Transfering money back to UK

We have just sold a property in Spain and had the proceeds paid into the Unicaja. To move this money

they want to charge us extorcionate fees, like 694e for a money transfer to a currency exchange network! I have a cheque book

for my spanish account... does anyone out there know if I can just write a cheque to the currency exchange without incurring such high fees? Would really appreciate some help here, I think they see us coming!!

you should be able to just chaps the funds without incurring such a fee.  if not, a cheque should be more than adequate, but depending on where your currency broker is it will take a while to clear as their bank will have to send the cheque back to the country of origin.

I think the issue with spanish cheques are that they will take 6-8 weeks to clear unless it is a spanish account. it really depends on how quickly you need the funds as to which way yuo go. That does seem really expensive, but the banks do seem to make up their own rules. The issue with cheques taking so long to clear is that from my experience the broker will either need to clear the cheque before you can confirm the rate or pay them a deposit to do it straight away

We have used HIFX for the last couple of transfers. Once you have registered with them they will quote a rate and also accept a Euro cheque.  No charges incurred from our Spanish bank, but I guess the quoted rate includes any charges.

They are worth a call.

Virginian.

There is only one way to not be charged any comission.  Open a Halifax account in Spain and the UK and then you can transfer the funds from both accounts to eachother for free.

Joan

Although you won't get charged commision, where do you think they will make their profit...giving you a lower rate.

I agree with benan, no commision can be misleading, I imagine Halifax will probably give you a poor rate

we did the same last year. We used HIFX. They fixed the rate in advance over the phone - we posted them a spanish cheque and the  cleared funds were in our uk account within a  week.

I have an account with HiFX and i think they have changed thir policy about accepting EUR cheques in the last few months, its worthwhile asking them, because if they can clear it in a week then thats a good way to go

You might try currencyuk, I have used them and they clear in 2 days.

HTH

Rationalfx are same day payments at no cost...

 Remember it is always good to check the rate at several companies will give you, then go for the one that suites you best, it may be a case of waiting 1 day or two more to get a company with a better rate.

It doesn't cost anything to get quotes although you may need to set accounts up with the companies... which doesn't cost anything.

I agree with Mike, there are a few ompanies recommended on this forum, your best bet is to speak to a few to get a feel for them, then register with a couple (the only way to get actual quotes) as mike said it is free to register with any of them, I use Cornhill, but seak to a couple ten make your own decisions!

Some companies recommended here are:

www.rationalfx.com

www.cornhillFX.com

www.hifx.co.uk

Try either HiFX or Moneycorp , they both give a better rate and less costs overall than banks.

that last statement by costas is not something I would agree with... I have tried them both before, and found that before registering they quoted me the "interbank" rate and then after registering they said that the rate had suddenly dropped and they offered me more than 1.5 cents less... I understand how they would obviously want to lure me in, but how daft do they think joe bloggs is?  I had a live feed forex chart up when I spoke to them the first time, then registered and as a matter of fact, the rate had moved up by the time they called me back...  I can admit, maybe I just got a greedy dealer on those occasions, but first impressions and all that...

I tink alot of brokers do that in terms of quoting the market then suddenly the market moves, my advice would be to ask them what spead they will quote you, as this is a much easier way of knowing the costs involved, if they refuse to do that then i wouldn't bother using them

i appreciate that Moneycorp sponsor this site, but just because them and HIFX are sone of the biggest doesnt mean that they are the best! i've heard more and more people finding that they have started to widen their spreads over recent months

Agree with you completely about asking the spread, but when I have called some companies before registering I have been quoted above market to lure me in...  this doesnt bother me as such, but the fact that companies just assume our ignorance when it comes to our hard earned money really grates on me.

for many years i have had a business account with moneycorp- ihave clients with factories in china and clients with mortgages in spain-feel free to call my broker there

matt williams

off: 0207 828 7000

email:matt.williams@moneycorp.com

ask him for a quote via Mill Hill Financial Services Limited which should get you a better deal than their standard offering

agree that the larger players, mc, hfx and cd all vary as to who is best on a day to day basis

have found Moneycorp give no better and no worse than most of the big boys such as CD, HIFX, Travelex etc - some of the smaller players will offer better service and last month I received 75 points better with one of the smaller ones on a quote to deal against them and one of the others above. Trade was executed well and funds received promptly to Spain. Significantly better price as well.

I think this is becoming a bit of a theme at the moment fro what i am hearing. The issue is the big players have much higher costs then the medium sized companies, because business has slowed they need to take more margin. Since i moved to a slightly smaller broker i have found that they consistantly offer a better rate and service than the larger ones