Problem
Whether travelling overseas for work or pleasure, for a one month trek,or indefinitely, you need to allow a day or two to photocopy or duplicate onto a second computer or backup device all your insurances and paperwork. For example:
You need a record of your insurance for both properties to hand so you can renew. The terms are different for occupied and empty properties.
The same applies to your travel insurance (unless it is organized by HR of the company you work for). If your insurance is organized by your company, it might not cover a skiing holiday, and will almost certainly not cover you for any country where the government says Americans should not travel, even if you are prepared to take the risk.
On the other hand, let's suppose you are travelling from the UK to the USA as we did. We extended out stay overseas and had problems with the house being empty in the UK (because tenants moved out early and we came back late.) The house was not covered whilst empty.
We could have got around this by having a neighbour or relative with a key doing what the insurance company wanted, not having a house which appeared empty. They could have been collecting the milk, mowing the lawn or paying the gardener to do so, cleaning the windows or paying the window cleaner to do so.
Family should have been just popping in every day or two, with lights on switches to go on and off, making the odd cup of tea, without actually living their full time, just going in and out regularly.
You might prefer house sitters, if your family are too young or old to be relied upon, or the neighbours are unable or unwilling to help, because they are in wheelchairs, bed-ridden, walking with sticks and can't manage your home entrance staircase, or themselves overseas on holiday, or are developing dementia.
If you hire or buy a car, or co-drive, you will want to have a breakdown service. The AA automobile association will already by familiar to those who have lived in the USA and heard of the AAA, American AA. (The AA also turned up in Singapore.)
Two other services in the UK include the RAC.
But what if you are not driving?
UK Road Tax
In the UK if you leave a car off road on a driveway or in a garage, or are away, you can save on road tax if you declare your car off road. You must do this in advance, not in arrears.
If you are sure you won't go back home, it can be worthwhile. However, we eventually decided this wasn't not a good idea.
Family Using Your Car
Our son and father in law were using our car if theirs was off road or in the garage or somebody was nearby.
We suspected the gardener or neighbour was using the car when we found the petrol had run low. If you have relatives at home or nearby using the house, even if they have their own cars, if you take yours off the road, or insured let it go uninsured, you need to warn them that they must be sure to get it insured for them to drive. They might also get a parking ticket.
You might ignore that, thinking it is nonsense. Of course I was not in Edinburgh. I had just flown to Thailand. Then you get fined.
"Son, this is absurd. I've been sent a parking ticket saying the car was in Edinburgh."
"Er, Mum, actually we went to Edinburgh for New Year's Eve. My car had had an accident and was off road - I didn't want to worry you. So I used yours."
So make sure the family and friends, house-sitters and others tell you when they are using your car. And fill it up with petrol (in the USA you would say gas). No use flying home, expecting to take a long business trip to another city, and finding the kids have emptied the tank on their jaunts assuming you would fill it up, using your time and money.
Protecting Your Car
If you have a valuable car and are leaving the house empty, which may be obvious to the postman, or others, you might wish to move it elsewhere. One system is to pay a local garage owner to leave an employees old car on your driveway or in your garage. Your more valuable car is moved into their house or garage where it is supervised 24 hours. (You may or may not need to change your insurance if this is long-term.)
Goodbyes
Don't stand on the doorstep saying goodbye, allowing workers up and down the street, or walking past, to hear that you are leaving the house.
It is easy for thoughtless neighbours to walk up the drive shouting, "When are you leaving?" or, "Have a safe trip!" alerting the assorted workers on the property opposite to watch you loading your suitcases in the car.
On one trip, we would come back on a flight and want to use the car to pop out to the supermarket for groceries before we recovered from jetlag and had time to sit down and record that the car was back on the road.
Of course, we could have done the paperwork from overseas the week in advance before returning. But if you can only do so for blocks of one month, the dates may not suit you. If you are yo-yoing unpredictably back and forth, it may be simpler to not declare the car off the road, and forego the financial saving, rather than have the hassle of the changing and the risk of missing out a day and being fined.
Keeping Records
So you need to have all the numbers to hand. For an organized person, this is all obvious and simple. If you are going abroad for the first time, or are a creative time or hate paperwork, this can be a nightmare. The simple solutions include:
You might choose to keep all vital information in one box file or book which travels with you. Keep it on your laptop and print off a copy on your pinboard. Check the last week of the month for all bills regarding back home.
Vital records can be kept in a marked place on a shelf or left on the fridge door or pinboard or miniature whiteboard.
That way you can phone home and ask somebody to check the fridge door and send you a photo.
What if the only creatures left in your property are not pets but ...
Insects and Animals
Foxes run around the suburban roads and gardens of London, especially at night. This little fella with a couple of family members was in a garden in London.
I found a family member was afraid of spiders and would not go into the house alone on seeing a spiders web. After that I left a spider spray just inside the front door.
If you are renting out your property, you might want to mention pets, no pets, and wildlife. If
Pets
Make provision for pets. I think even hibernating pets should be moved to another place where they are supervised. My friends' house burned down, they claimed and apparently believed, when the weather changed and the hibernating pets woke up unexpectedly early, felt hungry, chewed the electrics and started a fire!
You can also have house-sitters and dog-sitters and dog-walkers. You need to research catteries and dog holiday places if you are planning to leave pets at home, in case your relatives or neighbours fall ill or are away on business travel or their own holiday. Check your pet insurance and leave details of the preferred vet and keep these details with you in case you get a call saying your pet is sick and what should you do.
Now, what about your own health.
Doctors and Dentists
If you have follow-up hospital appointments or dental checks, also time the home visits. An alternative is to have trusted doctors and hospitals in both countries. You may need to take copies of your latest medical checks, even x-rays, with you from one country to the next.
I had an accident overseas and the hospital in one country wanted to give me jabs, tetanus, but I could not say when was the last time I had them.Without I risked an infection. I could not have a jab before the date the old one expired. First it was a waste of money. Second, I hate jabs. Third, because the double dose would have overloaded my system.
If you are on a doctor's register in the UK, you can book an appointment from the UK. Unfortunately for confidentiality reasons and security, they might block calls from overseas numbers which are not registered, or only allow one number.
Now, let's think about property, again.
Rented property
If you are renting out your home or another property, you should have to hand, the name of the people renting, their phone numbers, the contract so it can be renewed and updated, the amount of the deposit, which might not have increased despite a rental increase, any insurance of the property, or the insurance of their deposit.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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