Dear unknown friends, Hope someone can offer valuable advice. I have two UK unsecured personal loans. I recently left the UK and moved back to my parents house, in a developing country with no links to the UK. I can't pay one penny on those loans anymore, and I will be soon defaulting. A student loan the size of Jupiter takes precedence, and I am struggling to avoid defaulting on it. I read every single post on the subject I found. I gathered that a creditor/collector cannot legally get a UK CCJ against a non-UK resident. I am debating if to tell the creditors I moved abroad (before defaulting), or if to default and let them find me. I am also debating if, were I decide to tell them, if I should tell them by updating my address on their files (through their websites), or if I should tell them by mail enclosing with the letter a bill under my name as proof of address. If I give them my new address they will come chasing but they should be unable to get a CCJ against me, but if I don't then I risk them getting a CCJ against me, as neither creditors nor courts know I live abroad. Any words of wisdom on my dilemma? Should I tell them of my address abroad or not? I'm leaning towards informing about my address abroad. I've read mixed comments, some saying one should tell creditors one moved abroad, others saying not to tell under any circumstance. Thank you and God bless you, LL

Hi all. I'm in a mess. I've been living in the US for almost 7 years now. Had debt in the UK when I left, young and careless. I have no plans to return to the UK as I'm a US citizen now and well settled here. I co-own a house in the UK with 3 siblings, the 4 of us own a quarter each. It's a family house we inherited and they have no interest in ever selling it. Obviously, my share is just a quarter, 25%. I have 3 separate debts, £2082, £8513 and £1182. The CCJs were entered on 14/02/14, 06/12/13 and 20/12/12 respectively. They have also applied for a charging order against the property I partially own. My questions are: Firstly, can I apply to have these CCJs set aside as I have been a permanent resident of the US for the past 7 years. I've only just become aware of these judgments after checking my credit report online. When I left the UK I did inform my financial institutions (Egg and HSBC) that I was moving to the US. Could they force the house to be sold, even though I only own a small share of the property? There is no mortgage on it. Two relatives live in the house that will not be moving for a very long time. I also believe that the two most recent CCJs must have been statute barred as at that point I'd been in the States over 6 & half years and have had no contact and made no payments since I've lived here. What is the best course of action. I've searched and searched and have not been able to find anyone in a similar situation, with a small share of an asset that has no hope of being sold anytime soon.

Hi, I recently went to South Africa on holiday. When I arrived, I took out some cash out of an ATM from my credit card and I used a debit card to pay for my car rental. I did not use any of my cards other than that. When I returned home I realised some of my cards were missing. I reported this to my banks as soon as I knew. I was then told that my current account had money taken out of it to the tune of about £1100. All my cards have the same PIN number, but I never used this card out there. The bank refused my fraud claim and I appealed it. On appeal, they refused it again and gave the reason that I was negligent as my PIN was used. I suggested that maybe they saw me use my other card. However, the bank says that from the time I used my card at the airport to the time the first fraud happened, there was a gap of 2 days. The fraudsters would not have waited 2 days to use my card. So they can only assume I am being negligent and I have somehow given away my PIN number. I have contacted the Ombudsman who told me to write to them. I was wondering if someone could advise me here. I thought the bank is responsible for ensuring my money? Will I ever get this money bank? Thanks in advance.

Good afternoon I'm looking for some advice on paying income tax on my earnings when working in Qatar as i have been reading mixed stories when looking on line. I move abroad in August 2013 to work which meant I spent 163 days in the UK within the tax year 2013-14. I paid all my tax from my previous job when living in the UK from April 2013 - August 2014. I'm planning on returning to the UK in April 2017 (after the 2016 - 2017 tax year). My questions are: Will I be liable to pay tax for the remianing tax year from August 2013 - April 2014? Will I be liable to pay any tax when I return April 2017 (after the 2016 - 2017 tax year)? Thank you Mark

