# Setting up a UK bank account?



## Soldierxx (Mar 17, 2013)

Hi, 

I have moved to Spain but I would like to setup a UK bank account. I no longer have an address in the UK so I am not sure how I would go about doing this. Do any of the UK banks offer some kind of account that lets you set it up with a foreign address? Or even setting up an account online without going to the branch. I am willing to fly to the UK to set it up if thats what it takes, but I still wont have an address.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

You should have done it when you were in the Uk really, you'll find it a little difficult now without an address to use.

I did it with Santander with their knowledge but I had a Uk address as well, and there was a UK resident as another signatory. Other than that try some of the other banks that have Spanish branches like Barclays, Halifax ... but as I say, not having a UK address might make it difficult as many banks wont open accounts for non Uk residents


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Stravinsky said:


> You should have done it when you were in the Uk really, you'll find it a little difficult now without an address to use.
> 
> I did it with Santander with their knowledge but I had a Uk address as well, and there was a UK resident as another signatory. Other than that try some of the other banks that have Spanish branches like Barclays, Halifax ... but as I say, not having a UK address might make it difficult as many banks wont open accounts for non Uk residents


Halifax Hispania doesn't exist any more sadly, it is now part of Lloyds International. They offer an international (i.e. offshore) account in sterling which is free if you keep the balance above £2500, otherwise it's £20 a month.

International Offshore Bank Account - Lloyds TSB International

PS just read the small print:


> To be eligible you need a gross annual income of £50,000*. For joint accounts at least one of the applicants needs a gross annual income of £50,000*.
> 
> Alternatively you can also be eligible if you have £25,000* to deposit (solely or jointly) with Lloyds TSB International within 3 months of opening your account.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Halifax Hispania doesn't exist any more sadly, it is now part of Lloyds International. They offer an international (i.e. offshore) account in sterling which is free if you keep the balance above £2500, otherwise it's £20 a month.
> 
> International Offshore Bank Account - Lloyds TSB International
> 
> PS just read the small print:


Lloyds have been bought out by Sabadell - they are in the process of moving accounts over. 

Davexf


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## Soldierxx (Mar 17, 2013)

Are there any other options apart from this Lloyds international account?


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## djfwells (Sep 28, 2009)

Barclays ?


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## DunWorkin (Sep 2, 2010)

I have recently spent a lot of time trying to do this without success :frusty:

I had a UK account which I had not used for a long time and it became 'dormant'.

Something came up that meant I needed an account in the UK. The bank with the 'dormant' account would not let me reactivate it.

I tried everything and everywhere. 

I have discovered that it is not possible to open a UK account unless you live there. They need either current utility bills in your name or for you to be on the electoral register. This means that just having a UK address of convenience (ie a relative's address) is not enough. 

Accounts that were opened before you left the UK are ok to keep but you cannot open a new one.

It is not the individual banks that are making these rules it is a rule which covers all banks. The excuse given is 'money laundering'.

Our only option is an offshore sterling account. This means either a large initial deposit or a constant balance of more than I would wish to have in the account.

What happened to the idea of the EU being an open market with ease of trading between countries


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

djfwells said:


> Barclays ?


OP: Lloyds International is now Sabadell!

Barclays have announced that they are closing a number of branches in Spain - I wouldn't use them anyway as they have quite high charges.


I don't think that you will be able to set up an account in UK - even the building societies won't let you any more. Luckily I kept mine when we moved over so that I can keep paying my endowment policies - they're only about £9 per month. Imagine if I had to pay them from a Spanish account - it would cost more in charges!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Before we moved over here we rather stupidly closed our UK bank accounts. Then we thought perhaps we should have a UK account so we tried to open a post office account using my parents address where we were living before moving over. They wouldn't let us since we stupidly told them the truth, that we had moved there just four weeks previously, so they said they suspected we were money laundering.... we wanted to deposit £100. Money laundering????


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## kurt85 (May 7, 2013)

I just use my offshore account, need to have a certain amount in there as well to have one though.

Kurt


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Soldierxx said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have moved to Spain but I would like to setup a UK bank account. I no longer have an address in the UK so I am not sure how I would go about doing this. Do any of the UK banks offer some kind of account that lets you set it up with a foreign address? Or even setting up an account online without going to the branch. I am willing to fly to the UK to set it up if thats what it takes, but I still wont have an address.


Most expats kept their UK bank accounts when they moved to Spain. I believe you can only set up a UK bank account if you have a UK address and are resident in the UK.

