Anna
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Posts
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Posts posted by Anna
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When in France do as the French!!!! That's my opinion! It happened to us and now realise that is the French way so why would you consider doing it the Brit way if you are selling in France?
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Hi Baz
That was unfortunate that you had charges but good that Strwaberrynet refunded them. My oldest daughter, who lives in Oz has not encountered any such problems. I wonder if that would be the reason that they don't deliver to France! Interested to hear that you know of other similar companies. Do you know if they deliver to France and do they have free postage too? If so, I would appreciate a link or name.
Thanks
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Thanks, I can now access using the proxy server. I've never heard of doing that before so have learned something new! If your country isn't listed, you can click on "others". However, they are saying that they are currently unable to ship to addresses in France, Italy, Monaco and Germany, so that's a shame. Perhaps they will change that soon as they offer free postage (except on perfumes) and their prices are very good and my daughter says she gets good freebies too!
Thanks again for all your help.
Have a great Hogmanay!
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I've been trying the site over the course of a few weeks and always get the same response now that I'm with orange.fr. I've tried accessing through doing a Google search and also just typing in www.strawberrynet.com This is what I keep getting:
Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://www.strawberrynet.com/" on this server.Reference #18.5ce90f50.1230418812.1b5590df
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Hi
Thanks for your reply.
My daughter in Oz can access the same site and has purchased cosmetics from them recently, so I know they are up and running. Am I allowed to name the site on here or is that classed as advertising?
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Hi, can anyone help? I'm trying to look on a website, which sells cosmetics, and just getting a message stating access denied and that I don't have permission to access the website on this server and there is a ref number also. My provider is now Orange.fr but I was able to get onto the website before when I had Aol.
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[quote user="Russethouse"]
Doesn't seem logical, surely you have to be 60 and be resident in the UK on the 16th September.
Having said that, no harm in asking is there ?
[/quote]
It's certainly not logical! However, you have to 59 not 60 on the September qualifying date (which varies from year to year but seems to always be in Sept) to be eligible to receive the allowance in the November of that year. So, even if your 60th birthday didn't fall until, say the beginning of the following Sept, you would still qualify for payment in the November before.
In my neighbour's case, for example, he was resident in the UK on the Sept 05 qualifying date, moved permanently to France in the October of that year, had his 60th (it was a good bash!) in early Nov and received his UK Winter Heating Allowance also in November that year (probably paid for his birthday bash!!). He now receives the allowance every year without having to apply and he has been resident in France since moving over in 2005.
Anna
PS Off now to do some strenuous housework to keep warm as can't afford to put the heating on lol!!
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[quote user="tuppence"]
I would query this business of when you should receive the allowance and what dates apply. I left the UK permanently on 2nd September 2007 , 14 days after my 60th birthday. To qualify for winter fuel allowance I had to be resident in the UK 'from 16th September of that year' to receive the allowance. It seems that there are multiple answers to the question of where and when to qualify, but based on Anna's post I might now query it. Who knows I might [8-)] yet get it backdated as I was actually living in the UK when I reached 60!!
tuppence
[/quote]
Forgive me as Maths was never my strong point! So you were resident in the UK between the 18th and the 24th Sept 2006 and you would have been 59 (your birthday is the 20th August?....if so, same as my son's!). If this is correct, then you were resident in the UK on the 2006 qualifying date (being the Sept before your 60th).
Therefore, I think you should have been eligible to receive the Winter Fuel Allowance from November 2006. You should fill out a form to claim and be able to claim back payments. You can download the forms from the website. You may have to prove that you were indeed a Uk resident at the time. Here is the link for more details:
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/winterfuel/livingabroad.asp#q9
Good luck and do let us know if you're successful!
Anna
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[quote user="NormanH"]"he qualified by being resident in the UK in the September before his 60th birthday"
Does this mean that someone resident in France in the September before his 60th birthday wouldn't get it even if he moved back to the UK?
[/quote]Not for that year but I think I'm correct in saying that, if a person was to move back to become a resident in the UK on any of the following year's qualifying dates (at present, the dates are in September), and is over 60, then he would qualify for the allowance. In other words, for each year a person is resident in the UK on the qualifying date, he will receive the allowance. Also, once in receipt of the allowance you do not need to re-apply. The payment will then be automatic. You must only notify the department if there is a change, such as not being a UK resident on a subsequent qualifying date. However, if you are already in receipt of this allowance and then move out of the UK, you will still qualify to receive the allowance even although you will not be resident in the UK on any of the following qualifying dates......this, to me, is the silly part!
Anna
PS The Winter Fuel Allowance and the Cold Weather Payment are totally different
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[quote user="Quillan"]
Just as a matter of interest do people get the Cold Weather Allowance of £8.50 per week (I think that's the right amount) from the UK when its activated or whatever you want to call it?
Oops I got that from the Help the Aged website, now I have found it on the direct.gov.uk website and its £25 per week. I assume they are talking about one and the same thing.
[/quote]
Shouldn't think so as I doubt if your area in France would ever be taken into consideration to activate this allowance!