Hi, This is a real struggle to deal with. I recently noticed when credit was refused to me that a storage company had issued a CCJ in my name at an address I no longer lived at. The story in brief goes as follows; I took up storage back in 2008 as we were going to live abroad for a few months. The storage company were well aware of this and also knew they were required to communicate with me via email which they did. They also invoiced me via email and they were paid via BACS. Our situation changed in relation to we found somewhere free to store our possessions and i asked my friend to clear out our storage which he did, however he left the padlock on the storage unit. I emailed and communicated all of this with the storage company including when the storage was empty. However they continued to bill me by paper bill to my previous address rather than by email, they ceased communication on email and apparently (talking to neighbours) they had sent 4 or 5 invoices to my old address even thou they knew we did not live there and that we was abroad. According to the court, a default notice / CCJ was issued at that address unknown to myself until recently. i have tried to contact the storage company and in writing a few times and have not had a reply from them. I have read up about CCJs and having them set aside but how easy is this? I clearly was abroad and/or not living at the address and they clearly knew this. Will emails i have be enough for me to prove this? or am i wasting my time. You see the problem is that this company continued to bill me monthly for nearly 2 years after they severed contact with me. Which surely is wrong? i can only think of greed as their motivator for continuing to bill someone who clearly did not have anything in their storage and had clearly told them all items had been removed and that it was no longer needed. There was no contract saying i needed to give 2 years notice? The CCJ will come off of my credit file in 2015 and is less than 2k but i need it removed so that it was never there, which is quite difficult to achieve. Any experience in this or help is most appreciated in this very stressful time. Michael

With all the testing involved with ATOS and now these PIPS run by the same company , I've been wondering if its worth while staying in the UK at all given the quality of life and what the alternatives are , is it actually still possible to move abroad on and still receive DLA ( I am interested in moving to Holland ) or has ATOS's take over of that too made it impossible ? And how does ATOS actually enforce their testing if your living there , as opposed here ? thanks, mike

Hello, first post here. I am a EU citizen and I lived in the UK for a few years. I have just relocated back to the continent (the Netherlands, not my country of origin). I spent about 10 days in the country (in hotels) before finding accommodation and I have just moved in last Friday, however according to the local laws I am technically not resident yet, because my accommodation has to be approved by the local council, which will probably happen in 2-3 weeks. When in the UK, I was working full time and receiving Working Tax Credits. I informed the Tax Credits helpline that I had finished my job and was going to move abroad, they told me I had to inform them of my new address when I would have one. So far so good. Now I start thinking that I should have informed the HMRC as soon as I was in the country. My questions are: 1) Have I done anything wrong in not contacting the HMRC before I had a permanent address? 2) Can I wait until I have confirmation of my registration or is it better to call as soon as possible? 3) Which date should I give for me leaving the country, the day that I have left or the day that I have moved in the new accommodation? 4) Is it advisable to write a letter to the Tax Credits on top of calling them by telephone? Thanks

Hi, this is my first post, just got an office copy of a secured loan deed from the Land Registry and found that I was mis-sold PPI. I'm currently doing a load of research before I claim, but I now live over the Channel in continental Europe, has anyone had any experience of making a claim from abroad? I realise that there will be some postal delay, but have any lenders tried to make things difficult because of this?

Hello first post and was hoping for some advice. I left the UK a few years ago and left some CC debts and unsecured loans, I continued to pay my debts until I could not afford to pay them any longer, at which point I stopped paying. The usual letters and threats came but these were just ignored. However a few companies have successfully filled CCJ’s as I still have a property in my name albeit in negative equity, I have until now just ignored these and was intending once they were out of time, to just have the whole lot set aside, as I was not a UK resident when the court issued the CCJ’s. The issue I have and why I'm writing is that after doing a little research it appears that the next course of action will be for the bailiffs to attend my address and seize good, etc. I'm not in the country but I don't want my tenants hassled and wanted advice as to how I was best to proceed if/when the inevitable happens. I obviously don't want to make any contact with these companies as I don't want to “reset the clock” so to speak. My initial thought was to just have the tenant inform the bailiffs that they are not me and then just to point blank refuse any further details unless a court orders them to? I could also try and have the CCJ’s set aside, but I believe that I would then have to supply the creditors and the courts with my current address and don't really want to do that either. I am hoping that someone will have the answer as to the best way to proceed, in these particular circumstances, as I have never dealt with bailiffs before. Thanks in advance sunseaker

