Transferring pension to spain

I know everyone has what they believe to be the best solution.

I have a crown pension paid to U.K. account as I do not need most of that money in spain.   My DWP pension I have paid every four weeks directly to my Spanish bank account    The exchange rate on the day cannot be beaten and my bank make no charges on my account because the pension is paid into it.

I occasionally use my Nationwide visa credit card in spain.  Again I get the best exchange rate and no charges.

Anyone doing better that that ?

Yes I can. I watch the pound to euro exchange rates and when I think its the right time exchange my money using the cheapest and best foreign exchange company. If you rely on your money on a certain date you are tied to whatever the exchange rate is on that date, 2 days later or earlier you may get more, or if unlucky less. (My last transfer was in July and I got 1.11 to the pound, the lowest I have ever had is 1.10), and as for credit cards I have the Halifax Clarity card that I use in Spain which is the best by far. 

Thanks Javi.

 You will have noticed I did say "The exchange rate on the day cannot be beaten ".

 I know if I waited and watched the market, as you do,  then I could achieve a better rate, but I would need to factor in the charges made by the exchange company.

I did speak to an exchange company a while ago, to see if I could improve on the rates I get,  but they said, on the day, they could not equal the DWP,  who get the very best interbank rate possible at the time of the transaction.

And as I said, because my pension is transferred to my Spanish bank account I qualify for free banking.  With the direct transfer from DWP the bank can see where the money comes from so no potential arguments.  

I also show the amount credited each 4 weeks, in euros,  when I make my annual tax declaration, and again no possibility of AEAT (Hacienda) misunderstanding the source of the transfer nor the exchange rate used for the income declaration.

When UK becomes a third country outside EU, the question arises about 'passporting regulations' - the means by which those direct payments slide effortlessly between £DWP and pensioner euro account.  DWP have said that payments will go out as usual, but, in a no deal Brexit scenario, they have 'no control' over what will happen to them. Worth examining those EU regulations, as there is a doubt of how EU banks (governed by their Central Bank policy) may respond. The EU Money Luandering and Tax Evasion regs 2005, may inhibit those direct payments.   

Biederbeck

You are just looking for problems that don’t exist.

As Kav says.   No problem.  

The DWP transfers pensions to countries around the world, so if U.K. leave the EU no problem. 

Thanks for the re-assurance : 

Is this pension detail being cross checked against UK residency declarations I wonder? In other words if pensions are being forwarded to someone in Spain who has not declared their residency there could this be a means of identifying false declarations? Just a thought to act as clamp down on failures to  declare changes in residency?

Ads.  That would many of the ways of sussing out them out.   Once fiound,  asking the neighbours how long a person has lived there is a simple check. As is the postman. They know a lot about who lives on their round

Any of this would be against EU data protection laws. Sussing out, asking neighbours and postman grassing up has long gone with the Hilda Ogden era. Illegal and all against human rights and privacy laws. Like it or not, fraudsters and criminals now have rights thanks to the EU.

Yeah, cos no other country outside the EU has data protection laws. It's all down to the nasty people in Brussels.