Britons face losing their Barclaycards

[Hector]

From the Telegraph

If you haven't used your Barclaycard in 6 months and don't have a UK address

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... cards.html

[elkiton]

This is becoming policy.

Just before Xmas last, Natwest advised us that they were closing my wife's account and revoking her plastic debit / credit cards. The reason was that we did not have / could not provide a UK address, and prove we lived there by providing utility bills / rental contract.

The postal address of a sibling which we use for other documentation, was not enough. We appealed as the account is in use weekly for pensions, appeal declined and account duly closed after 30 days.

[Marions]

That's scarey stuff. This oculd paply tomany of living over here. Anyone else had a similar experience, and if so, what was the reason given by the Bank. Why don't theyallow foreign accounts, I wonder, especially if money is going in regularly. Any more info would be very helpful.

[oldie]

I have been told by Barclays IOM my account will be closed and I will shortly recieve a letter to
confirm this. All arose because I attempted to make my account joint. The information they required threw up the address with Turkey we all use and I have with Barclays for more than 30 years.

Informed me accounts in Turkey were being closed for everyone but they would accept the Cyprus address

changed mine to POSTA KOTUSU(post box) and included Mersin 10 and North Cyprus
Now waiting to see if mail arrives

[elkiton]

This has just happened twice to my knowledge with the DVLA and driving licences where have refused a UK licence for non-full time residents or those without a provable permanent uk address.
Lucikly my friend down the road changed his address from an old one (at renewal time) to a Uk sibling and got it renewed without telling them they actually lived abroad. I contacted them just for info and they quoted EU regs which definitely state no UK licences if not a perm res in the UK.

[Muad_dib]

Elkiton,what kind of account was it,a basic account or one of the others that Natwest operate.

[sophie]

Without a UK licence you can't get insurance to drive down South, so what happens then?

[elkiton]

Message 6, standard current account, with plastic, had it for about 10 years
Message 7, being a bit bolshie when getting my Tax/Reg Greekside I produced my TRNC driving licence, he looked at it and just said "No" and gave it back. I asked "Why not?" to which he replied, "UK person, UK licence, this licence no good with UK passport". After a few minutes of protestation I had to go to the car and get my UK licence before they would grant the Tax/reg paperwork, so I never got as far as the insurance booth to find out if they accepted a TRNC licence.
Given that the DVLA are no longer issuing renewals to UK ex pats unable to prove they have a valid UK address at which they live, this could be a bit difficult to drive South. As I said in a previous post on the subject, they will renew a licence where you have a UK address, but not if you give an address outside of the UK....The EU regs definitely state that the UK licence should be surrendered and a licence obtained for the country in which you now primarily reside, ie for 180 days of the year. If anybody does not believe this, I have a copy of the regs they sent me when they quoted chapter and verse is response to my enquiry.

[Erkin]

Welcome to the real world everyone, it seems that despite my warning no one listened, well let me put my 2 pence worth in again.
1.All people who don't live in the UK will loose the bank accounts, not just in the UK but in any one of the 28 EU states, and let me explain why that will be so.
In November 2013 the EU passed a banking law a) laundering act and dormant act , which the banks have to do several things. 1) all Banks in the EU with the exception of Norway and Switzerland will over the next 2 years checking all their accounts for people not resident in the state and will first be required to submit proof that they are living in the member state.Ie Utility bill under the name of the account holder or Municipality tax bill or to be registered on the voting list along with one form of photo ID with an address, failure to satisfy the banks will be the closure of the account, even if that bank account has your pension or some kind of salary paid in every wee/month. You must realize that when banks pay you interest the gross interest has tax payable on it which the banks deduct and pay the government, so by closing down such account will save the banks money for administration and also false application. also bare in mind that when you make such claim that you are living in the country when you are not, you are falsifying Government data and is a criminal offense and under the new laws up to 3 years imprisonment and €/£2000 fine can be imposed.

[Erkin]

so even though a lot people don't really care about the EU but what people fail to notice that, the world doesn't stop revolving because people don't care, the EU still continues to function and makes laws everyday effecting your rights, it is nice and cozy to sit by the pool or by the beach and tanning and say o well f..k the EU, We live in the TRNC it doesn't mean much to us, but soon you will be realizing the 100s of changes that will effect each and every one of us.

