Postal address if not living in the UK

EasyRelax

Hi,

I don’t currently live in the UK, but I have a UK bank account, which I would like to keep. For this, I need a postal mail address, which I can give to the bank. Up until now, I have used a postal address service, which I no longer want to, because I never read the letters anyway. It’s a waste of money. I don’t actively use the bank account, and there is hardly any money in it. I just want to keep it, so I wouldn’t need to go through the process of opening one again in case I return.

My problem is that I need a postal address, from where my mails wouldn’t be returned.

Normally, people give a relatives’ address, but I don’t have any whose address I could use.

Does anyone have a good, creative idea for what address I could give to the bank, from where my mails wouldn’t be returned?

I know, I could just close the account, that would be the simplest and safest, but that’s what I don’t want to do, hence the question.

Thanks in advance.

Section62

EasyRelax said:

Hi,

I don’t currently live in the UK, but I have a UK bank account, which I would like to keep. For this, I need a postal mail address, which I can give to the bank. Up until now, I have used a postal address service, which I no longer want to, because I never read the letters anyway. It’s a waste of money. I don’t actively use the bank account, and there is hardly any money in it. I just want to keep it, so I wouldn’t need to go through the process of opening one again in case I return.

My problem is that I need a postal address, from where my mails wouldn’t be returned.

Normally, people give a relatives’ address, but I don’t have any whose address I could use.

Does anyone have a good, creative idea for what address I could give to the bank, from where my mails wouldn’t be returned?

I know, I could just close the account, that would be the simplest and safest, but that’s what I don’t want to do, hence the question.

Thanks in advance.

What does the bank's T&C's say about keeping the account if you aren't living in the UK?

You may find it easier to open a new account when you return to the UK without having a CIFAS marker as a result of your current bank getting annoyed you've given them false/misleading information and closing your account.

EasyRelax

Section62 said:

What does the bank's T&C's say about keeping the account if you aren't living in the UK?

You may find it easier to open a new account when you return to the UK without having a CIFAS marker as a result of your current bank getting annoyed you've given them false/misleading information and closing your account.

T&C's say you can't keep an account if you don't live in the UK.

You may be right about CIFAS markers... I haven't thought of that, but it's a good point.

Daliah

If for now you just need a UK sort code and account number, and a debit card, you could look at a multi-currency account with wise.com instead. They are not a bank (no FSCS protection) but they allow people resident in all sorts of countries and they offer bank-like services. They'll also be good if you ever need to repatriate any funds to the UK.

anotheruser

Accept your decision of moving abroad and stop trying to have your cake and eat it.

Sorry for the grumpy but just pointing out the obvious.

eDicky

Some UK banks allow you to keep your account if you move to an overseas address, some don't, yours apparently being one of the latter. Without a stable UK address for which documentary or electronic evidence is available you can't open a new UK account. The exceptions might be Starling or Monzo who just need an address one time to send your card.

So, best to keep paying the mail drop fees for as long as it's accepted by your bank, open an offshore GBP account in Jersey or somewhere if you have enough funds, or open the Wise account as suggested. Revolut is another but you would need to pay for Premium if you want any customer service.

EasyRelax

Thanks for the help everyone, I have decided to close my bank account.

Section62 is right, it's not worth it to get a bad credit rating if they find out I lied about the address. And it's easy to open a new account anyway if I need one.

Daliah is right about the fact that nowadays it's easy to get a UK bank account number from abroad too via various non-bank service providers if that’s what I need.

Maybe I’ll just leave the account with 0 balance, and they’ll close it automatically when my mails are returned from my current address.

Thrugelmir

Best to be truthful and honest. Then if you do subsequently have a requirement for an account. You've haven't burnt your bridges. Relationships are two way. 

Section62

EasyRelax said:

Thanks for the help everyone, I have decided to close my bank account.

Section62 is right, it's not worth it to get a bad credit rating if they find out I lied about the address. And it's easy to open a new account anyway if I need one.

Daliah is right about the fact that nowadays it's easy to get a UK bank account number from abroad too via various non-bank service providers if that’s what I need.

Maybe I’ll just leave the account with 0 balance, and they’ll close it automatically when my mails are returned from my current address.

If you've made the decision then I'd be proactive and close the account.

Returned post with "gone away" scrawled over it doesn't look good if you are thinking about a future banking relationship, and many others coming to this forum for help in the past have found a £0 balance has become a substantial debt after the bank applied a fee/charge to the account after it had been abandoned, and the negative balance snowballed.

Does the bank have a savings account for which you don't have to be resident in the UK?  If so, that could be a good way to keep a bridge open whilst closing the current account.

Daliah

eDicky said:

Some UK banks allow you to keep your account if you move to an overseas address, some don't, yours apparently being one of the latter. Without a stable UK address for which documentary or electronic evidence is available you can't open a new UK account. The exceptions might be Starling or Monzo who just need an address one time to send your card.

So, best to keep paying the mail drop fees for as long as it's accepted by your bank, open an offshore GBP account in Jersey or somewhere if you have enough funds, or open the Wise account as suggested. Revolut is another but you would need to pay for Premium if you want any customer service.

Starling will not let you keep your account if you move abroad. Don't know about Monzo. Revolut is not a Bank in the UK.

EasyRelax

Section62 said:

EasyRelax said:

Thanks for the help everyone, I have decided to close my bank account.

Section62 is right, it's not worth it to get a bad credit rating if they find out I lied about the address. And it's easy to open a new account anyway if I need one.

Daliah is right about the fact that nowadays it's easy to get a UK bank account number from abroad too via various non-bank service providers if that’s what I need.

Maybe I’ll just leave the account with 0 balance, and they’ll close it automatically when my mails are returned from my current address.

If you've made the decision then I'd be proactive and close the account.

Returned post with "gone away" scrawled over it doesn't look good if you are thinking about a future banking relationship, and many others coming to this forum for help in the past have found a £0 balance has become a substantial debt after the bank applied a fee/charge to the account after it had been abandoned, and the negative balance snowballed.

Does the bank have a savings account for which you don't have to be resident in the UK?  If so, that could be a good way to keep a bridge open whilst closing the current account.

Ok, noted. Perhaps, I’ll close it then.

My £0 balance is unlikely to go negative, since I have had the account for a long time, and it doesn’t have any costs. The only way for that to happen is if someone steals my identity and uses the account without my knowledge. I deem this risk minimal, but not 0%.

Your ”future banking relationship” point is valid.

Regarding savings accounts, they might have them, but I’d have to jump through a lot of hoops to get that. It’d be a whole new application process, going through checks etc. It might have a monthly fee too. This would defeat the purpose as my goal is to keep things simple and save time and money. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.