On Nov 3, 2004, at 17:22, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am hoping that you can help me. I am looking for information on
transferring money (inheritance - several thousand GBP) internationally.
I know that you're reluctant to have the money wired directly (account to account) but... It's still the safest method.
I was in a similiar situation 5 yrs ago, when a friend of mine in Warsaw sold my parents' apartment for me, and needed to transfer the proceeds here. I checked with my bank, and it turned out that I could have the money transfered (either to, or from Poland) for a flat fee ($35 at the time), irrespective of the amount. $35 fee makes it prohibitive to send, say, $100 or so, but on thousands it's negligible, so I went for it.
We waited for a couple of weeks, to see which way the wind would blow (Polish zloty was on a mad see-saw in relationship to a dollar at the time), then she had it converted to dollars *there*, when the rate of exchange was most favourable to me, and wired it here, to my checking/savings account. I had it avilable for withdrawal within a week, and the hardest part of the whole transaction was getting the numbers (my bank's receiving code) straight. My bank was even apologetic about having to report the transaction to IRS, as it was over 10 thousand, and possibly a money-laundering proposition :) And they hated like poison to have to let it go after a couple of weeks (once I decided where to transfer it to. And watched its value decrease, steadily, over the past 3 yrs. And, doubtless, over the next 4)
I did the same thing (direct wire transfer, bank-to-bank) in reverse a year later, when I wanted to send my cousin on her once-in-a-lifetime trip abroad (she chose a two-week tour of Italy, and had a ball <g>) On $800, the same flat fee of $35 made a bigger percentage of the total, but it was still well-worth it. This time, also, the conversion (dollars to zloty) took place in Poland; US dollars are recognised there, but my bank had no clue how to convert to zloty here.
If I get it wired I lose out by a) lots of intermediaries (neither end has direct access)
Not sure what you mean about the lack of direct access. But, if your building society (recipient) isn't equipped for accepting direct money transfers, then you might consider opening a - possibly temporary - account with a bank which *can* accept such transfers. And look for a bank which offers the service to its customers for a flat fee, not for a percentage (I looked at my DH's bank at the time, and they wanted 3%).
I am considering a bankers draft or a cheque sent to me instead.
International Money Order (is that "bankers' draft"?) is, I think, what I got from Bev Walker for a parcel of my 2-Pair booklets (Bev?). Again, the conversion was done at the other end, so it reached me in US dollars, and didn't tax my bank's clerks too much :) You might need to check which bank (issuing or cashing) offers what rate of exchange, and which charges less for the service.
Also I am having to consider how it should be sent. At the moment I am thinking of using FedEx or similar rather than trusting the mail,
Bev's "check" came here via ordinary PO route, albeit airmail. But, it was a fairly small amount... When, in the initial stages of my proceedings in Poland in '99, I needed some vital paperwork sent (birth certificate, marriage certificate to show why then name was different, etc) and fast, my husband used some international branch of UPS to send it. I'm sure FedEx has an equivalent. The service was *expensive* ($50), but very efficient, with "to hand, sign for it" delivery, and it did have some built-in protection/insurance against loss of the package (though I don't know to what extent), if you paid for it.
Even if speed of delivery isn't of essence to you the way it was to me, I'd recommend the fastest way money can buy. a) the less time the mailing spends "in the air", the less time you spend worrying about it, and - hopefully - fewer curious/sticky-fingered handlers are likely to be involved . b) all the carriers seem to pay much more attention to the expensive mailings than to the cheap-o ones; they'll plaster the thing with tracking numbers up the kazoo, which is somewhat reassuring (even if you might have to spend years trying to recoup what they'd lost)
Oh, and it needs to be a relatively simple method
Either method is simple enough even for a Cambridge don's mind, if you have a quick communications line (e-mail) established, and if you're willing to get all the info gathered at your end (including step-by step instructions to the don as to what questions to ask at his bank)
Yours, depressed (by '08, US will need to be re-named "Humpty-Dumpty", because all the king's horses and all the king's men...)
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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