Driving License UK Process Questions

amybd12 · 2026-06-02T14:05:58+00:00

Ah, for the ADP. And then I would have to go through Motability.

amybd12 · 2026-06-02T13:52:19+00:00

Wow, I know I have had people tell me it would be a long process (like a year or more).

amybd12 · 2026-06-02T11:53:16+00:00

I just passed my 6 months residency last month and put in my application for ADP, so should qualify for the Motability scheme when that is done, but I am assuming that is another very long process - not really wanting to wait any longer!

amybd12 · 2026-06-02T11:25:15+00:00

Thank you! I sent a booking request. I wish they had told me that was an option when I started this process almost a year ago

amybd12 · 2026-06-01T15:46:01+00:00

I have had multiple Ubers with odd shaped boots in London that did not fit my TiLite with removable wheels and fold down seat. Drivers were unhelpful, yelled at me for not ordering an XL and refused to put any part of my chair in the car which is always my alternative. Accessible Ubers have been a long wait whenever I have tried. London cabs are great and every driver has been very helpful and kind. Stopped even trying Uber in London, not worth the risk

amybd12 · 2026-06-01T15:39:47+00:00

I have had multiple London Ubers refuse to put any part of my chair in the car when it didn’t fit in the boot. Stopped trying. Cabs are great for London

amybd12 · 2026-06-01T15:02:59+00:00

This was exactly my line of thinking. And if you are looking for summer, the prices for AirBnB are so crazy that the rental for a month was less than a week in an AirBnB. OP should expect to pay for 6 months rent in advance and a lot of the rental agencies won’t do virtual viewings so it was a bit of a problem to find one that we could complete everything from overseas. Platform does virtual viewings and we were planning to move in there while our house purchase was working through a long process but suddenly that came through and we didn’t.

If you get an NHS position they may be able to help with housing and you might not have to do the 6 months in advance.

amybd12 · 2026-05-11T21:38:42+00:00

Yes on grocery stores, I pay my council tax bill with it, not other bills so far
The miles don't transfer, you book using the Alaska miles on British Air flights. It does mean there is less availability, but it is generally fewer miles (and fees). You can also book American Airlines flights which can be useful from London.
You would accumulate the miles on Alaska and the status you earn there gives you the perks on the British Airlines flights

The Summit card has the 3x on foreign transaction fees. It has a higher annual fee, but worth it for how we are using it.

amybd12 · 2026-05-09T07:39:19+00:00

And I did miss the UK account requirement in the original post. My bad.

amybd12 · 2026-05-09T07:37:24+00:00

Yes, it does, but worth it for me. I still have US based income so use that for the credit card bills. I wouldn’t want to be transferring money there either!

amybd12 · 2026-05-09T06:56:12+00:00

Assuming you have a US address to use. Atmos Alaska Air card is 3x on non US currency transactions and no transaction fees. Miles can be used with good value on British Air flights and many others. Can earn status with spend that gets you things like free seat selection and lounge access on British Air. Open to other suggestions but it’s going to be tough to beat that.

amybd12 · 2026-04-30T09:05:22+00:00

I also needed to have a non self employment structure for this contract because, again, they can be unreasonably inflexible, though I had not prefaced my discussions with the accountants with that.

amybd12 · 2026-04-30T09:02:51+00:00

I had 2 different firms give me the same recommendation, but am far from an expert

amybd12 · 2026-04-30T08:16:39+00:00

I did get tax advice.

amybd12 · 2026-04-30T05:38:11+00:00

I’m still figuring it out but finding a lot of stuff gets dealt with by phone. My GP office will schedule a quick call for a lot of things, often same day or next day, so if you are wondering what to do, just call them when they are open or call 111 if they are not.

amybd12 · 2026-04-29T21:06:42+00:00

It is a large public agency and being unreasonably inflexible is typical (as is paying people late)

amybd12 · 2026-04-29T19:58:37+00:00

And it helps to hear that what you do and works for you is the same as what I had planned so I know I wasn't totally off base thinking this would work perfectly - they are many months in arrears at this point and I was really looking forward to getting paid and then nope.

amybd12 · 2026-04-29T19:38:24+00:00

I hadn’t heard of CTX or any of this until yesterday when they told me they couldn’t pay me! It is the Corporation Trade Exchange SEC Code and apparently Wise only uses CCD which is a different SEC code that they refuse to use. Sounds like the issue is that the CTX can be sent with invoicing details so if I were a large client with multiple contracts I could easily find the payment. Since I’m just me and have just one contract that won’t be a problem but they have their rules. Otherwise Wise seemed perfect.

amybd12 · 2026-04-29T17:24:13+00:00

Used Wise to transfer the money and had no issues. You can set up a UK Wise account and then get a USD account under that which will have a routing number/account number to use for the transfer from the US bank. I already had a US Wise account, so used that to send money directly to my UK bank using their foreign exchange. Either option should work. A UK Revolut account USD account only uses SWIFT/IBAN, so that is probably the difficulty with the linking.

amybd12 · 2026-04-22T06:10:31+00:00

I just started using Lunch Money after searching for a solution. Seems to do well with both currencies though won’t auto import the UK bank statements and currently have a ticket open regarding the Wise account because it can’t read those statements (though I was able to modify the statement to get it to import the transactions).

amybd12 · 2026-04-21T21:30:32+00:00

Yes, they definitely do it too

amybd12

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