year away - admin stuff questions! (1 Viewer)

scottie58

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we are planning on having a very late "gap year" starting on March 1st next year - exciting times! I have tried searching here and on 365 website for some answers to the following points - but been unable to find definitive answers / suggestions easily. Apologies if you have seen this all before!

  • renting out our house (to pay for trip) - plan to get mail re-directed to a mate who will open and contact us if urgent - any pitfalls?
  • use our home address for van insurance / tax disc etc - renew online, disc & documents forwarded to campsite address if we need to
  • NHS - we will return to UK at least once for a family birthday (90th) so will not lose our full entitlement - probably fly back as easier & cheaper
can you think of anything else we need to consider / sort out??

Advice and suggestions much appreciated.

I am taking early retirement from teaching and just cannot wait to go!:thumb:
 

flatpackchicken

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we are planning on having a very late "gap year" starting on March 1st next year - exciting times! I have tried searching here and on 365 website for some answers to the following points - but been unable to find definitive answers / suggestions easily. Apologies if you have seen this all before!

  • renting out our house (to pay for trip) - plan to get mail re-directed to a mate who will open and contact us if urgent - any pitfalls?
  • use our home address for van insurance / tax disc etc - renew online, disc & documents forwarded to campsite address if we need to
  • NHS - we will return to UK at least once for a family birthday (90th) so will not lose our full entitlement - probably fly back as easier & cheaper
can you think of anything else we need to consider / sort out??

Advice and suggestions much appreciated.

I am taking early retirement from teaching and just cannot wait to go!:thumb:

1. Cannot see anything wrong with this
2. You cannot renew your tax online without a current mot and if you are out for a year then you mot will have run out, unless you get mot done a couple of weeks before you go so it lasts a year, everyone has this problem.
3. Fly back a few times in the year and you have proof of your trip.
4. Make sure your name stays on the electrol register as this is where the insurance people check that you live at the address you give for your insurance, if they find your name has been removed by new tenats then you may have your insurance withdrawn or any claim dismissed.
Best of luck Regards Garry Flatpackchicken
Best of luck
 

pappajohn

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check with your insurer that they will allow you to leave your van unattended on foriegn soil.

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Gunner29

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what about your healty insurance.
have you been abroad before as its not that simple just walking into a hospital in Spain.
OK for emergancies but they now want cash up front for some treatment.
Those who have experienced this can give you more info
good luck
 
Feb 26, 2013
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We'll be following right behind you so this is a useful thread for us too. We plan on coming back twice a year for a month and aim to sort yearly eye test and MOT's etc to coincide with these times. The advantage we have is that our son and his partner are renting our house so we will still be on the electoral roll and our post will be sorted by my son. The only thing we haven't sorted yet is health insurance. We got a great quote for long-termers vehicle insurance from Safeguard ::bigsmile:
 
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scottie58

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I will get van serviced and mot'd just before we go. Van & scooter insurance is sorted, still to sort health insurance - any recommendations ?l

Electoral register - will tenants have to contact the council? Not sure what exactly we have to do regards council tax. Assume that we stop payments and tenants then are responsible.

Been abroad lots so ok with using medical services - accept that we may have to pay upfront and claim back.

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flatpackchicken

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I will get van serviced and mot'd just before we go. Van & scooter insurance is sorted, still to sort health insurance - any recommendations ?l

Electoral register - will tenants have to contact the council? Not sure what exactly we have to do regards council tax. Assume that we stop payments and tenants then are responsible.

Been abroad lots so ok with using medical services - accept that we may have to pay upfront and claim back.

You are required by law to notify council regards council tax and to register, so don't know how you are going to get around this, unless you leave your name on register as well so they think there is 4 people staying there and go half with the rates?????? only guessing here mind, don't know the legality of that,
Safeguard do vehicle insurance for full 365 days away at a time including unlimited European breakdown they also do medical insurance as well but you must be under 65 for medical ins I think, best of luck
Regards Garry Flatpackchicken
 

vwalan

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you may or not be on the electorial role . there is no need to be on it . as for rates thats based on the property not how many p[eople ,unless the tenants are claiming sole occupancy.
you dont have to tell the council except transfer the rates to the tenant .
might be better to use your mates address as contact . save redirecting . worth asking him .
 

elefantmanshaun

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hi, this is where my plans have stalled, I want to sell up and travel with the money from the sale, I don't want to retain a property link to the uk but I also don't necessarily want to flee abroad full time either,i just want to go where the mood takes, I figure living normally I could last out around 10 years without too much scrimping, the problem keeps coming back to an address, I could use family but it worries me that it could be seen as fraudulent registering the vehicle and myself as living somewhere I don't, I've considered renting a holiday home for a month each year to try to get around this but it is an expensive solution that is also questionable legally, there must be a way?

