I recently embarked on a journey that I have been planning for some time. After spending some time in Barbados working as a Junior Doctor slave I needed a change so headed to London to take my UK medical council licensing exams.
Although it is still a work in progress things were made much easier by purchasing the Kickstart package from 1st contact. Although I am a British citizen I had lived overseas all my life so in terms of UK banks…I do not exist as I have no history or proof of address. So a bank account can not be offered to me.
In the UK a bank account is the primary mode of proving your address in order to access all other services. So in sort…no bank account means, you can’t get a mobile phone plan, you can’t rent a flat, you can’t pay for items in some shops, excess charges to use international cards at cash points, you can’t even register to use the British Library. Get the idea?
I was determined to find a solution around this and after extensive research on the web I somehow can onto this website called 1st Contact which claimed to give access to a UK bank account without prior proof of address.
I have to admit that at first I was a bit skeptical at first as I saw a big UK bank had an offering which as a big downside had a 12 month contract with a monthly fee. Kickstart was just a one time fee. So I took a big breath and charged the fee to my credit card and provided my UK arrival date.
Watch the video below which explains just how easy the process really can be!
On my arrival to the UK in London I went to the 1st contact offices in Central London. A nice girl welcomed me and told me to have a seat. A few minutes later I was presented with my package which included: a Sim card (micro) for my iPhone, a letter to take to the bank of my choice (one of the big UK high street banks), vouchers for sweet discounts including 5days free at a central London gym. They even gave me a free money transfer to put money into my UK bank account.
So it has been over a month and I have received my first bank statement and now have an official UK presence thanks to 1st Contact. I would really like to thanks guys!!! I highly recommend 1st Contact to anyone moving to the UK for the first time.
Get in Contact today!
DP Adventures 