doctors dentist etc.

[Julie&Ian]

We are looking at living afloat in the next couple of years and have started planning. We intend to sell up to do this and wondered what we do about registering with a GP, dentist and for the electoral role with no fixed address. Can anyone advise?

[johnnie1uk]

You will need a fixed address, also for your bank. perhaps with a friend or relative.

[sueb]

Try and keep a land base even if you let it out to fund your new lifestyle. My husband had a stroke and we were unable to stay on our boat. I was very grateful that we had kept a house.

[KJT]

You could keep with your existing doctor and dentist. That is what we do, although it can be inconvenient if you need to see them on a regular basis. As for the electoral register you would need a land based address, although you can register to vote using a 'declaration of local connection'. Persons living on boats are spefically included. Registering is simple and can be done on-line but the registration has to be renewed annually. http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register-to-vote/registering-to-vote-with-no-fixed-address

 

Ken

[Bunny]

Ditto ..use my mother's address for post ( collect every 4 months ) and doctor, have used local doctors for other stuff, on line banking . Voted last year by having a ' declaration of local connection ' used the address of a boat yard I knew we would be passing on a return trip , this time we are house sitting for the week so have registered to vote there. See a private dentist once a year, had major dental problems quite a few years ago , nhs dentist didn't do me any favours , cost me a grand and quite a bit of pain to sort it out privately. Have found that solicitors , accountant , insurance agents are quite happy to forward documents to any address as long as your identity has been certified , usually a solicitor looking at your passport and your name can be found on an election role , even if its a few years old , once went back 10 years for us .. Bunny

Edited June 22, 2016 by Bunny

[Jim Batty]

We use a shopfront postbox and mail forwarding service -- about £180/yr for two of us. Our address is the company's ordinary looking address, with our mailbox number displayed as Flat 123 or Studio 123 or whatever you want. All the usual agencies accept this as our home address. The only oddball thing is when companies have 'auto postcode + address' software on their systems they sometimes have to manually add the 'flat' or 'studio' number.

 

For the first couple of years afloat we used our previous land-based doctor. I was quite up-front about moving onto a boat and out of the area, but said I'd like to retain him as my GP because he knew my medical background better than anyone else. This was fine as long as my previous land address remained on the books for NHS patient subsidising purposes. Doctors deal with a variety of people without ordinary addresses: homeless people, travellers ... and boaters. Sympathetic ones know how easy it is for some people to slip through the health service net. For important mail postings -- such as clinic or hospital appointments -- you MUST ensure they are sent to your forwarding address or somewhere you will actually receive them. (Many institutions will note a temporary change of address for a specified period of a few weeks or months.)

 

I found an NHS dentist in a town close to where we often cruise during the winter months and registered with the generic address of: Boat Name, The Wharf, Town Name, Post Code. All communication is by phone and appointments are issued by text, which is easiest for both of us.