Hello guys, This is my first post in this forum. I used to live in Spain were I lost my job and couldn't repay some debts. Now I live in Britain and my situation is better as I have a full time job. I repaid part of my debts back in Spain but not everything. Yesterday, I received a letter from a British collection agency asking for immediate payment of a debt incurred in Spain (credit card actually). I am not evading the debt or something. I even paid part of it a few months ago. However, the Spanish bank is chasing via this collection agency. What to do here? Is the debt enforceable in Britain? Because in Spain I have a judgment of personal bankruptcy. So no one can chase me for a debt in Spain but I am surprise by this move. I continue paying but I would like to know how to remove this collection agency form the equation. I thought about this: Consumer_Credit_Act_template on this website (I can't post the link) As I don't think they have the proper documents formatted to the British law and usages. Also the figure they sent doesn't take in account what I paid already. So I don't recognise part of this debt. Thank you for your input

Hello. I'm new to CAG forum. I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. I've been living in New Zealand for some 12 years. I've recently received a letter from Link Financial Outsourcing via the Mauritius Postal Service, headed "Notice of Sum in Arrears" stating I have arrears on balance of over £10,000 and accruing £30 (give or take) interest monthly. The letter does not state what the debt is for, but I'm assuming it's a student loan from 1994-98 that I took out. I also think the size of the debt has been greatly inflated although I don't have any paper work to prove otherwise. I haven't received any other letters. I would have expected to have received some sort of notification, but since my address is partially incorrect, perhaps it never arrived. My brother in the UK recalls giving my address to a girl over the phone who claimed to be a long lost friend several months ago. This probably would account for the incorrect address that they are using. I am in a quandary on how I should proceed. I haven't yet called either Link or SLC as I'm worried that I would hastily agree something I would later regret. I'm also concerned that if they had my contact details here, they would be calling in the middle of the night. I am in full-time employment earning a modest wage, but we recently had a new baby and I am currently supporting my family as the sole income earner. £10,000 is roughly $20,000 and it's money I just don't have nor hope to have any time soon. I am considering making an offer for half the amount as I could just about scrape that together from the little savings that we have, or negotiate some sort of payment plan with either Link or the SLC. After reading about the cavalier attitude of Link here, I'm beginning to think this might be an unwise course of action. I haven't contacted or been contacted by the Student Loan Company, for at least 10 if not 12 years. Am I right in assuming that since more than 6 years has passed the debt is statute barred and no further action can be taken by Link? We are hoping to return to the UK at some point in the future and so would like to have this resolved. Any advice on a course of action would be greatly appreciated. Offending article attached. By the way, there was no page 2, just an Office for Fair Trade advice sheet... [ATTACH=CONFIG]46476[/ATTACH]

My son has received a letter from an insurer who is about to pursue him for £24,000 for a drink driving incident back in 2010. This is the background to the case http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?316662-Pursued-by-insurance-company-for-uninisured-losses Insurer is asking for income details with a view to agreeing repayment within 28 days, or court proceedings will start. Problem number 1 is that my son is in Australia and not due back until end of year possibly longer. He has no job to come back to and no assets to speak of. Problem number 2 is reducing the figure from £24k - I think the insurer is incompetent and not challenged the claim - the written off vehicle is a 10 year car worth £1400, the rest of the claim is car hire (£3k) and "personal injury" costs for driver and 3 passengers. Problem number 3 is if it goes to court should he defend the claim and risk incurring claimants legals costs - it would likely be Fast Track, not Small Claims due to size of claim. I've had all the comments that he deserves everything he gets for Drink Driving so just some sensible advice would be appreciated.

I know you need a TV license to watch live tv over the net but what if its from say the Netherlands? Do I still need a TV license then? They dont have a TV license there so do I need one here to watch their TV?