Both Lloyds and Barlays have international bank accounts in Spain, but they are both cutting back because of financial constraints


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Aron said:


> Most expats kept their UK bank accounts when they moved to Spain. I believe you can only set up a UK bank account if you have a UK address and are resident in the UK.
> 
> Both Lloyds and Barlays have international bank accounts in Spain, but they are both cutting back because of financial constraints


No, no, no!

Lloyds International was sold to Sabadell earlier this year - it does NOT exist any more. It might appear in name but if you look closer it is Sabadell - same as CAM.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> OP: Lloyds International is now Sabadell!
> 
> Barclays have announced that they are closing a number of branches in Spain - I wouldn't use them anyway as they have quite high charges.
> 
> ...


Talking about charges,when your endowment policies mature, won't you be paying a big chunk of the money to Spain?


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> No, no, no!
> 
> Lloyds International was sold to Sabadell earlier this year - it does NOT exist any more. It might appear in name but if you look closer it is Sabadell - same as CAM.


Ok, one no would be sufficient!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Soldierxx said:


> Are there any other options apart from this Lloyds international account?


I have a LloydsTSB Offshore sterling and also a euro account. I set it up when I lived in Prague to handle my UK income whilst living there.

To open the account I needed to deposit £100 or 100 euros. The annual fee is £84. 
I certainly didn't deposit huge sums of money in it nor was I asked to....I don't think I had more than £15 -£20 k in it at any one point.

My only caveat would be that they must surely be the world's most inefficient bank. I have received apologies and 200 euros compensation from them for various inefficiences. I'm thinking of changing to another UK offshore bank.

To open the account I needed to show last six months'statement from current bank, passport and proof of origin of income

Many people think offshore accounts are only for the wealthy or crooks. Not so. They are extremely convenient for people who have income from or assets in other countries or whose work requires frequent travel. They also share information with European tax authorities so unless your offshore account is somewhere less fastidious you are taxed at source if appropriate.

I have my UK income paid into my offshore account and keep a working sum in my Spanish bank, changing when the exchange rate is favourable.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Aron said:


> Ok, one no would be sufficient!


Aron, thinking about your post yesterday about investing in Spain...by sheer coincidence OH spoke with her Fund Manager yesterday...and has switched some investment to Spanish companies!


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

extranjero said:


> Talking about charges,when your endowment policies mature, won't you be paying a big chunk of the money to Spain?


It's gone strangely quiet!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Aron said:


> Ok, one no would be sufficient!


There was one NO per time it's already been mentioned in this thread


... yes, endowment policies are taxable in Spain. 

But then what can one do? I've been paying in for years and don't want to stop or cash it in with only a couple of years left.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

extranjero said:


> Talking about charges,when your endowment policies mature, won't you be paying a big chunk of the money to Spain?


Yes, I guess he will. But then maybe some people,perhaps most, think it's a price worth paying for being able to live in Spain.

Is there _anything_ you find enjoyable about Spain, I wonder?


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> Yes, I guess he will. But then maybe some people,perhaps most, think it's a price worth paying for being able to live in Spain.
> 
> Is there _anything_ you find enjoyable about Spain, I wonder?


I would really resent saving for years and seeing the interest and bonuses wiped out by the Spanish taxman.It's nothing else but robbery.There should be an agreement , that in European countries, anything that is tax free in the country where it originates, should be treated as tax free in any other EU country.Paying savings interest, yes but not plundering the capital.
MRYPG9-I actually wrote on another thread recently about things that I enjoyed and they were very similar to yours, but losing thousands of pounds of hard earned savings for being able to live in Spain would never be worth it.I wonder how many actually declare their pension pots, savings plans etc!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

The company that supplies clients for my wife , set up & opened a UK bank account in her name & using there office address , with Barclay's. Not that she needed it, but does now use it solely for business & has now transferred the the address to our daughter's house.
My wife showed nothing whatsoever for this bank account.


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## Soldierxx (Mar 17, 2013)

If I was to setup a Barclays account in Spain, would it still act as a UK barclays account? So would people be able to pay into my Barclays account over the counter from the UK?


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Soldierxx said:


> If I was to setup a Barclays account in Spain, would it still act as a UK barclays account? So would people be able to pay into my Barclays account over the counter from the UK?


I once read a post that said that the two banks dont actually work with each other, even though they are of the same name and origin, so on that basis what you are suggesting is that people would pay into the UK sterling bank account, and then you would have to arrange for the transfer to be done in € to your account here


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