# Setting up accounts for water, electric, council tax



## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi all,
We are soon visiting Portugal just for a long weekend Friday-Monday to complete the purchase on our house near Tomar. We will be staying in Tomar. I would really like to set up accounts for water, electric and council tax whilst I am there and get the water and electric re-connected as the house has been empty for a while. I also need to open a bank account.

From your experiences, do you think it will be possible to do all of this in such a short space of time? What documents do I need to bring from the UK? Is getting water and electric a simple or a complicated process? Where do I need to go to make this happen? Are any particular banks better for non-Portuguese speakers than others?( I am learning-slowly!!)

Thanks in advance for your comments.


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## Kevin Ennis (Aug 25, 2015)

p9cbs said:


> Hi all,
> We are soon visiting Portugal just for a long weekend Friday-Monday to complete the purchase on our house near Tomar. We will be staying in Tomar. I would really like to set up accounts for water, electric and council tax whilst I am there and get the water and electric re-connected as the house has been empty for a while. I also need to open a bank account.
> 
> From your experiences, do you think it will be possible to do all of this in such a short space of time? What documents do I need to bring from the UK? Is getting water and electric a simple or a complicated process? Where do I need to go to make this happen? Are any particular banks better for non-Portuguese speakers than others?( I am learning-slowly!!)
> ...


Depending on what time you arrive / depart on the Friday and Monday you will be extremely fortunate to get anything done of what you mention. Sorry to be so pessimistic but 25 years of doing exactly this for our clients leads me to think this way. Remember that workers here like their weekends as well and also like their long lunch breaks. Combine those facts with the excruciatingly slow rate at which bureaucracy functions and you will see what I mean.

I recommend that you contact instead a reliable property management company to whom you can give power-of-attorney to tackle these tasks for you. This can be done easily in a day.

You will need your passport and your fiscal number (no de contribuinte).

Whereabouts is your property?


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi Kevin, Thanks for your reply. The property is a short drive from Tomar in the village of Beselga. I have been in contact with the Estate Agents I am purchasing with and they are going to assist me with he water and electricity reconnections thankfully!!!! Do you know which banks are the best for English speaking customer service? Also, can I set up direct debits for water, gas/electric and council tax? 
Thanks for your help, Claire


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## Kevin Ennis (Aug 25, 2015)

You can set up direct debits for electricity; I am not sure about water and gas will be provided by a local supplier of one of the main gas companies. Council tax is paid twice per year so that account will go to your fiscal representative or to you directly if you are living here. The demands cannot be sent out of the country. With regard to the banks it all depends on the local branch. We have a terrific bank here in Foz do Arelho, Caixa Agricola. I don´t think any chain is better than any other. 

I suspect that you will need to make a further visit during working days to get through what you want. Things move slowly here but I suspect it would not be much different in the UK.

If you are not going to live here full-time you will need a property management company and this might be as good a time as any to contract one. I strongly advise that you do not depend on friends or neighbours as these agreements invariably end in tears and it is very important to you that you get VAT invoices for all work done on your behalf as the government is really cracking down on illegal labour and foreign owers are, politically, a more acceptable target than Portuguese voters.

Good luck; let us know how you get on.


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## TonyJ1 (May 20, 2014)

If you live in the EU/EEA the property tax can be sent to your home address - you don't need a fiscal representative in that case. A fiscal representative in this case is optional.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

You'll need passport, fiscal number & either UK or PT address (& IIRC, also a UK utility bill if providing a UK address) to open the bank account.

My own bank is Millennium & they can open an account for you in one visit of less than an hour & they give you all theonline banking codes there & then & cards/cheques are posted to you.


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Thank-you all for the replies. I spoke to my Estate Agent again today and someone in the office will help with setting up accounts as much as they can in the limited time I have. I think the crucial things I need to do are get the electric, gas and water switched on so that the builder can begin working on the house in my absence. He mentioned that he thinks I will need to visit the local town hall to get the water connection sorted. That sounds like it could be tricky!!!


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## p9cbs (Jul 14, 2015)

Hi all,
Just wanted to update. We visited Tomar last Friday - Monday. Within our time there we achieved a huge amount, partly in thanks to all those who gave me advice on here and prepared me for the visit. Following the drive from Porto to Tomar on Friday, we were whisked off to the notary to sign the paperwork where we received a set of what can only be described as 'medieval style ' keys. We visited the house, met with 2 builders for quotes for work, met the neighbours and local ladies at the village shop. We visited the DIY store in Coimbra to look at kitchens, bags of cement etc!!! We even managed an hour or two at Agroal river beach. The estate agents are kindly dealing with the water and electric connections with my permission and I even managed to open a bank account. One point to mention which I did not know was that you need proof of employer and income to open an account. I had to phone my employer in the UK and get them to email me a copy of my contract and P45 - that was interesting!!! Overall, a very productive weekend. Unfortunately I spent very little time at the beloved house and have still not had the opportunity to walk to the end of my land. Maybe next visit!!!!! Cannot wait to get back there and think it will get harder and harder to come back to the UK each time. Phew


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