Postal address for CC ing and Living Aboard

[Tonie]

Hi, We've just started living aboard but need an address for bank / taxman etc. Don't have any relatives we can use so how do you live aboards manage? Any tips / links much appreciated.

 

Tonie

[mrsmelly]

Hi, We've just started living aboard but need an address for bank / taxman etc. Don't have any relatives we can use so how do you live aboards manage? Any tips / links much appreciated.

 

Tonie

 

I told the bank I was a ccer without an address and sugested they use their own address for my bullshit from them and so when I went to the bank they would give me my statements. I do my tax returns online, they are quite sensible after all they want your money so they will accept you have no land address so long as you do your returns online, no probs. A word of advice just TELL anyone who asks the TRUTH that you live on a boat and obviously therefore have no postcode and they will get round it, this includes doctors, dentists etc etc it realy is not a problem unless you let it be.

[classicstove]

You can use a mail forwarder (use mail forwarder as a search engine entry)

 

There are 2 that service the inland waterways market which are advertised in the waterways press

 

Couple of pointers - you will need to know that they provide a UK street address for bank/driving licence and other government documents) and if you have low volumes of mail how all the charges compare including that they understand boats and canals

[Rebotco]

I told the bank I was a ccer without an address and sugested they use their own address for my bullshit from them and so when I went to the bank they would give me my statements. I do my tax returns online, they are quite sensible after all they want your money so they will accept you have no land address so long as you do your returns online, no probs. A word of advice just TELL anyone who asks the TRUTH that you live on a boat and obviously therefore have no postcode and they will get round it, this includes doctors, dentists etc etc it realy is not a problem unless you let it be.

 

 

As a matter of interest, how do you fare with companies/institutions that have to confirm your I/D and do any credit searches?

 

I ask because confirmation with Land Registry of your residency is one of the most important factors to them in assessing risk.

 

Have you found it affects your credit rating? Or are there alternative details you can supply that satisfies them?

 

Your advice to others to be completely transparent and honest is spot on. Most wise.

[mrsmelly]

As a matter of interest, how do you fare with companies/institutions that have to confirm your I/D and do any credit searches?

 

I ask because confirmation with Land Registry of your residency is one of the most important factors to them in assessing risk.

 

Have you found it affects your credit rating? Or are there alternative details you can supply that satisfies them?

 

Your advice to others to be completely transparent and honest is spot on. Most wise.

 

Hi

 

I never have to prove credit worthiness because neither my wife or I ever borrow money, if we are skint we are skint, yes we did borrow years ago as everyone does but we now maintain a lifestyle within our means which of course gives us freedom of choice which is instantly lost when in debt to some bank or other. The only things we pay monthly are 2 mobile fones of which we have had for many years so no checks done. I have since my days of borrowing kept a credit card which I ocasionaly use to remain on the poxy system but all the paperwork is done online by email without any hassle. I am insured as a liveaboard for the boat so email and pay over the fone I also pay bw either by fone or they just take it by dd depending on how skint or not I am each year at renewal time. I actual registered with a dentist only yesterday and said boat !! and no problem. I contacted dvla about my driving licence and put them behind the 8 ball re address. They came back to me and said I could use any relatives address so long as they could contact me which I have done and took the name of the guy on the fone. There realy is no problem and that includes with crb checks etc if you stick to your guns, after all you are not a criminal we are just living an alternative lifestyle that big brothers computers have a hard time with

Edited February 8, 2012 by mrsmelly

[Ally]

I have come across 2 problems: firstly mobile phones would not, for a contract, accept a c/o address, they needed a firm address, and secondly the car insurance would not accept me at all as a boat dweller even with a marina address (which they accepted till they realised it meant I lived on a boat, and then refused the insurance)Some do though. Don't try 'Green Insurance' they won't cover you from a boat!

[Rebotco]

Hi

 

I never have to prove credit worthiness because neither my wife or I ever borrow money, if we are skint we are skint, yes we did borrow years ago as everyone does but we now maintain a lifestyle within our means which of course gives us freedom of choice which is instantly lost when in debt to some bank or other. The only things we pay monthly are 2 mobile fones of which we have had for many years so no checks done. I have since my days of borrowing kept a credit card which I ocasionaly use to remain on the poxy system but all the paperwork is done online by email without any hassle. I am insured as a liveaboard for the boat so email and pay over the fone I also pay bw either by fone or they just take it by dd depending on how skint or not I am each year at renewal time. I actual registered with a dentist only yesterday and said boat !! and no problem. I contacted dvla about my driving licence and put them behind the 8 ball re address. They came back to me and said I could use any relatives address so long as they could contact me which I have done and took the name of the guy on the fone. There realy is no problem and that includes with crb checks etc if you stick to your guns, after all you are not a criminal we are just living an alternative lifestyle that big brothers computers have a hard time with

 

 

Well, I think thats a good outlook to hold. Glad it doesn't cause you any major difficulties.

