Living in the UK Questions
 

Hi there!

I`m about to move to the UK so I`ve got some questions concerning daily stuff.

* Is it possible in the UK to get high speed internet without having a telephone connection?
* What is a cheap mobile operator where I can subscribe and pay for for instace 100 minutes and 200 texts a month
* What to do with personal / house / car insurance? Does BALPA offer anything (cheap)?
* How do you pay taxes in the UK, does the IR keep a percentage from your salary and can you by the end of the year claim back some money? And whats the tax percentage if you earn around 30K?
* What are do`s and don`t concerning house rentals etc?
* Do employers always offer personal insurance, or is it always completely up to you?
* What are the pros and ocns of living down south or up north?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

C`mon guys...40 views and no replies...somebody should know :)

G'day PGA,

No idea re #1.
#2. Have a look at Carphone Warehouse for a guide comparison. Personally, I just do pay as you go.
#3. BALPA do stuff like that. I usually just surf the net. Try Direct Line or someone like that.
#4. Tax. It's usually PAYE. (Pay as you earn). The tax department has a website and the scales are there.
#5. Renting. Get numbers/contact details for your references. You'll need them. We're renting at the moment, plan to buy this year (finally earn enough)
#6. Some do, some don't. Look around.
#7. Cost and temperature usually. The further south you are the "warmer" it is but it usually costs a lot more. In the north you'll have more hills to climb and explore. It depends on what you enjoy doing.

OK, I'll add my 2p worth.

#1 No idea. Try asking in the Computers & Internet forum.

#2 - Check out the websites for Orange, BT, Vodafone & O2. That should give you some idea of the relative cost per month of a subscription.

#3 Many insurance companies will do House, House Contents and car insurance. We have all our insurances with one company and get a discount for it. Finding an insurance company is not a problem.

#4 If you are going to be PAYE, Pay As You Earn, then your employer will deduce your tax at source. If you are self-employed, you will lhave to sort out all your contributions yourself. Most PAYE people never fill out a tax return.

#5. We have a culture of buying our houses. That doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with renting, its just that we tend to buy houses rather than rent them.

#7. The south is more crowded than the north. That should give you a clue.

Living in the U.K.
 

PGA
Don't do it. Most of us are trying to get out!
Rgds.Sid.

PGA I relocated back to the UK some 4 years ago after being overseas in different locations for some 25 years. I can tell you truthfully that the UK is THE most expensive country I have lived in and that includes Singapore. Everybody seems to be running around after me with their hands out for Dosh.
Sid is trying to get out and I dream of the Sun...I have always been based in hot climates...however, In the summer it is the most gorgeous country and I fool myself every year that it is beautiful and full of ancient charm etc etc etc.
Lot of people use Pay as you go Mobiles so you can control your spending...Tariffs generally a bit different and it's a case of doing your homework. As Reddo suggests, use the Internet for providers, house prices etc etc etc.
If you live down South the weather (A relative term) is "better
houses more expensive as is everything else.
If you live oop north, the houses are cheaper and the quality of live (IMHO) is better. Pays your money and you takes your choice, but it is a question of where your employer is.
Hope this helps, and the best of luck, better go to Nice or Provence (Again IMHO)

With regards to PAYE and tax returns, if you are paying 40% tax (over about £37-40k) you will also need to fill out a tax return, or will do soon. It is the stated aim of the Inland Revenue to get ALL top rate tax payers to fill out a tax return, once you have filled one out for one year (say you registered a capital gain from selling some shares) you will have to fill one out every year.

The odds of getting a refund of overpaid tax is VERY low, as all allowances are generally built into your tax code, my experiance is that every tax year I owe the IR a few quid, which if it under x amount is just added to your tax coding and paid throughtout the next year.

Tax percentage on £30k works out at around 30%, depends on whether you have kids (working family tax credit). We have income tax (0% rate for first £4895, then 10% of the next £2090, then 22% for the next £30310) for a gross of £30k this would leave a liability of £5272.30. Then you have National Insurance, according to our Dear Leader this is not Income Tax, but merely a tax on income! This is paid at 11% on income between £82 and £630 per week, so on your weekly salary of £576.92 you will pay £54.44 per week x 52 = £2830.96 per year.

So your final tax bill will be £8103.26 on a gross of £30000 or 27%

If you have one child and your wife does not work, you'll get £535 a year as a tax credit (paid into your bank account directly)

You'll have better fish and chips up North.

...in fact you can't even get them down South - not proper ones at least

Answer to #1 - Yes, if you live in a cabled area, no if not - you have to use a standard telephone line. Thankfully this no longer has to be BT. Cable & Wireless, under the guise of Bulldog, now (I believe) offer telephone line and Broadband via telephone line.

#4 - ensure that you have up to date copies of Gas & Electricity safety inspections. Gas (CORGI) is a legal requirement, not too sure about Electrical.

living in the uk
 

:ok: there is not much i can add as everyone else seems to have covered to essentials but the housing is lot cheaper in a lot of places in scotland than in the rest of the UK and we have a lot of lovely scenery and the weather can be very pleasant too.:)

Regarding taxes......

Subject: The Taxman responds


Taken from the Guardian, an actual letter sent by the Inland Revenue:

Dear Mr Addison,

I am writing to you to express our thanks for your more than prompt reply to our latest communication, and also to answer some of the points you raise. I will address them, as ever, in order. Firstly, I must take issue with your description of our last as a "begging letter". It might perhaps more properly be referred to as a "tax demand". This is how we, at the Inland Revenue have always, for reasons of accuracy; traditionally referred to such documents.

Secondly, your frustration at our adding to the "endless stream of cr*pulent whining and panhandling vomited daily through the letterbox on to the doormat" has been noted. However, whilst I have naturally not seen the other letters to which you refer I would cautiously suggest that their being from "pauper councils, Lombardy pirate banking houses and *censored* gas-mongerers" might indicate that your decision to "file them next to the toilet in case of emergencies" is at best a little ill-advised. In common with my own organisation, it is unlikely that the senders of these letters do see you as a "lackwit bumpkin" or, come to that, a "s*dding charity". More likely they see you as a citizen of Great Britain, with a responsibility to contribute to the upkeep of the nation as a whole.

Which brings me to my next point. Whilst there may be some spirit of truth in your assertion that the taxes you pay "go to shore up the canker-blighted, toppling folly that is the Public Services", a moment's rudimentary calculation ought to disabuse you of the notion that the government in any way expects you to "stump up for the whole damned party" yourself. The estimates you provide for the Chancellor's disbursement of the funds levied by taxation, whilst colourful, are, in fairness, a little off the mark. Less than you seem to imagine is spent on "junkets for Bunterish lickspittles" and "dancing wh*res" whilst far more than you have accounted for is allocated to, for example, "that box-ticking façade of a university system."

A couple of technical points arising from direct queries:

1. The reason we don't simply write "Muggins" on the envelope has to do with the vagaries of the postal system;
2. You can rest assured that "sucking the very marrows of those with nothing else to give" has never been considered as a practice because even if the Personal Allowance didn't render it irrelevant, the sheer medicallogistics involved would make it financially unviable.

I trust this has helped. In the meantime, whilst I would not in any way wish to influence your decision one way or the other, I ought to point out that even if you did choose to "give the whole foul jamboree up and go and live in India" you would still owe us the money.

Please forward it by Friday.

Yours Sincerely,

H J Lee
Customer Relations
:D

:O now that does appeal to my sense of humour..a brilliant piece of work and how true it is..:ok: