UK banks closing expat's accounts

[darmstadt]

Will this affect my Post Office Savings account (all GBP1,18p of it)....

[scooterscot]

No protection on TW if the underlying bank (which depends on which address you use) goes bust. They're not a member of any FP schemes.

Until recently TW euro account on my account was a local bank here in Munich. Whereas the GBP was based in London, I forget the name.

[SimonMac]

Remind me again why a Brit living abroad is an ex-pat and not an immigrant?!

[scooterscot]

A Dictionary would help answer that question.

[TestMangler]

A Dictionary would help answer that question.

I just checked and someone has ripped out several of the front and back pages of my dictionary.

It just goes from bad to worse.

[NotAllThere]

Remind me again why a Brit living abroad is an ex-pat and not an immigrant?!

Expats tend to be people who either intend to return to their home country, or haven't really an intention of integrating into the local community.

Originally, I intend to return to the UK for retirement. But now I'm intending to stay - and indeed become Swiss - I guess I'm an immigrant.

I've got a UK account with First Direct. If they decide I have to close it, then it will actually make things easier as my wife can't remember any of her verification details, and without that, we can't close it from our end. I'd just stop the one direct debit I've got going, then empty the account into my transferwise account.

[jamesbrown]

They do have e.g. a borderless (business and personal) account for dealing with money in other currencies so TransferWise has outgrown their name, really.

It may also be the only option in the short term if you're caught by a UK bank closing and haven't built up sufficient proofs to open an account in the country you're moving to, or don't trust the local banking system (Cyprus )

That's what I was thinking of, the borderless account (it's great), but you need to treat it like a transfer service and not leave money there, for precisely the reason you mention - no FSCS protection.

[zerosum]

Remind me again why a Brit living abroad is an ex-pat and not an immigrant?!

The correct term is now refugee.

[Old Greg]

In terms of the UK, I'm an emigrant. In terms of Ireland, I'm an immigrant. I wouldn't describe myself as an expat as I don't intend to return to the UK.

[Mordac]

In terms of the UK, I'm an emigrant. In terms of Ireland, I'm an immigrant. I wouldn't describe myself as an expat as I don't intend to return to the UK.

Finally, some good news...