 

But I do wonder about youngsters starting a liveaboard life. They have such a lot of pressures on them nowadays that we

 

never had and they don't have your experience to fall back on. And of course our old fashioned values are weird to many of

 

them.

[mrsmelly]

Well, I think thats a good outlook to hold. Glad it doesn't cause you any major difficulties.

 

But I do wonder about youngsters starting a liveaboard life. They have such a lot of pressures on them nowadays that we

 

never had and they don't have your experience to fall back on. And of course our old fashioned values are weird to many of

 

them.

 

Yes agreed. Youngsters just dont have the chances our generation had. I have always paid cash for my boats it was easy, all I had to do was sell whichever house I owned at the time which always doubled or more very quickly in price. Houses for the last few years lose money rather than make it so that is no longer a viable way to purchase. Also too many people want too much modern crap. As a for instance I paid five quid for my mobile fone, its crystal clear and never goes wrong, my kids pay 500 quid for one that talks to them and has a silly flashy screen or whatever and takes pictures and even though it works perfectly well if a new type with a different screen etc comes onto the market bang goes another 500 quid, its utter madness.

[Paringa]

Hi, We've just started living aboard but need an address for bank / taxman etc. Don't have any relatives we can use so how do you live aboards manage? Any tips / links much appreciated.

 

Tonie

 

When my Father passed away i needed a new address...luckily a friend was willing. No problem to stick the odd bit of mail i get in a drawer until i get around to pick it up.

[ValandPete]

Hi, We've just started living aboard but need an address for bank / taxman etc. Don't have any relatives we can use so how do you live aboards manage? Any tips / links much appreciated.

 

Tonie

 

I think there are two issues here. If it is just getting post sent on to a Poste Restante then perhaps a friend can do it for you. Our son lives in rented accommodation which he could leave with little notice and mean us changing addresses with banks etc again. We intend to live aboard for the next two/three years. He still receives general post forwarded from our old address. Minimise the amount of post by doing as much as possible on line.

 

However we have found the need for an ordinary address to satisfy banks, in that this is the address they want to see on a current bank statement which then matches the address on your driving licence. (The DVLA will use a c/o address if thats what you choose). With my passport, driving licence and 3 months of recent bank statements I can finally open a new bank account. These are the only 3 documents we have that meet the list the bank sent me to meet the requirements of the Money Laundering Act. From memory they will also accept a credit card statement. I suspect this will always be the case as long as we are not on the Electoral Register.

 

I am a very satisfied customer of the boatmail.co.uk service which is run by a forum member who is also a boater so understands us as continuous cruisers and also understands Royal Mail. There are other mail forwarding services available.

 

Val

[jelunga]

I have come across 2 problems: firstly mobile phones would not, for a contract, accept a c/o address, they needed a firm address, and secondly the car insurance would not accept me at all as a boat dweller even with a marina address (which they accepted till they realised it meant I lived on a boat, and then refused the insurance)Some do though. Don't try 'Green Insurance' they won't cover you from a boat!

 

 

We have our (small old) car insured with the Co-op.. Besides being the cheapest for old farts, they were also totally ok with a "box #123, XYZ Marina" address included "Narrow Boat Jelunga" in the first address line.

 

I also found the same thing though with mobile broadband. 3 insisted on a non mobile address. So gave sons address, which is where all our bank correspondance goes anyway

[mickspangle]

On a related note i changed my car insurance recently to 1st Central, and was pleased to find that they give you a weblink to print out your insurance certificate and you can email them a photo of your Proof of no claims. Cheaper for them and more convenient for me!

 

It seems to me that it's a lot easier to live without a letterbox these days - so much can be done online too, and 3G is much mote widespread. When I first had Internet on the boat, it was 9.6k via a Nokia 6210 :-o

[Dekazer]

I very rarely receive any post these days - once you're up and running with many organisations they will switch you to 'paperless' and do everything online. Off the top of my head, our 3 credit cards, several bank accounts, ISAs, TV licence, phone bills and electric bills are all done online.

 

There are a couple of 'bewares', however. First is credit - it's not necessarily the address that matters - many credit checking agencies use the electoral roll. If you're not registered to vote that might affect your credit rating.

 

Second is to beware using a relative's address if you might affect their council tax discount. If they live alone, but you register to vote there, they will lose the single occupancy discount.

 

Other than that I have no further advice as we're resi anyway. Good luck with sorting out all your bits and bobs