviously you cannot win if you hold no bonds. I never buy a lottery ticket, kidding myself I already have free tickets at the treasury. Won 1,000 once. Grandad won 500 when it was a fortune - but only after he died. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 26 January We won 50,000 15 years ago or so, which allowed us to buy our original house here when I stayed with the kids for school while Paps went back to the UK for 2 years or so (with other funds, tbf, but that was the bulk - property is cheaper here than your big cities ). We do relatively regularly win 25 or 50 but the 'income' is normally judged to be below the rate you would get on savings at the bank. The thing being that big win has made them completely worth having for us. My Dad won 10,000 6 years or so before our win. So it really does happen. Kid#1 who did Economics at Oxford thinks they are a complete waste of time, but then she happily faffs about with financial things for fun. Her boyfriend has Premium Bonds and I am about to suggest to kid#2, awaiting his first paycheck next Wednesday (yay!) that he buys some too. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 January Well congratulations !! Think I might hang on after all then. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 January Interesting- I have something like £25 in Premium bonds that have had since a child. Still a winning chance then!! 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 January I remember my grandparents bought me some. I wonder what ever happened to them? 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 January 14 minutes ago, Dembo said: I remember my grandparents bought me some. I wonder what ever happened to them? I still had the original bonds that my grandparents would send in a birthday card! I registered the numbers with ns&i. If you do not have the original numbers, maybe some way of searching? Check their website. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 27 January 1 hour ago, RedMidge said: I still had the original bonds that my grandparents would send in a birthday card! Mine may well have come similarly - I have bonds to the value of 8 GBP for 60+ years - none have ever turned up. Quote I registered the numbers with ns&i. I have done so as well. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January Use NS&I’s lost premium bond checking service. I did this for my mum years ago and it turned up a £50 win from about the 1970’s. https://www.nsandi.com/help/lost-touch-with-nsandi/track-lost-investments 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January 18 hours ago, Dembo said: I remember my grandparents bought me some. I wonder what ever happened to them? There must be millions of evaporated bonds at the treasury that nobody ever reclaimed. Dead money. A bit like those novelty - beg pardon, commemoration - crowns worth a fiver a throw languishing at the back of your knicker drawer. Who hasn t got the Queen Mum and Churchill ? The gullible were told they would become valuable Selling if anyone is interested. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January 3 hours ago, emkay said: Use NS&I’s lost premium bond checking service. Guessing newbies will have to open an account. Have fun with that. And use the new, exciting 2-step security login thereafter. Oh sorry, the exciting (kid you not, that is the word they use) new look, (increased mental agiliity reqired - think hoops and hurdles) login procédure is at HSBC. Online is great. When you can get in. And there are no bugs arising from the untested, latest changes to the site. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January 20 hours ago, Dembo said: I remember my grandparents bought me some. I wonder what ever happened to them? Shouldn’t be hard to find. When I found my mum’s lost bonds using the form (link above), it was just a case of listing any possible names and addresses. Plus, my mum’s new DE address. Quite a long time later, she got a cheque from them that could be paid into a DE account as an exception. Her bank charged her something like 20€! Who knows, you could be a winner….keep us posted! Just to add, at the same time, I went through a process of finding lost pensions, bank/savings a counts, shares. Turned up a little including £1 post office account? I can’t quite recall that process though I’m sure Google will enlighten. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January 3 hours ago, optimista said: There must be millions of evaporated bonds at the treasury that nobody ever reclaimed. Dead money. A bit like those novelty - beg pardon, commemoration - crowns worth a fiver a throw languishing at the back of your knicker drawer. Who hasn t got the Queen Mum and Churchill ? The gullible were told they would become valuable Selling if anyone is interested. Gullible here , We bought a few of the £100 Big Ben and Buckingham Palace silver coins in about 2015. At the time of purchase, the Royal Mint stated that the coins were legal currency so nothing to lose. Maybe a gain as relatively few were minted. I read stories that people were buying many despite a supposed per person limit, amassing lots of credit card points. Then, cashing in at banks and post offices. Not surprisingly, the definition of ‘legal tender’ changed when banks etc soon refused to cash them. We’d intended to gift them to our young family members though useless with no possible cash value. About 4 years after purchase, I rang the Royal Mint to ask if they buy them back at face value. They did, technically a refund, as we still had the original invoice. So, nothing lost, just a waste of time. