Postal address

chinita said:
Don't know if you have your tongue in your cheek but I think it is worth exploring.

Not too different from a standard Accommodation Address Service but with the benefit of your customers knowing they are dealing with a fellow Yottie who understands the problems.

Of course there will be a billion bureaucratic and legalistic hurdles to jump first.........:)
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such as....??
 
chinita said:
Road Tax is another potential problem (not, admittedly, to the OP) as in order to tax on line you need the reference number which has been posted to the address to which the car is registered.
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There's an alternative, you can use the registration document number which doesn't change (unless they've issued a new one when you change address), instead of the reference number which is on the reminder waiting at home.
 
All these companies seem very impersonal and rigid. I can understand people doing it purely for business reasons...but surely it would be better if the forumites could maybe set up some sort of co-operative where people help each other just for expenses...I dunno...just an idea...no doubt someone will be along to tell me all the reasons why it can't/shouldn't be done.
 
GrahamM376 said:
There's an alternative, you can use the registration document number which doesn't change (unless they've issued a new one when you change address), instead of the reference number which is on the reminder waiting at home.
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Thanks for that; welcome news to me.

It would not have helped last year as I left the V5 at home (as we are encouraged to do in the UK). However, I then discovered that in Portugal it is mandatory to keep it in the vehicle - which I now do.

Tax is due in June so I shall take great pleasure in using the V5 number. :)
 
phantomlady said:
All these companies seem very impersonal and rigid. I can understand people doing it purely for business reasons...but surely it would be better if the forumites could maybe set up some sort of co-operative where people help each other just for expenses...I dunno...just an idea...no doubt someone will be along to tell me all the reasons why it can't/shouldn't be done.
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I agree. Before your post on the subject I was about to suggest to the OP (and others) that, rather than family or any old mate, somebody who actually had experience of this problem (a yottie) would be a much better bet.

If I was static in UK I would certainly be prepared to volunteer to do it, for nowt.
 
If only away for 6 months or so then there is no real issue.
Most things can be done online, online statements, auto pay credit cards etc. When I was in Spain last year my boat ins was due renewal which was done on the net and I kept a pdf on a memory stick if anyone wanted to see it, no one did.
I laid up my car for the period.
The one thing that I didn't do was inform my bank's that I would be using cards in France and Spain as I had never had a problem on previous trips. Needless to say, I had a problem with one bank and the card got put on hold after they thought there was an abnormal usage when I paid for fuel. The other cards from other banks were ok, so ensure your bank(s) are aware. Cards from more than one bank are a good idea!
 
GrahamM376 said:
Our mail sits at home for many months before being opened on our return, a friend clears it from the mailbox behind the letterbox. I've sorted everything I can, gas/elec/tel/council tax/house insurance etc. on direct debit with auto renewal. I check all on-line at renewal time to make sure all's well. The pain is remembering to SORN the car and taxing it on-line so the disc is is waiting on return - somewhere amongst dozens of other envelopes!
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Tried to SORN on line last week and found out that SORN is now indefinite so no need to renew... How good is that???
 
Mail Boxes etc have proved invaluble whilst SWMBO and I moved house, over four months as a rush job. Just got our old mail redirected to MBE's address and collect as necessary. When we were away cruising we used my sister as our "home address". I made my sister a signatory on my bank account and gave her enduring power of attorney too.
 
Slow_boat said:
If we're cruising we're not going to have anywhere to send post on to. Unless we make a schedule to be at a certain port at a certain time, and to my mind that kind of defeats the object of cruising.
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Move away from snailmail and onto the internet - the requirement for a real-time, physical address disappears (or so I've found over the last 14 years)
 
You still need an address for HMRC, DWP, driving licence and financial institutions, even if using online for the latter.
 
I am a liveaboard in Sicily and can thoroughly recommend Ship to Shore (www.shiptoshore.co.uk) - it has been going for 20 years and the lady who runs it, Lindsay, has come across most, if not all, of the difficulties associated with mail forwarding to/from a UK address, including senders who do not accept a P.O. Box, credit card deliveries, registered items, arranging couriers for urgent mail, etc.
 
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