I feel very stupid,banking/pension advice please

lispyelf

I really do feel very daft but don't know what to do for the best. I'm currently paying Lloyds lots of money every month just to use my account. the explanation of why i've ended up here is a little long so please bear with me.
Been with Lloyds since the late 80's. But 6yrs ago I moved to Dublin as my Mum was ill. Thought I'd be here for a year at most so didn't change my bank, but all these years later, I'm still here caring for her(she's 94 now but still doing pretty well) and have done nothing about my ridiculous banking arrangements. Head in sand, not knowing what to do for the best, are the best explanations I can muster. I am a financial moron.
So I have a pension paid monthly into a Gold account, about £1400.
The monthly fee for this account is £12.95
Everytime I use my Visa Debit to either withdraw cash or just use the card I pay £1 but also 2.99% is also taken as a non standard transfer fee. This happens on both Euro and Sterling transactions. Most months I'm paying over £50 just to access my money.
After about 6mths here, I contacted Lloyds, explained my situation and changed my billing and contact details to my address here in Ireland.
I also have a classic account and 2 savings account with them.
About 6mths ago I managed to steel myself and spoke with a very unhelpful man at Lloyds. Apparently I haven't enough income for an international account where these fees are not incurred, his only advice to change to another bank.
Now I suspect that I wouldn't be able to change to another bank as I no longer have an address in the UK, anyhow got a bit stuck again as i looked at other potential banks and my head imploded.
Sorry if I'm rambling, so, should I just bit the bullet and open an Irish bank account and have my pension deposited there each month? or is that even possible?
And out of curiosity, why do I get charged £1 +2.99% even for sterling transactions?
All advice/thoughts gratefully received

grumbler

lispyelf wrote: »

...
And out of curiosity, why do I get charged £1 +2.99% even for sterling transactions?

I don't think you get charged for this.

All advice/thoughts gratefully received

Why do you keep paying for the Gold Account? Close it or convert to a normal fee-free account. Get you pension paid to it or to to the Classic account that you have.

Open an Irish account.
Use some company specialising in currency transfers for transferring your money from Lloyds to the Irish account :
http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/money-transfer-to-Ireland/1500-GBP
http://www.fxcompared.com/Content/money-transfer-from-UK-Ireland-below-3000-amount-1500

Solsol

Couldn't you open a bank account with a bank in Ireland?

grumbler

Solsol wrote: »

Couldn't you open a bank account with a bank in Ireland?

lispyelf wrote: »

....should I just bit the bullet and open an Irish bank account and have my pension deposited there each month? ....

:think:............................

GingerFurball_2

lispyelf wrote: »

And out of curiosity, why do I get charged £1 +2.99% even for sterling transactions?

Simple answer here is that you don't.