1.5 Million Expats

Moneymaker

There are 1.5 million expats living outside the UK - 400,000 of them in Spain.
So - please - where is the Moneysaving forum for them?

Huskyrunner

and how many of them still get the winter fuel allowance payment

Moneymaker

Where I am, the winter temperature can fall below zero but it's mostly above 10 degrees C. However, the house is uninsulated (and would cost a fortune to insulate) so keeping it warm isn't cheap. And I was refused the winter fuel allowance.

seven-day-weekend

They are not now allowed the WFA unless they live somewhere colder than the UK.

pollypenny

Find an appropriate forum wherever they live!

Or do they want to live as if they are still in the UK?

Moneymaker

Most are looking for the cheapest, fastest way to transfer cash for living expenses.
Cheaper car-, buildings- and travel insurance. Health insurance. Cheap flights.
Ways to reduce the cost of shipping items back and forth - everything from household furniture to a UK 3-pin plug!
Ways to get UK banks to provide an account to pay pension into; to handle changes of address without needing to travel to the UK to present a passport at the bank's counter (yes, really). Other banking problems.
There are lots of ways in which MSE might be able to help (and earn money in the process) so why ignore 1.5 million expats?

[Deleted User]

Maybe because we have enough on our plates dealing with the 65 million who live here? If people chose of their own free will to move to another country so be it, but they can do it without my help. !

Moneymaker

Most expats - from my personal experience - are not rich. Many are living on pensions or are earning below minimum income from tourist industry jobs. They moved abroad to get away from the tussle of daily life in the UK and to enjoy more hours of sunshine.

Inevitably, this means sacrifices: they are remote from former friends and family; they face bureaucratic nonsense from both the UK and their chosen country; they have to cope with a new language; they are often of an age where medical problems arise; they face undeserved jealousy from people.
For various reasons, many are forced to give up and return to the UK.

However, what they all have is guts; they have the bravery to make the decision to move. And, for that reason, they deserve respect and whatever support we can offer.

That's why I'm asking MSE "why are you ignoring 1.5 million expats?"

lessonlearned

There are dozens of ex pat forums, support groups and websites, nearly all of them cover money issues, as well as being mines of local information.

A quick Google will lead you to them.

Pollycat

Moneymaker wrote: »

Most expats - from my personal experience - are not rich. Many are living on pensions or are earning below minimum income from tourist industry jobs. They moved abroad to get away from the tussle of daily life in the UK and to enjoy more hours of sunshine.

Inevitably, this means sacrifices: they are remote from former friends and family; they face bureaucratic nonsense from both the UK and their chosen country; they have to cope with a new language; they are often of an age where medical problems arise; they face undeserved jealousy from people.
For various reasons, many are forced to give up and return to the UK.

However, what they all have is guts; they have the bravery to make the decision to move. And, for that reason, they deserve respect and whatever support we can offer.

That's why I'm asking MSE "why are you ignoring 1.5 million expats?"

And one of the sacrifices is to not have a Moneysaving forum specifically for them.

What are you expecting to achieve with this poll?

Savvy_Sue

Moneymaker wrote: »

That's why I'm asking MSE "why are you ignoring 1.5 million expats?"

Probably a better place to ask that question would be on the Site Feedback board, so I'll move you over there.

MOVING THREADS FOR BETTER RESPONSES

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

FWIW, I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect a UK site to cover expats, especially as the problems seem to vary so much from one country to another, and there are dedicated expat sites for any country I've ever had cause to look for. I suspect there would be a danger of incorrect / out of date answers being given to questions, because things do change - I'm currently on holiday in Spain and reading one of the expat newspapers there were a couple of articles covering changes to various laws which might affect many expats. There was a LOT of detail in one of those articles, but IMO you'd still need 'proper' ie paid for advice if it did affect you.

We do have a very long Living Abroad thread on this board, if that's of any help.