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Jan 31, 2009
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The Electoral Roll is maintained by the Electoral Services department of the county council, council tax (rates) is controlled by a different department - they don't swap information.

As an Electoral Registration canvasser I spend a lot of time explaining to people that they still have to complete the registration form to be included on the Electoral Roll even though "Council knows I live 'ere 'cos I pay them the council tax".

The Roll is a list of individuals living in the area and is used to control voting rights at elections, whereas the Tax relates to the property and may not be paid by the people living there, it could be paid by a landlord or another family member.

Not only insurance companies but also others use the Electoral Roll to check that people do live where they claim, e.g. if you apply for credit.
 
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elefantmanshaun

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hi, I've just checked on the electoral register website and you can register yourself homeless and remain on the list with a previous address to prove a local interest, I guess if you continually travel you would be homeless legally, im going to research registering as self employed to allow me to keep up with my stamp, has anyone taken this route, what would the pitfalls be?
 

Spottycatz

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Still making mistakes! But they're not as costly.
Very interesting thread and info. We are spending months away at a time and flying back to the UK when necessary. I've renewed all required insurances, but what happens with the tax disc when I renew that online. Can I get it sent to where I'm staying rather than my home address?

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Easyliving

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hi, this is where my plans have stalled, I want to sell up and travel with the money from the sale, I don't want to retain a property link to the uk but I also don't necessarily want to flee abroad full time either,i just want to go where the mood takes, I figure living normally I could last out around 10 years without too much scrimping, the problem keeps coming back to an address, I could use family but it worries me that it could be seen as fraudulent registering the vehicle and myself as living somewhere I don't, I've considered renting a holiday home for a month each year to try to get around this but it is an expensive solution that is also questionable legally, there must be a way?


Hi

We sold our house in mid 2012 and went off for a 4 month Europe tour then returned and lived in the van for another 7 months. We didn't have a permanent UK address but I found absolutely no problem when dealing with bank, DVLA etc.

Personally, I think its best just be honest and upfront with these people - it might save you a lot of worry. I simply phoned DVLA and told them we would not have a UK address and could we use our son's address instead for our driving licences. This was no problem and they just took some details from our licences (card and paper needed) and sorted our new licences out over the phone. I also checked about the vehicle registration and was again told there was no problem, just send in the amended registration documents.

Our bank didn't bat an eyelid either. We bank online anyway and have no paper statements to worry about. I told them what we were doing and an address to use if they needed to contact us in writing. All dead easy.

If you don't have a permanent UK address you will need 'fulltiming' insurance for your van. This is available only from Comfort Insurance as far as I know. You can expect to pay nearly 3 times what you normally would!

Speaking from personal experience, its easy to fulltime and stay legal.

Good luck

Paul
 

elefantmanshaun

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hi paul, I guess keep it simple is always best policy ,i have family who are happy to help but the last thing I would want is to get them into any kind of trouble in these days of big brother!, do you still pay ni stamp or are you already retired if that's not too personal :Doh:
 

John & Joan

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Hi

We sold our house in mid 2012 and went off for a 4 month Europe tour then returned and lived in the van for another 7 months. We didn't have a permanent UK address but I found absolutely no problem when dealing with bank, DVLA etc.

Personally, I think its best just be honest and upfront with these people - it might save you a lot of worry. I simply phoned DVLA and told them we would not have a UK address and could we use our son's address instead for our driving licences. This was no problem and they just took some details from our licences (card and paper needed) and sorted our new licences out over the phone. I also checked about the vehicle registration and was again told there was no problem, just send in the amended registration documents.

Our bank didn't bat an eyelid either. We bank online anyway and have no paper statements to worry about. I told them what we were doing and an address to use if they needed to contact us in writing. All dead easy.

If you don't have a permanent UK address you will need 'fulltiming' insurance for your van. This is available only from Comfort Insurance as far as I know. You can expect to pay nearly 3 times what you normally would!

Speaking from personal experience, its easy to fulltime and stay legal.

Good luck

Paul

I back Paul on this.

We have been full timing since Feb 2009. We also told everyone we were full timing and had no problems with banks, DVLA etc.

We are with Comfort insurance so don't need to be on the electoral roll or maintain a UK residence. We use our daughters address for all correspondence. http://www.comfort-insurance.co.uk/

16. This policy is subject to the following conditions:
Policyholders must maintain a full UK residence, either through ownership or long term rental agreement
(of at least 9 months) unless a full-timing rate has been agreed and paid.
The address shown on the Schedule must be the one at which the policyholder is on the electoral roll,
(unless a full-timing rate has been agreed and paid) and also the one that appears on the driving licence
and vehicle documentation.
The motor caravan must at all times have a valid MOT certificate (unless not required due to age of the
vehicle) and current UK road fund licence & tax disc.
Should a copy of a utility bill (as evidence of residence at the address) be requested at any time​
(inception, mid-term, renewal, in the event of a claim) then one must be provided. This does not apply if the full-timing rate has been paid.

