Sending money to America?

[King Herald]

I have taken a loan out from my 401K in the USA, and seeing as I don't live in the UK I asked them to send any papers etc by e-mail, and the money was wired to my US bank rather than a cheque sent to my home address.

So, I have received the money in my bank account, but they now tell me I have to make the payments by cheque or money order, in US$, and have sent some payment coupons to my postal address, in the f*****g UK!?!? WTF????

I have pointed out to them the stupidity of doing this, but in true American fashion they simply repeat robotically that the only way to repay the loan is by using these 'manual payment coupons'.

I have now, reluctantly, asked my father to try and send the payments for me until I can sort something out when I visit in March.

So to my question: how do I send a US$ cheque or money order if I don't have a US$ account in the UK? Can my dad buy a US$ cheque or money order from a bank?

[Conian]

banks can issue cheques in other currencies, go to your local branch and ask.

[catso]

Conian said:

banks can issue cheques in other currencies, go to your local branch and ask.

Yes, they will issue a USD cheque for a fee which will depend on the amount but the cheque will be a bank draft and not able to be stopped should it get lost or stolen.

A bank transfer is safer, although may cost a little more, especially if it is for a small amount.

[davepoth]

Postal orders can be had in US$ IIRC but there is a charge. The other option is to open a US checking account, transfer funds regularly into it, and then write checks from it. The entire US banking system is about 30 years behind Europe.

[jeff m]

Agree that US banks are not all up to international transactions.
The larger ones are fine.

Are you sure it is the Bank and not the Trustees of the 401K that require the manual payment slip.

[King Herald]

jeff m said:

Agree that US banks are not all up to international transactions.
The larger ones are fine.

Are you sure it is the Bank and not the Trustees of the 401K that require the manual payment slip.

Not sure who needs the slip, but the instructions are that the cheque/slip need to be posted to the trustee department in the USA. I have argued until I am blue in the face with them, but they still tell me they cannot accept wire transfers and they simply repeat that I must make sure to make the payments.

I guess they are so terrified of the compensation culture and liability laws that they have a limited repertoire of responses available.

I've asked my dad to see if he can arrange a scan of both the paying in slip and the loan agreement, and send them to me, then I can do battle with these clowns a bit easier. I really don't want to spend four years posting cheques across the world.

I have a Citibank account in the USA and have requested a cheque book be sent to the UK, so I can write a bunch out next time I visit and get my dad to then send them back to the USA.....

Citibank could probably issue and post cheques direct from the bank on my behalf, but if the 401K bods require the payment coupon to be filled in and sent with it, then that won't work.

I could Fedex a years supply of post dated cheques to them, but they probably have some rule against that too.....

[jeff m]

King Herald said:

I could Fedex a years supply of post dated cheques to them, but they probably have some rule against that too.....

I wouldn't do that they'll present the lot (I think you knew that)

I think the problem is that it has to be credited to a loan account within your 401k. Most 401ks have rules & regs that only allow the Trustees to do that.
A transfer would probably just fly into their general account.

[King Herald]

jeff m said:

I wouldn't do that they'll present the lot (I think you knew that)

I think the problem is that it has to be credited to a loan account within your 401k. Most 401ks have rules & regs that only allow the Trustees to do that.
A transfer would probably just fly into their general account.

My dad sent a US$ bank draft yesterday, so that has kept the wolves from the door for a while. Hopefully I can rig something up with my Citibank cheques to cover the long term.

And yes, they have told me that a wire transfer will just disappear into their system, as they are not set up to accept them. An awfully retarded way to do business, I think. The majority of non-US payroll employee borrowers will live outside the US, so they also have to send snail mail cheques.

A month or two back I did ask a well known PH member to look into extending my mortgage loan in the UK, to save borrowing from the US account, but he seems to have disappeared into the woodwork now, along with the letter I sent him giving permission to check into my mortgage details.....

[jeff m]

Paul YHM