Moving abroad is exciting but it’s a big task. Here are nine things to do right now if you’re leaving the UK.
- EU health cover: Apply for an S1 health certificate
- Health insurance: Research international plans vs top-up or local cover
- Other insurance: Check life cover is valid overseas, look at one-way travel/ pet plans
- Shipping: Get moving quotes early, inventory your belongings
- Driving: Get an international driving permit, green card and no claims bonus certificate
- State pension: Decide if you want to pay AVCs or defer your pension
- Private pension: Check tax implications of Q/ROPs or taking out a lump sums
- Passports: Check you have at least six months left
- Pets: Get your cat or dog microchipped and vaccinated
This is not all, however. If you’re letting your property, have you sorted out gas certificates and carbon monoxide detectors?
Have you got your bank accounts sorted in the UK or set up overseas? What about pension transfer and health cover?
There are dozens of other large and small jobs to do and you should get started several months before you plan to leave.
Here, we comprehensively log all of those chores and provide you with a checklist to print out and tick off. And don’t lose heart – moving isn’t easy but it is well worth it.
An excerpt from Expatra – originally published in September 2019.