Thanks maxsteam. I already have an account with Lloyds-TSB and I have mentioned to one of their employees that I am relocating, and she didn't seem concerned by this at all. So, I guess that I might just have to stick to them for my savings, and accept their below-standard rate...

DocOx:Hi,

So, keeping my situation in mind, what are my options?

You should open the required account with a mainstream bank before you move. You need to ask the question whether it will be ok to keep the account after you've moved overseas. It will not be possible to open a UK account after you move but most (obviously not all) banks and building societies will let you keep any account that has already been opened. It should not be necessary to look at offshore accounts.

You mention UK taxes. I believe that if you are working overseas for a complete tax year you may not need to pay UK income tax, but I think that you'd need to be paying tax in another country for this. This may be something worth investigating.

Hi,

I am soon to be relocating to France, but I will keep being paid in the UK and will therefore keep paying my taxes here. I will not, however, have a UK address anymore...

Now, because I am in the process of selling my flat, I am soon going to have quite a bit of savings which I intend to keep in the UK for the time being at least.

I have a Lloyds-TSB current account which I am going to keep to get my salary, but otherwise I would like a savings account with a good interest rate (the one offered by Lloyds-TSB is really not that great), so I thought I would shop around, keeping in mind that I don't want my money blocked (I intend to buy something in France, I just want to get to know the region better before doing so) and that I want to be able to withdraw money whenever needed.

So, based on my requirements, I thought I would just go for a 'normal' savings account, such as the one offered by ING. However, after calling ING, I was told I couldn't open an account with them because I wouldn't have a UK address anymore.

So, keeping my situation in mind, what are my options? Note that I am not a British citizen, so it's not like I could give the address of a relative or something...

Cheers, Alan.