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Old 06-15-2010, 07:48 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
770 posts, read 2,746,616 times
Reputation: 620

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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve&helenhead View Post
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the reply and the advice.
Sorry you took my pathetic attempts at humour as 'British brusqueness' but point taken, I'm not setting out to cause offence, particularly as someone out there could end up our neighbour!
Regards,
Steve
Of course, I'm a Brit too and from Manchester, the know and worshiped epicenter of etiquette and refinement ( sarcasm is ok here)
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Old 06-15-2010, 02:31 PM
 
11,151 posts, read 15,782,675 times
Reputation: 18844
I'd like to remind everyone AGAIN to please stay on topic. Said topic is NOT the crime rate in different British cities, nor how British police respond to crime vs. how American police do.

Further off-topic posts will be deleted.

Thank you.

Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 06-15-2010 at 03:46 PM..
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Old 06-15-2010, 09:26 PM
 
18 posts, read 49,580 times
Reputation: 28
In case you don't know, another thing that will probably shock you and so you should prepare yourself now for it, is the crippling cost of car insurance for new immigrants.

The USA car insurance industry is paralyzed with fear of risk and it doesn't consider any driving record of anyone from another country.
So, they treat you like a 16-yr old getting behind the wheel for the first time...and charging you accordingly.
Insurers also group you with the uninsured/unlicensed drivers pool, who seem to have a high level of accidents and who don't pay for their accidents they cause, mainly due to cost of finding and suing them.

This can result in you paying thousands of $ for car insurance, per driver/car.

Because my wife is a US citizen, I pigged-backed on her insurance and this got our 2 cars down to about $1500 per year.
Still, with my driving record in the UK, I never paid more than about £250 ($350) for comparable insurance.

You also need to watch out here for bugs inside your home, especially large water beetles and cockroaches and others insects that get in through the tiniest of cracks, a/c vents and the chimney.
Regular spraying helps a lot, but you will still see them.

They come in when it gets too hot or cold for them outside and also when they are looking for water.
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Old 06-16-2010, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Raleigh, NC
770 posts, read 2,746,616 times
Reputation: 620
Quote:
Originally Posted by VortexBoy View Post
In case you don't know, another thing that will probably shock you and so you should prepare yourself now for it, is the crippling cost of car insurance for new immigrants.

The USA car insurance industry is paralyzed with fear of risk and it doesn't consider any driving record of anyone from another country.
So, they treat you like a 16-yr old getting behind the wheel for the first time...and charging you accordingly.
Insurers also group you with the uninsured/unlicensed drivers pool, who seem to have a high level of accidents and who don't pay for their accidents they cause, mainly due to cost of finding and suing them.

This can result in you paying thousands of $ for car insurance, per driver/car.

Because my wife is a US citizen, I pigged-backed on her insurance and this got our 2 cars down to about $1500 per year.
Still, with my driving record in the UK, I never paid more than about £250 ($350) for comparable insurance.

You also need to watch out here for bugs inside your home, especially large water beetles and cockroaches and others insects that get in through the tiniest of cracks, a/c vents and the chimney.
Regular spraying helps a lot, but you will still see them.

They come in when it gets too hot or cold for them outside and also when they are looking for water.
I experienced the same thing when I moved here in 2004 but my expectations were that insurance companies wouldn't consider my previous overseas driving record. Their business is such that they should assess risk when taking on a customer. When my wife lived in UK the car insurers wouldn't take notice of her USA driving record.
We now pay about $800 for both our cars
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Old 06-16-2010, 09:53 AM
 
Location: Cary NC
34 posts, read 86,293 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve&helenhead View Post
Thanks RaleighLass,
You have your finger on the pulse, so to speak. Unfortunately, you raised even more questions for us! What's a 'planned neighborhood'? I mean are the facilities you mention municipally maintained or private. Size of lot is an issue also - for England we live in in a relatively large detached property of approx. 1800 sq ft with a garden area (sorry, yard) front and rear of approx. 2800 sq ft - can't think in acreage, in England acres are for the landed gentry and the impossibly rich! So in summary I suppose we are looking for a medium sized property in an established neighborhood in suburbia ie not too far out 'in the sticks' as it were.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve&helenhead View Post
We are reasonably well versed in US immigration procedure, having got friends who have jumped through those hoops. My wife's prospective employers will handle these issues and we won't move until they're all resolved! Nevertheless thanks for pointing out that pitfall.
Banking is a good point. I think our bankers have either US subsidiaries or correspondent relationships with US banks so we'll have to investigate the position with them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve&helenhead View Post
For example 'relocation specialist' is a new one for us - how do we find one - do we just 'google' it or are there pitfalls to be aware of? What's a 'diversed' family community,
it's just not a term you'd come across in England?
Hi,
We made the move across the pond (from London) about 18 months ago due to work relocation, so I hope I can help answer some of your questions. Most of the houses over here are on 'subdivisions' which basically means housing estate - some are very small with no community amenities and others are very large with everything from pool, playground and even shops and restaurants. Most of the houses are new by UK standards, the locals will refer to 'old' or 'established' neighbourhoods, but this could mean anything from 10-30 years old. The house sizes are much bigger, for example we came from a 2 up, 2 down terraced and now live in a 3000sq ft detached home (which btw Americans call 'single family homes'). However, generally speaking the yards are quite small in comparison, especially in the new neighbourhoods in prime locations. This doesn't bother us as there are so many parks, green spaces etc. If it's suburbia you are looking for, I would recommend Cary. We live in N Cary and are less than 10 mins to RDU (airport), and yet situated in such a way that we don't have planes flying directly over us. We have all the shops, amenitities, malls etc within 15 mins drive and it takes us 15-20 mins to drive 13 miles to work (bliss by UK standards!).
If your wife's employers will be dealing with immigration issues, I would think they should have a relocation specialist who will help you get set up with US bank accounts, give advice on renting, buying a car, getting social security numbers etc. Presumeably they would also cover relocation expenses? If this isn't the case let me know and I'll try and help with any specific questions you may have.
Oh, btw 'diverse family community' just means a subdivision/local community with a mix of people from different cultures, countries etc. In the UK the equivilant is 'multiculturism'... The Raleigh/Durham/Cary area is full of people who've come here from all over the US and all over the world so you'll get a diverse community anywhere you choose.
Hope that helps! Good luck with the move. We love it here and would never go back to the UK through choice...
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