Hello everyone, I've been reading threads so I understand a bit (or think I do) but want to make sure I'm not mistaken. I have a UK credit card debt which, due to a down turn in circumstances, I don't think I am going to be able to repay. Until now, I made every payment. I have been living in South America for many years, but still have my UK credit card. Soon I'm off somewhere else, closing the business I have here. Although I will be back from time to time. I won't be going to Europe - too expensive. I'll probably be a bit of a nomad for a while as I'm trying to set up an business online.I won't be back living back in the UK again unless I have some sort of debilitating accident. The debt is less than ten thousand pounds. I last made a purchase with the card a few days ago. I don't want the merchant to be stiffed. Should I make another payment to "acknowledge" the debt so that this merchant doesn't get a charge back? I believe that a CCJ can't be issued against me (long time since I lived in the UK). The card company, I guess, will sell the debt and a DCA will come after me. I understand that the debt can't be enforced after 6 years. I have a couple of thousand pounds in one of the channel Island banks. Can the credit card company, or the DCA they use, grab that? What are the consequences of me not repaying this debt? Do I get published on some list of ne'er-do-wells? Do I come up as a rogue on internet searches? The card company is having financial difficulties at the moment. I won't mention the name, because I guess DCAs fish here, but you can guess. All the debt will be sold on whatever happens, so i guess that makes no difference.

Hello all, New here and after some advice. My family have recently moved to Ireland, we have 2 AIB bank accounts (in good order) and are paying hefty savings in to an Ulster bank account. We have no credit cards here, and pay all bills etc on time. We moved from the UK, where my husband has lots and lots of bad debt. not a large amount, just owes lots of different people.I have two debts outstanding from a long time ago. I have some questions regarding tidying up our credit reports a bit.... 1) I have a defaulted store card marked on my credit report as 'HP from CL Finance' which defaulted 20/08/2007. I have not really communicated with them, and certainly have not had any written communication in the last 3 years. I am under the impression that after 6 years on your report a default just 'drops off' as it were? If this is the case should I just wait for the 2 months for this to happen, rather than try and do something about the debt? 2) I also have an old overdraft with Halifax, its £2600 so quite a lot. It was sold to Arrow Global, and marked as defaulted in 2008. However it is marked as 'updated' in October 2012 and recently I had a letter from Parkgate Investigations telling me they have been instructed to make enquiries into my current financial position and to avoid the commencement of enquiries I should call them asap. They also threaten doorstep collection. The thing is, I have moved country! so doorstep collection will go to whoever now lives in my past address, and even if they do look into my financial situation they would see that I am unemployed (my husband financially supports me and our 4 nearly 5 children) and unable to repay 2600 in full. Any advice about this would be much appreciated. 3) My husband has an outstanding debt from 'communication lowell portfolio" again defaulted in 2008. The amount is £360. He has had no communication from these guys again certainly in the last 3-4 years. Whats the best way to go about this one? write to them? or again ignore? Do we have to tell past creditors that we have moved abroad? What is the best way to go about this situation? We are hoping to buy property here in the next year or two (with help from family) Thanks for any advice or help you can give.

