Large sums Xfer US to UK?

Has anyone had any experiences with transferring large sums from US to UK? I've done it once before in the US from US bank to a UK bank account and a fee of $45 and a poor exchange rate (my bank told me they didn't know what the rate would be until the money went through!)

I've read this article here:
 http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2097143/Transferring-money-abroad-house-purchase-business-emigrating-How-send-money-overseas-cheaply.html

..in which they mention this site: www.fxcompared.com

Has anyone used a brokerage firm to transfer money? The exchange rates are better and little to no fees.


Some advice, also? More details:

My two siblings and I have come into some money that will be divided three ways between us. They are handling this in the states. The bank will be writing three separate checks for us.

I'm not sure what they are able to do for me there, short of me flying over there to deposit my check (different bank issuing than my account). Can one of them do a bank deposit for me? Can the issuing bank deposit directly into my account without my presence? I thought about having two checks written, one with my share on it on one of my siblings checks for them to deposit into their bank - deal with xfering later. But they are not comfortable with this and want to show we each got our share.

Is there a better way to do all this?

Also, are there any advantages in holding an off-shore account like in Jersey perhaps? I assume it's for tax purposes but don't understand the advantages to this.

I realize there's a lot of different questions/scenarios here, so appreciate any possible advice and insight.

Thank you!

Hi,

When transferring larger amounts of money then it is much better to use one of the Currency Exchange specialists like HiFX, Pure Fx, currencysolutions etc etc.

You'll need to investigate further as to the situation with the funds coming into you and your siblings and perhaps seek US local specialist advice on the best way of going about that in terms of any taxes or declarations etc etc. Once you know the amount or it's in your USA bank account, you can then look into transferring it. Do take a look at the various requirements for larger amounts of money being brought into the UK etc and once you are happy, hit the green button!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I work for a removals company, and a lot of our international moving clients use these services. Some have even paid for their removal with the better exchange rate!

Currencies Direct is the one we recommend, they've done well for our customers. http://www.currenciesdirect.com/personal/request-information/?Ref=2659&AffiliateType=RequestInfo&__hstc=201662222.f5b7672f762ee4a255c7e1281f6e260b.1364730428875.1371373150261.1372093765130.24&__hssc=201662222.4.1372093765130

I was just going to post the same question. My family is still in the US but will be applying early next year. We have our account with savings/money market. My hubby is a UKC and has been in the US with me for nearly 3 years. I'm assuming he can open an account at any time but don't know the best way to transfer the money. I was considering taking it all out and putting it onto a Cashier's cheque or just carrying it in cash. I know there is a limit in bringing cash into the US (10K) I believe but what about the UK?

I was just going to post the same question. My family is still in the US but will be applying early next year. We have our account with savings/money market. My hubby is a UKC and has been in the US with me for nearly 3 years. I'm assuming he can open an account at any time but don't know the best way to transfer the money. I was considering taking it all out and putting it onto a Cashier's cheque or just carrying it in cash. I know there is a limit in bringing cash into the US (10K) I believe but what about the UK?

Anything over the equivalent of 10,000 euros must be declared whether in cash or cheque form.
I don't believe there is an actual limit to how much you can bring in across the border as long as you declare it.

https://www.gov.uk/bringing-cash-into-uk

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/declaring-cash.htm

Maybe not the best idea to travel with too much cash though!

When we purchased our house here in the UK we transferred a large sum to pay the down-payment. I used The FX Firm and they were great. I was extremely nervous because there weren't many reviews about them and held my breath when I made the transfer.  Everything went so smooth. I spoke to multiple people in the firm, but mainly dealt with Sam Bennett. I can't speak highly enough about them. They made the transfer of funds as easy as possible. We are about to make another large transfer and I will be using them again. I would HIGHLY recommend them.