Hi there, my partner and I have been full-time pet sitters for a while.
We’re really enjoying the experience, and it definitely has many advantages. However, it’s getting complicated to stay in London without a permanent address, even small things like registering at the library are a problem, and of course, seeing a GP, etc.
Is anyone here in the same situation? Any solutions? Thanks!
We have been full-time since 2020. The doctors and dentist are the biggest pain (pun intended!) For the doctors, The correct thing is to keep registering as a temporary patient whenever you need to see one but it is a real pain to do. As we spend quite a bit of time in and around London I asked one of our hosts if I could use her address to register. She agreed and I told the doctor not to send any mail to the home, telling them I was often not there. It isn’t perfect and a couple of survey type letters have turned up, she let me know and I apologised. She doesnt seem to mind , Ive only been called twice for check ups, typically, we were nowhere near both times so not the easiest to get to, but I would rather stay with them in Finchley, than keep changing. My husband did the same and is registered to a doctor in Brighton using a hosts address we know there.
Ideally, we would register with a family members address so it would not be an issue if mail turns up but as all our family live up north, that would be far more difficult for us to attend.
For dentists, we’ve only used them twice since we have been doing this, the first time we were in Greece, the second time in Belgium. Both times the service was great and not too expensive.
I use my mum’s address for these type of things, but it is complicated getting a Dr /denitst appointment for example - as I have to time my appointment with a stay at hers (plus, getting a dentist appointment in the UK is a nightmare full stop).
I would follow Colin’s suggestion, and see if one of your friendly HOs in London would mind you using their address.
Until recently, we were full-time sitters (for 2.5 years) and yes, health and dental care was a challenge and a concern.
We used our son’s address to register with a nearby GP and dental practice, then arranged for repeat meds (needed, unfortunately) to be allocated via the NHS app, for collection at any pharmacy of our choice in the UK. When travelling abroad, we requested a 3 months supply at a time.
When we needed to attend for dental checks, GP appointments or hospital appointments, we travelled back from wherever we happened to be, which wasn’t ideal but seemed less hassle than attempting to register as a temporary patient (we were rarely in one place long enough to warrant this).
It’s really not an ideal situation, especially for people with pre-existing health conditions, but we were able to make it work and we thoroughly enjoyed our adventure as full-time sitters.
We use ipostal service for mail. They scan envelopes and we images then decide whether to scan contents, destroy or forward unopened mail. Fees apply but it works for us. They have locations in many cities in multiple countries. Details per
https://ipostal1.com
Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any family members in the UK. We had actually thought before about asking some of our HOs (we’ve had a really good relationship with most of them and still keep in touch with many), but I’m not sure if using their address would cause any problems for them.
On top of that, in many places where you need to register, they ask for proof of address. Oh, and another thing is that we’d like to get married in the UK, but we can’t do that without a permanent address either.
@MyrCar, we don’t think that the above-noted ipostal1 service requires proof of existing UK address. it lists two virtual addresses in UK. We can’t comment on use of any virtual mailbox for purposes of library or GP. Some services may require address on government issued identification. And medical services access probably require a national insurance number and UK tax residency. But a virtual UK address may potentially work for library or some other services. When faced with uncertain outcome but limited downside then we tend to simply try stuff, experiment, learn and sometimes it works out a charm 
.
If you don’t have family in the UK, are you actually British/UK citizens? Because it’s a very different thing if you aren’t.
If you want to get married here, again, if you aren’t a British citizen it’s totally different, it’s not just a case of not having a UK address.
Let us know, so that you can hopefully get a little more clarity from others.
Good point! We aren’t British, but we both have the settlement status, so as far as I know, we have the same rights & duties as British Citizens, in this regard at least.
Ah right, yeh settlement status gives you similar rights, so at least you don’t have that problem.