TAKING YOUR PET ABROAD GUIDE Documents Source: https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad PART 1 - OVERVIEW When travelling with your pet dog, cat or ferret, the rules you must follow depend on the country you’re going to or coming from. Travelling within the EU (or into the EU from another ‘listed’ country) When travelling to or returning to the UK from another EU or non-EU listed country your pet needs: Ø a microchip Ø a rabies vaccination (make sure your pet is microchipped first or the vaccination won’t count) Ø apet passport or official third country veterinary certificate Ø tapeworm treatment (for dogs only) You must also use an authorised carrier and an approved route. You must wait 21 days from the date of the rabies vaccination before travelling. Travelling into the EU from an unlisted country An‘unlisted’ country is any country not included in the list of EU and non-EU countries. When travelling to or returning to the UK from an unlisted country, your pet needs: Ø a microchip Ø a rabies vaccination (make sure your pet is microchipped first or the vaccination won’t count) Ø a blood test - the vet must take the blood sample at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination (the date of vaccination counts as day 0, not day 1) Ø an official third country veterinary certificate Ø tapeworm treatment (for dogs only) You must also use an authorised carrier and an approved route. You must wait 3 calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before travelling. The vet must give you a copy of the test results. These must show that the vaccination was successful. You don’t have to wait 3 months if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport in the EU before travelling to an unlisted country. Guide dogs and other assistance dogs Assistance dogs are allowed to travel in the aircraft cabin with their owner on approved route sand carriers registered to carry assistance dogs. They can normally also travel in areas of other forms of transport where other animals aren’t allowed. They can travel on more routes than people with pets. Apart from that, the rules for assistance dogs travelling under the EU pet travel scheme are the same as for other dogs. The Guide Dogs Association website has advice about takingassistance dogs abroad. When you return to the UK Staff from the travel company will scan your pet’s microchip and check your documents. If you don’t have the correct documents or your pet hasn’t been properly prepared it will be put into quarantine or sent back to the country it travelled from. You must pay the costs for this. Other types of pet There are no restrictions on bringing pet rodents, rabbits, birds, ornamental fish,invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles to the UK from other EU countries. Pet rabbits and rodents from other countries must spend 4 months in quarantine. They need a rabies import licence and must enter the UK at a Border Inspection Post. Contact the Animal Health andVeterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) for more information on the rules for travelling with these or other species of pet. PART 2 - MICROCHIP Your pet must be microchipped before it’s vaccinated against rabies. Make sure the vet records the number of the microchip on the pet passport or official third country veterinary certificate. Transport companies in the EU can read microchips that meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards when you check in for your journey. You must bring your own microchip reader when you travel if your pet’s microchip doesn’t meet ISO standards. Tattoo You don’t need to have your pet microchipped if it’s been tattooed with an identification number and all of the following are true: Ø your pet was tattooed before 3 July2011 Ø the tattoo is clearly legible Ø your pet was vaccinated against rabies after it was tattooed Your vet must record the date of tattooing, the tattoo number and the date of the rabies vaccination in the pet passport or official third country veterinary certificate. PART 3 - RABIES VACCINATION AND BOOSTERS You must get your dog, cat or ferret vaccinated against rabies before it can travel to another EU country or back into the UK. Get your pet microchipped before the rabies vaccination or they will need to be vaccinated again. EU and listed countries You must wait 21 days after the vaccination before your pet can travel to or return to the UK from another EU or non-EU listed country. After the first vaccination and waiting period, you can enter the UK whenever you like as long as booster vaccinations are given on time and you continue to meet the other entry requirements. Unlisted countries Your pet must have a blood test 30 days after the rabies vaccination.The date of the vaccination counts as day 0, not day 1. You must wait 3 calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before travelling. The vet must give you a copy of the test results. These must show that the vaccination was successful. You don’t have to wait 3 months if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport in the EU before travelling to an unlisted country. Part 4 - PET PASSPORT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS Your dog,cat or ferret must have a pet passport or third country official veterinary certificate to enter (or re-enter) the UK. Ask your vet for a pet passport. The passport stays valid as long as you continue to meet the entry requirements Third country official veterinary certificate Outside ofthe EU authorised vets issue official veterinary certificates instead of pet passports. This certificate allows your pet to enter the UK (or another country in the EU).You’ll need other supporting documents too. Check your certificate for full details. You must arrive in an EU country within 10 days of the date the certificate was issued. You can then use it for up to 4 months for travel within the EU. Other documents Your transport company may need a statement from your vet confirming that your pet is fit to travel. Check with the country you’re travelling to for information about any extra documents you’ll need to enter with your pet. Travel with more than 5 pets You must get a health certificate for each group of more than 5 pets you want to travel with. You get this from the country you’re coming from. You must do this at least 10 days before you want to travel. You need this certificate in addition to the other rules for pet travel for the countries you’re travelling to and from. This rule is for travelling with your own pets. There are different rules if the animals arebeing sold or re-homed. Part 5 - TAPEWORM TREATMENT (DOGS ONLY) Your vet must treat your dog for tapeworm and record it in the pet passport or third country official veterinary certificate every time you want to enter the UK. The treatment must be given between 1 and 5 days (24 to 120 hours) before you're cheduled to arrive in the UK. Your vet must record the following details in your dog’s pet passport or certificate: Ø the name and manufacturer of the product used to treat your dog Ø the date and time they treated your dog Ø their stamp and signature The treatment must have praziquantel or equivalent as its active ingredient. You don’t need to treat your dog for tapeworm if you’re coming directly to the UK from Finland, Ireland, Malta or Norway. Part 6 - QUARANTINE You must put your pet into quarantine when it arrives in the UK if doesn’t meet the entryrequirements. You must pay the costs for this. You’ll need to book quarantine premises. The quarantine premises will normally deal with all documentation on your behalf. They should: Ø submit an application form for an import licence Ø arrange to collect your pet when they land Ø organise clearance through customs Ø arrange transport for your pet to the quarantine premises Check when making the reservation. If they don’t do these things, you’ll need to do them yourself. Read detailedguidance on quarantine or contact the pet travel scheme helpline for advice. Release from quarantine Your pet will become eligible for release when it meets the entry requirements . The veterinary superintendent or quarantine kennel owner will tell you when your pet will be released from quarantine. Part 7 - CONTACT THE PET TRAVEL SCHEME HELPLINE For more information, contact the Pet Travel Scheme helpline. Pet Travel Scheme helpline pettravel@ahvla.gsi.gov.uk 0870 2411710 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (closed on bank holidays) This is the Taking your Pet Abroad Guide in PDF:

Hello, I hope someone will be able to help with my situation. I have always had a good credit history , a business and had a very good relationship with several banks until a few months ago. I have been living in another non EU country and my income stopped meaning I couldnt pay the Uk debts back. I know that they have passed the files to collection and I believe they are at early stages of tracking me. The banks have connections in the country I am in. Please could someone who has experience advise me what the best course of action is.I always have and believe in negotiating things but right now I am unable to pay anything back until I make some money. I have also heard some of the collectors selling on debts to foreign companies. I have always paid loans back but this situation is very difficult indeed. Please can somebody kindly advise me. Thanks ST

Can anyone point me to the government literature where it says you can claim CTC for a child educated abroad if the child returns to the UK in the summer holidays. Thanks.

I am my mother's main carer and DWP appointee. She is in receipt of IB ESA Support. I am going abroad for a holiday with my family and considering taking my mother with me, either that, or she will be cared for by my brother in my absence. Do I have to inform anyone if I take my mother abroad for a holiday? Thanks, JB

All/ Anyone I will try to keep this as short as possible without skipping any details.(sorry if its a long one) Whilst living in Scotland from 2000-2007 I managed to acquire a massive amount of debt, I had quite a good income and the banks through credit cards at me, in April 2007 I had about £30,000 owed on credit cards which i was slowly paying off each month. I was also granted credit on a new car on a 5 year agreement, I had always paid all my debts off and my rating was very good, I was sold the car with a standard 5 year agreement in which I paid about 20% deposit and then monthly payments for 5 years. with a get out clause after 2.5years where i could simply hand back the keys and walk away. I lived in Scotland until the end of December 2006 when it all started to come crashing down, i lost my job and the banks (quite rightly) closed my cards. So i found another Job in Switzerland, i continued to make all the payments to the cards and the car, I ended up paying off all the credit cards taking all balances to 0 over the next two years. knowing that i may come back to the UK i kept the car. Having paid 2.5 years on the car and now not coming back to the UK i contacted them to hand back the car, They then said i had no such agreement!!!! that there is a sub clause to the sub clause saying that my car was over £30,000 and that meant the agreement was invalid. i Then replied that the car is now there’s as i don’t intend to make any more payments and i stopped the direct debit. i told them my Swiss address and they wrote me a letter saying that they now owned the car and i would be contacted by a recovery agent. I replied to the letter with collection details about the car, That was Jan 2009. The car sat at my fathers house a further two years before anyone came looking for it despite calls from me to the finance company asking when someone was going to pick it up. its now almost 2013 and a local court has sent to my mothers house an "application for attachment of earnings order" saying that I owe over £15,000. they have taken hte car and sold it but as they waited over two years it (ofcourse) dropped in value, and they are now suing me for more than was left on the debt when they took ownership and they have made no visible adjustment for the fact that they took the car and sold it at auction, I want this solved, i don’t think i owe them any money at all. to top it all off i now live in Sweden and have no plans to return to the UK at all other than to visit family. What should i do to contest this without having to shell out thousands in fees to a solicitor?