This gives 365 days cover in UK or abroad unlike some policies that have trip limits even though they say they cover for 365 days.

We have found that there is a 100% premium mark up for full timing/long terming as it is seen by the insurers as a higher risk. We know we are covered and it is in our opinion worth it.

The optional breakdown cover is through RAC or RAC commercial if over 3500kg. It works well as we have needed to use it on our 4600kg Hymer.

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Easyliving

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hi paul, I guess keep it simple is always best policy ,i have family who are happy to help but the last thing I would want is to get them into any kind of trouble in these days of big brother!, do you still pay ni stamp or are you already retired if that's not too personal :Doh:

We are not fulltiming at the moment alas. I am supposedly 'retired' but I still work and pay PAYE, NI etc. I just gave my employer my 'care of' address when we were living in the van. I didn't really think about tax and NI actually, as always 'they' find a way of taking the money from you!

Don't forget to visit www.motorhome365.com, sister site to Fun. There you will find all you need to know about fulltiming.

Paul
 
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scottie58

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Well I have sorted out most things apart from the ones below!

  • insurance for bikes, laptop , gadgets etc - very limited cover with our van insurance and as we will only have landlord insurance for our house which we are letting any suggestions on how / where to obtain this? I have sorted medical insurance for the year - quite a few companies offer this but "baggage" will not cover the above!
  • leaving the van in Europe whilst we fly home for family commitments - our current insurer (Saga) has nothing in their policy wording about not being allowed to leave the van unoccupied ? I read every word of the policy this morning! we have details of a few places with secure storage near airports - thanks to forum threads.
any advice / input welcome. Starting to clear out the loft now and sort out all the junk we have accumulated, so excitement building as the day of departure creeps closer..............:thumb:

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Apr 22, 2013
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For Landlord's insurance I use http://www.simplelandlordsinsurance.com/
You can match the building and contents cover to meet your needs. There are of course several other companies that do this sort of insurance and I have never claimed so I can't say how good they actually are.

Gordon
 

jimiol

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beginner, I don't like the newbie term
I have used this lot for the last few years, when I first went over to them for holiday home insurance they were much cheaper than the original specialist insurers however as with all you have to keep an eye on the renewal premiums as they do creep up. I also use them for Landlords insurance and again favourable at the time when I sought quotes.
http://www.intasure.com/?introducer=299950
Can't help with the other questions - sorry.
 

DBK

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leaving the van in Europe whilst we fly home for family commitments - our current insurer (Saga) has nothing in their policy wording about not being allowed to leave the van unoccupied ? I read every word of the policy this morning! we have details of a few places with secure storage near airports - thanks to forum threads.

I would be careful of that. Insurance companies are notorious for finding loopholes to avoid paying out and their lawyers are probably better at reading the fine print than you (or me) are. They may not say anything about leaving the vehicle unattended but they may say something about, for example, any changes to personal circumstances need to be notified or words to that effect. It is also possible they haven't even sent you the full wording of the policy. The only way to be sure is ask them and ideally get it in writing or failing that get the name of the person who you spoke to and make a note of the time and date.

Call me a worrier if you want but if you lose you MH and the insurers won't pay you are what is known, to use a technical term, as "stuffed".

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scottie58

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Safeguard are ok with you leaving the van unattended in any eu country as long as you do not actually leave the country. So leaving the van on a campsite say near Barcelona while you spend a couple of nights in the city is ok.

I got an online quote from them, they phoned me this morning and the above was verified by the lady on the phone.

We are with saga who offer very similar terms but I have still to find out about their rules regards leaving it unattended .
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Very interesting thread and info. We are spending months away at a time and flying back to the UK when necessary. I've renewed all required insurances, but what happens with the tax disc when I renew that online. Can I get it sent to where I'm staying rather than my home address?

There will be no tax disc after October so no need to send anything. You still have to pay it though but will be able to do it with a monthly direct debit if you like

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scottie58

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3 weeks and we are off. Sorted all admin insurance stuff. Saga are ok for us to leave van abroad as long as it is in secure parking. They asked the underwriters! Medical / travel insurance with Virgin as is our laptop cover. Had to pay a hefty amount to cover it. Cannot get cover for bicycles so will have to be extra vigilant. Tried lots of companies for this - mention 363 days cover and .......computer says no.

Starting with skiing - £10.59 extra for 7 days. Bargain!

Cannot wait to get on the tunnel at 10.20am on sat 29th march.

Who's counting? ::bigsmile:
 

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