How to access cash from Child Trust Fund after emigrating
Discussion
Wondering if the collective wisdom can think of a solution to this or if anyone has had a similar experience?
TLDR: Issues getting funds out of UK to Australia with no UK Bank account & can't cash GBP cheques in Australia.
We emigrated in 2015 from the UK to Australia, children were 9 & 5 at the time, both have / had Child Trust Funds with Nationwide. We updated all contact details at the time of emigrating and have been receiving annual statements to our AUS Address ever since.
The eldest is now 18 and has been sent a letter saying the CTF has matured and he needs to either open an account with Nationwide to invest / save or withdraw the money.
Nationwide have provided the following options:
1. Open a Nationwide account to invest / save the money - must go into a Nationwide branch to open the account.
2. 'Use" the money by way of transferring it to a Nationwide Current Account - must go into a Nationwide branch to open.
3. 'Use' the money by way of transferring it to a non Nationwide account - Nationwide issue a GBP cheque and post it out.
1 & 2 - there are no Nationwide branches in Australia and even if we were visiting the UK anytime soon, he couldn't open an account as he isn't a UK resident (born in the UK & has dual nationality / passports).
3 - He doesn't have a UK Bank account, as per 1 & 2 can't open one as not as he's not a UK resident. Additionally no Australian banks will accept a foreign currency cheque, indeed the banking system here has been largely electronic since before we arrived and no one uses cheques.
I have a UK bank account, but obviously not a lot of help.
Nationwide say these are the only options and aren't willing to provide any other solution.
Racking my brains for options, but a little short on ideas given Nationwide's stance.
Thanks
TLDR: Issues getting funds out of UK to Australia with no UK Bank account & can't cash GBP cheques in Australia.
We emigrated in 2015 from the UK to Australia, children were 9 & 5 at the time, both have / had Child Trust Funds with Nationwide. We updated all contact details at the time of emigrating and have been receiving annual statements to our AUS Address ever since.
The eldest is now 18 and has been sent a letter saying the CTF has matured and he needs to either open an account with Nationwide to invest / save or withdraw the money.
Nationwide have provided the following options:
1. Open a Nationwide account to invest / save the money - must go into a Nationwide branch to open the account.
2. 'Use" the money by way of transferring it to a Nationwide Current Account - must go into a Nationwide branch to open.
3. 'Use' the money by way of transferring it to a non Nationwide account - Nationwide issue a GBP cheque and post it out.
1 & 2 - there are no Nationwide branches in Australia and even if we were visiting the UK anytime soon, he couldn't open an account as he isn't a UK resident (born in the UK & has dual nationality / passports).
3 - He doesn't have a UK Bank account, as per 1 & 2 can't open one as not as he's not a UK resident. Additionally no Australian banks will accept a foreign currency cheque, indeed the banking system here has been largely electronic since before we arrived and no one uses cheques.
I have a UK bank account, but obviously not a lot of help.
Nationwide say these are the only options and aren't willing to provide any other solution.
Racking my brains for options, but a little short on ideas given Nationwide's stance.
Thanks
Doesn't sound particularly helpful from Nationwide.
Seeing as they have given the options of either a cheque to be posted out and /or you have a UK bank account you would think it shouldn't be much of a leap for them to transfer it to you first in the UK or indeed issue a Aus $ cheque and send to your son.
I doubt this is one off situation for them either.
I think my first step if you getting no joy from actually speaking to someone is to contact their complaints dept and put the problem to them.
Depending on that result consider an email to their CEO and explain in both cases politely what the issue is.
Seeing as they have given the options of either a cheque to be posted out and /or you have a UK bank account you would think it shouldn't be much of a leap for them to transfer it to you first in the UK or indeed issue a Aus $ cheque and send to your son.
I doubt this is one off situation for them either.
I think my first step if you getting no joy from actually speaking to someone is to contact their complaints dept and put the problem to them.
Depending on that result consider an email to their CEO and explain in both cases politely what the issue is.
We had similar issues with our son (left Britain at age 7, never had a UK account), and indeed ourselves when those thunderc
nts at Barclays unilaterally closed our account of 35 years standing last summer. Revolut is your friend, but that does suppose that the bank/BS is willing to make an electronic transfer.
My son had £400 worth of NS&I children's bonds, which after many phone calls and letters, they finally agreed to transfer to his Revolut GBP account. This was handled so badly, that the only way to hurry it up was to make a complaint. This was upheld and he was awarded £75 in compensation. We repeatedly stated that this should be transferred to the same Revolut account, but they insisted that this wasn't possible.
Three weeks later a cheque arrived in his name (I have a sterling account here with UBS, but they didn't want to know due the name discrepancy), and it is still pinned to our noticeboard at home some six months later.
nts at Barclays unilaterally closed our account of 35 years standing last summer. Revolut is your friend, but that does suppose that the bank/BS is willing to make an electronic transfer.My son had £400 worth of NS&I children's bonds, which after many phone calls and letters, they finally agreed to transfer to his Revolut GBP account. This was handled so badly, that the only way to hurry it up was to make a complaint. This was upheld and he was awarded £75 in compensation. We repeatedly stated that this should be transferred to the same Revolut account, but they insisted that this wasn't possible.
Three weeks later a cheque arrived in his name (I have a sterling account here with UBS, but they didn't want to know due the name discrepancy), and it is still pinned to our noticeboard at home some six months later.