Hello there, I bring to you today a rather complicated question (I assume). I currently have Bipolar type 2 and Anxiety disorder, and I am receiving ESA. My mother is a widow and receives her widows pension among other complicated stuff I don't know about. I have this dream of one day moving to Spain as I'm sure it will help my head and my family who have a range of "issues". However, money is naturally short, and after bringing up the subject of moving again I was asked by my mother whether the help we both receive financially goes if we were to move to a new country. I assume it does, but does it get replaced with anything? If we were to move to Spain tomorrow, what sort of things would we have to do to make sure we are able to live? Apologies if this is a really daft question; I try to stay away from complicated financial worries like this. Thanks, -Jasper

Hey folks, I understand that I sign off when going abroad. Has anyone done this and how it worked with regards applying again? I take it I sign off the day before I go abroad and then reclaim the day I arrive back (pre-booked holiday to visit friends for 9 days). Does anyone know how long it takes for you to be back in the system and signing on average? Is it back to a fresh claim again or do they keep a record of your claim on the system? Also, I'm due to sign on the day before I go away. How would this work if I signed on and signed off at the same time, would the system automatically overpay me or is it better to avoid confusion to sign off the day before? Sorry for posting this in here, but thought I'd give it a try. Thanks for reading, Joe.

My husband and I are considering retiring to Greece. I will be in receipt of my state pension in May this year and he will receive his in September. He also has a small private pension from a former employer which he receives now. Can anyone throw any light on the income tax situation if we decide to retire abroad? I have tried reading the HMRC information sheets but am even more confused now. Do we pay tax on our State Pensions in the UK? Will he then have to pay tax on his private pension to the Greek tax office? When we we're working I seem to remember that we were able to transfer some of our tax code to the person with the greater income, does this still apply and wonder best how we can minimise our tax liability. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Everyone, I would like some advice with regards to a pensioner who receive State Pension and Pension Credit including Housing Benefit. The person want to go abroad to warmer climate during the severe UK winter. The person suffer from severe breathing difficulties and other ailments and is in his mid 80s. Can someone please advice me how long can a person be abroad before their benefits stop and housing benefits as well. I have a guess about the benefits but the Housing Benefits I have no idea at all how long a person can be away and still be able to claim housing benefits. Any reply would be much aprpeciated. helen

I informed barclays that I would be travelling overseas, gave them the location and duration of stay. I am a barclays customer in uk and abroad in the West indies on holiday. My debit card was stolen at airport in uk before reaching my destination. I have stopped card and new 1 has been sent to my uk address. After many phone calls to my bank, Barclays has failed to help me in any way financially even though I have been a loyal customer for many years. 1 They refused to transfer money from my account to an account of someone else here so that I can reach funds. 2 They said I could only send money to account in my name over here. (In order to open an account here I would need 2 forms of photo ID a Utility bill, which I dont have and an original letter form my bank explaining that I am a customer, No fax I would have had to have brought it with me or wait for it to be posted over) 3) They can send emergency fund to a bank here (No banks here allow this transaction) 4) Moneygram order. In order to transfer money to someone elses account in UK they informed me that at 3:30am UK time I would need to provide them with another banks credit card or debit card detail in order to pass through security (None of which I have on holiday with me) even though I had already given my name account number, sort code and 2 digits of my pass code as requested. I am without money here and need help can anyone offer any solutions please. yours sincerely Barclay-ite Stranded Abroad