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 January Daylight robbery. Changing goal posts. Glad you got your cash back. Must try spending that Di and Charles coin next time I'm back. Had an aunt who was fond of buying entire collections for her descendants. I think it was because they were shiny. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 18 February We've been letting our UK house since moving to Germany 10yr ago. Now our UK bank of 26yr, Barclays, just informed us they will soon close our account, for the simple fact because we're resident abroad (they insisted that I kept it open in 2000 when I left the UK and moved to Japan, why the heck do they have to close it now? No idea, but hey...). Question: what additional complications should I expect being a UK landlord but without a UK bank account? I know "in principle" there shouldn't be any. But I bet reality will be different. Some stupid but real examples wit our let UK property: 1) simply because we're resident abroad, we're automatically excluded from almost all landlord insurances. No idea why. 2) we're due a 70pounds British Gas Refund. Ideally they just make a payment into our UK bank account (we still have it, for a short while longer). But they say they can only pay by posting a cheque to the UK address where we're resident. And we're not UK resident, so it just doesn't work. Been going on for months already. 3) we're about to make an insurance claim (the cold broke a water pipe, the ground floor got flooded). Although I don't see any logic in it, I fear/expect by the time the insurer will pay they could say "sorry we can only pay by making a transfer to a UK bank account, too bad you haven't got any...." Any comment much appreciated. Someone suggested "just give to your UK bank the address of your cousin or parents or whoever". There are several reasons why this won't work, here 2 of them: 1) it's against the rule, your bank must have the address where you are resident for tax purpose, and 2) we have zero relatives in the UK. Meanwhile trying to open a UK HSBC account (no need to be UK resident) but still struggling: they insist on some official UK documents, like HMRC, certified by some local office, like the Gemeinde, all good with it but we don't have any UK documents recent enough (must be maximum 3months old, our most recent is 4months). I opened Revolut, which is "almost" a UK bank, but still having some registration issue with them that I don't yet understand. We're fine with the big things just using our German bank: HMRC, NI, receiving the rental income from our agent, paying for repairs, etc. But still worried about smaller money things that could easily cause big headeaches. Thanks, Alberto 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 18 February @Gambatte. I’ve had similar issues regarding Barclays advising of current bank accounts closure. Current account holder for 40 years and mortgage holder for 22 years. I rang them to ask for an extension saying that my circumstances are uncertain. This is true and they extended the closure time by 6 months. Nevertheless, I’m not so sure I can rely on that given that they have sent me another closure letter since. I managed to open an HSBC current account a few months ago. I submitted DE identity card plus, selfie photo. I sent them private pensions documents with my DE address and, my most recent HMRC self assessment return payment acknowledgment. These documents might well have been within 3 months old. However, I wasn’t able to open a savings account with HSBC as I was calling from abroad. If I phone from the Uk on a visit, that would be fine. Currently 3% interest on first £10k, 1.4% interest on more. HSBC still state that they ‘may’ need to close accounts for non UK residents. If your documents aren’t within 3 months old, get some! I suggest that you can contact the HMRC pension service for an annual statement. Do you pay voluntary additional NI? If so, an annual statement can help if requested. This is easy to do….google the contact number when calling from abroad. And, any private pension. Usually takes a few weeks for their reply to a DE address. Ask HMRC for any kind of information that requires written confirmation. Ask your house insurer, mortgage company for some written policy update etc etc. It’s all awkward though probably manageable for another 6-12 months. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 18 February @emkay , thanks a lot, useful. OK, I will call Barclays begging for an extension (they say they'll close the account late April, so at least still 2 month to go...). Meanwhile I expect I will have recent docs HSBC is prepared to accept. After all good old dear HMRC always sends us "greetings" early April... 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