Wonder if you could pay the cheque into HSBC Expat? https://www.expat.hsbc.com/
Thanks All, in response to the comments / questions in no particular order:
Nationwide will only issue a cheque in GBP, not AUD and won't do an electronic transfer, not even to another UK Account (welcome back to the 1980's)
We've looked at HSBC Expat, but you need high, regular income. My accounts are with HSBC (UK & Aus) and I have a HSBC Global account, so we're looking into whether we can get my Son a similar HSBC Aus / Global set up and pay the cheque in that way.
I could pay the cheque into HSBC via the app, but the accounts are in my name and the cheque would be in his. Also the app has a value limit on the cheque, so Nationwide will need to break it down and issue 4 cheques, which will no doubt be too much trouble.
40 minutes on the phone to their UK Call Centre, yielded nothing, also aparently no managers on duty to speak to in an attempt to get further than hearing the same limited script over and over again. Pushing for an escalation resulted in a generic email thanking us for our feedback which would be taken into consideration for possible future process improvements
I'll be escalating and raising a formal complaint this weekend.
Nationwide will only issue a cheque in GBP, not AUD and won't do an electronic transfer, not even to another UK Account (welcome back to the 1980's)
We've looked at HSBC Expat, but you need high, regular income. My accounts are with HSBC (UK & Aus) and I have a HSBC Global account, so we're looking into whether we can get my Son a similar HSBC Aus / Global set up and pay the cheque in that way.
I could pay the cheque into HSBC via the app, but the accounts are in my name and the cheque would be in his. Also the app has a value limit on the cheque, so Nationwide will need to break it down and issue 4 cheques, which will no doubt be too much trouble.
40 minutes on the phone to their UK Call Centre, yielded nothing, also aparently no managers on duty to speak to in an attempt to get further than hearing the same limited script over and over again. Pushing for an escalation resulted in a generic email thanking us for our feedback which would be taken into consideration for possible future process improvements
I'll be escalating and raising a formal complaint this weekend.
It's been so long since I've used cheques that i can't really remember the rules, but can't the payee "endorse" the cheque (i.e. scrawl someone else's name on it)? I.e. get them to post the cheque to your son. Her endorses it to you. You post it back to the uk so it can be paid into your account.
ATG said:
It's been so long since I've used cheques that i can't really remember the rules, but can't the payee "endorse" the cheque (i.e. scrawl someone else's name on it)? I.e. get them to post the cheque to your son. Her endorses it to you. You post it back to the uk so it can be paid into your account.
but not if " crossed " (Last 2 times I got a stupid cheque from an institution they were crossed ) which is presumably to prevent exactly this PM3 said:
Hopefully OP won’t need to resort to this which he can only do anyway after exhausting the complaints procedure from NW. As way of an update on this one...
Called again and by chance the call was answered by a Branch Manager who picked up overflow from the call centre.
We spent a seemingly fruitful 40 mins on the phone as he did his level best to find a procedure for (his words) the ludicrous suggestions (& readily available script for them to use) we'd been given thus far.
He found a proces that outlined a way for overseas residents to get the monies transferred electronically. I asked him to document everything on email and we'd do what was necessary.
All the necessary information was returned at the start of December by snail mail, including a copy of the email from Nationwide with the requirements.
A letter turned up yesterday....included in the envelope was everything we'd sent, a form for my son to authorise them to check his identity (WTF?) a list of requirements for documents to check his identity (already provided and sent back to us) and a cover letter.
The cover letter said all docs must be original and presented to a local Branch, the formal requirements list said if overseas certified copies are acceptable (as per the email from the earlier call).
So, we're going to complete the authorisation form and return everything to them, pointing out the contradictions in their communications, and also raise the issue with the ombudsman.
Oh, they also had the nerve to send a separate letter that arrived a few days earlier reminding my Son that he hadn't yet done anything with his trust fund and it wasn't earning much (if any) return.
Called again and by chance the call was answered by a Branch Manager who picked up overflow from the call centre.
We spent a seemingly fruitful 40 mins on the phone as he did his level best to find a procedure for (his words) the ludicrous suggestions (& readily available script for them to use) we'd been given thus far.
He found a proces that outlined a way for overseas residents to get the monies transferred electronically. I asked him to document everything on email and we'd do what was necessary.
All the necessary information was returned at the start of December by snail mail, including a copy of the email from Nationwide with the requirements.
A letter turned up yesterday....included in the envelope was everything we'd sent, a form for my son to authorise them to check his identity (WTF?) a list of requirements for documents to check his identity (already provided and sent back to us) and a cover letter.
The cover letter said all docs must be original and presented to a local Branch, the formal requirements list said if overseas certified copies are acceptable (as per the email from the earlier call).
So, we're going to complete the authorisation form and return everything to them, pointing out the contradictions in their communications, and also raise the issue with the ombudsman.
Oh, they also had the nerve to send a separate letter that arrived a few days earlier reminding my Son that he hadn't yet done anything with his trust fund and it wasn't earning much (if any) return.
Hi, just wondering if you have resolved the issue and if so how. I am having the same issue with the Skipton Building Society. I have hit a brick wall at every turn. There appears no compromise at all and they too insist on my child having a uk bank account to transfer the money.
Hoping you found a solution before I escalate it further. Thanks
Hoping you found a solution before I escalate it further. Thanks
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