Been out of the UK 15 years - where to begin?

[DolomitesDonkey]

We've finally made a decision and are heading "home" early 2014.

1. Can anyone recommend a container shipping company from NL to Scotland?

1. Where the buggering hell do I begin? I don't even have a UK bank account. Can I get one online? What can I do about car insurance? Can I use my m&d's address for a few weeks until we're sorted?

1. Does anyone have "The List" [tm] of stuff which needs to be done that they could PM or mail me?

TIA
x

How exiting!

I have The List and will ping it to you a little later.
I use my mums home address for those times it's needed.
As for shipping, that's a bit more tricky. I wouldn't recommend Pickfords, but Crown have been OK. But there are loads of others. I'll have a think.

Thank you! My head is in a spin because I left the UK a single woman with 2 bags of clothes. I'm going home with a "life", it's not as easy anymore!

I don't even know the rules of NHS/childcare/schools or anything at all. Aaaargh. How do we get child benefit? I will be like a tourist!

When I returned back to the UK a few years ago I found it very difficult

The only bank that would accept me was HSBC as I was already banking with them overseas and they needed a letter of recommendation from my foreign bank account and even then they would only offer a very basic bank account for the first 3 months then I could get a proper debit card.

If you have car insurance in NL ask the insurance company to provide proof of no claims, it needs to show the date you took insurance in NL, expiry date and details of any claims. It must be translated into English by an official translator and would be accepted by most UK insurers.

I was not allowed to register with a doctor for the first 6 months although they said I was entitled to emergency treatment if needed.

I was not entitled to child benefit for my son for 6 months, although they did backdate it to the time I first applied.

They only good thing was a got a 6 month tax break but I suppose that depends on the time of year you return.

Good luck with settling back in the UK.