Now do you realize why, we need EU Representative in the north because without such representation, you are in the dark as the EU office is not obliged to share this information with countries outside of the EU. believe me when I say this but under the new Lisbon treaty a lot of things in the EU states will be changing over the next 2 years and you are being left out in the cold until such time that a Tc gets into EU parliament, you will not be informed of lot of the changes as EU law is suspended in the north.

[oldie]

I think many people are missing the point.

The concern was not about people using a uk address to obtain their documents but people
living here and using Turkey as a correspondence address (to ensure mail deleivery)



It is the address with Turkey not being acceptable to the relevent authorities

[oldie]

People seem to be wandering off as usual. The problem was UK banks are not prepared to accept
Turkey in the mailing address because Turkey is a grey area regards Uk banking.

As most of us who live here use Mersin 10 for our mail this will in future not be acceptable and your account will be closed,

[oldie]

sorry for the duplication

[come_on_aylin]

Royal Bank of Scotland recently wrote to us and then closed our accounts - we weren't using them any longer so no problem. However, different story if Nationwide and Barclaycard do the same thing - I tend to use these accounts for Sterling transactions to avoid foreign exchange charges. Not good news.

[waddo]

OK, confused of Catalkoy would like some small explanations please:

"Now do you realize why, we need EU Representative in the north because without such representation, you are in the dark as the EU office is not obliged to share this information with countries outside of the EU. believe me when I say this but under the new Lisbon treaty a lot of things in the EU states will be changing over the next 2 years and you are being left out in the cold until such time that a Tc gets into EU parliament, you will not be informed of lot of the changes as EU law is suspended in the north."

1. How can we have EU Representation from the North when the North is outside the EU?
2. What would be the benefit to having a TC in the EU parliament and how could that be achieved if the North is outside the EU anyway?
3. Why is it that some UK banks treat the TRNC as being in the EU - Nationwide do for sure?
4. As Nationwide accept my address in the TRNC (a P.O. Box number) as my resident address, why would they stop me having an account with them?
5. As the original news report on this subject stated that banks were closing accounts for those people who had made no transactions for a period in excess of 6 months - why has this thread suddenly gone to talking about the need for a proven UK address?
6. Will this problem - highlighted by "Erkin", have the same effect on those who have accounts in the RoC, and claim the double taxation available - but who live in the TRNC as their permanent address. In that they do not live in an EU country either?

[waddo]

Well, guess those questions were too hard to answer so try this as an easy one:

"1.All people who don't live in the UK will loose the bank accounts, not just in the UK but in any one of the 28 EU states, and let me explain why that will be so."

The above explained by Erkin and the question is - is this new law only applicable to Banks?

I ask because I "bank" with Nationwide and that as we all know is not a bank, it is a Building Society!

[elkiton]

message 12, no it's nothing to do with Turkey being the address, it's the fact that as ex-pats we are unlikely to need the "add-ons" that the UK banks sell from which they make up a fair amount of revenue,. ie house insurances, etc. One kind supervisor explained this to me, and probably should'nt have during my appeal process and said they were clearing out all the ex-pat accounts as they did not really produce any sales revenue for the bank.
WRT the "unfairness" of being in/out of the EU and the problems it creates, remember the TRNC is an anomaly which fits no known process and procedures, so you can expect things not to fit nicely the EU protocols.....however, just wait till the July referendum, then you might have a whole new reef of circumstances to navigate! - just part of the fun of living here..!

[Marions]

Someone has just suggested to me that as long as you are on the voting register/electoral role then no problem. Trouble is many people who have given children's addresses as theirs, may well not be on that list. To do so will entailcommunity charges which would have to be paid. Guess it depends on what you are prepared topay.

Might be worth checking with your own banks.

[oldie]

We appear to have various situations here.

In my case I am refering to Barclays offshore (IOM) When I moved here more than 30 years ago Barclays suggested they move my account offshore (originally to Jersey) to facilitate easier banking, the correspondence regards closing my account in the IOM