This is what the government website states:
If you're on a low income, a Cold Weather Payment will help you with extra heating costs during very cold weather in your area.
Who is eligible?
You may be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each week of very cold weather in your area if you get Pension Credit.
You may also be eligible for a Cold Weather Payment for each qualifying week if you are getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and have a child under five or get one of the following:
- a pensioner premium, higher pensioner premium or enhanced pensioner premium
- a disability premium or severe disability premium
- a disabled child premium
- Child Tax Credit that includes an individual element for a child or qualifying young person who is disabled or severely disabled
Anna
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[quote user="Russethouse"]
Anna - Has entitlement to this benefit altered since you moved to France ?
If not then I'm afraid it was just part of the equation, a factor in the mix when you decided to move - sorry !
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Hi Russethouse, no it hasn't altered since we moved to France but, as I wasn't "of an age" then, I never even gave it a thought! Not that it would have made any difference in our decision to move! I just like to gripe about it as my neighbour, who obviously has sensed this, loves to wind me up about the fact that he gets the allowance, although wasn't actually living in the UK when payment began. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, he qualified by being resident in the UK in the September before his 60th birthday. It's not so much the money, although it would certainly be appreciated, but, in my view, the unfairness of the stupid qualifying rules! I think, it should either be means tested, or paid to everyone who qualifies for a UK state pension, in which case it should then be paid to all pensioners living abroad or to only those living in the UK.
Anna
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Hi Bugbear
I take it that your exerpt is from the form to claim for the Winter fuel allowance, in which case the criteria is, as I stated, that you must be resident in the UK in the September before your 60th birthday. However, if you already qualified and are in receipt of the Winter fuel allowance, there is no need to re-apply each year, unless your circumstances have changed. In the case of my neighbour, he was contacted in France by the relevant UK department, telling him that he qualified and does not need to re-apply each year. This is from the Pension Service website:
Will I need to complete claim forms every year?
Once you qualify for a payment, and we have up-to-date information about where you live, payments for future years are generally sent automatically. You must remember to tell us if your circumstances change.
I have lived outside the UK for more than a year. Can I claim payments for past years?
If you left the UK after qualifying for a Winter Fuel Payment, and you normally live (or, in the year you are claiming for, you lived) in another EEA country outside the UK, you may be able to get Winter Fuel Payments for past years.
The newspaper article, which Sweet 17, read, is, in fact, correct.
Anna
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Oh, Norman, tut, tut! Your comments are rather petty!
Come on now, you must know that there are lots and lots of rich Brits living in the UK who are in receipt of the Winter fuel allowance!
You must also be aware that not all Brits living in France, or any other part of the World for that matter, are rich and have not all necessarily moved out of the UK just for a better climate!
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Yes, but we're not all lucky enough to live in Benidorm or Malaga, Woolybanana! Also, although we have moved out of the UK, it doesn't mean we're flushed with cash and, certainly in my case, I would have welcomed a little extra cash towards my heating bills. As I paid into the UK system for many years, and am in receipt of a UK state pension, why shouldn't I and others in the same situation, be paid the Winter fuel allowance?
Anna
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Hi Frederick
Yes, point taken, although I think that would be very complicated in that some people will be heating a large house and some a small house and some houses will have more dependants in the house so would have larger bills although may well have larger incomes coming into the one dwelling, etc., etc! That smacks of reverting to means testing, does it not?
My neighbour says that as he paid his dues in the UK and his Winter heating bills are high here; then, in his view, it should be paid to people like him! I think he does have a point. In my view, a fairer system could surely be found. As it is now, it is certainly crazy!
Anna
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Hi
I know the answer to this one as it is of great annoyance to me!!!
You have to be resident in the UK in the September before your 60th birthday. If you meet this criteria, you qualify to receive the Winter fuel allowance wherever you are resident in the world. You do not need to have an address in the UK.
My neighbour was resident in the UK in the September before his 60th birthday and moved to live permanently in France in the November of that year, just before his 60th birthday. Five years on, he still receives his Winter fuel allowance and continues to tease me about it lol!
Surely, it would have been fairer to pay everyone the Winter fuel allowance when they became eligible for the UK state pension. After all, if eligible for the state pension, then that proves that we have paid into the system.
I would love for this to be taken to the European court for a verdict on this as it's so unfair!
Anna
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Hi Sue
Thanks very much for the info. It's a relief to know that she isn't liable for this year's Taxe d'Hab! The TV license and refuge collection dues will be more than enough for her to cope with paying this year!
Anna
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Hi
My daughter has just received a bill for Tax d'Habitation. She moved into a rented flat with her boyfriend on the 1st August this year. Should they be resposible for the total amount or should the previous occupant be responsible for the previous months? Actually, daughter thought this would be paid by the owner of the flat so this bill has come as a bit of a shock!
Advice, please, much appreciated.
Anna
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Hi
I've just purchased a new laptop, which has Vista. Please can you tell me if I my old Microsoft Office package, which was for my Windows 99 PC (has Word, Excel and Publisher and suits me fine) would be compatible or will I have to splash out on a new package?
Thanks
Anna
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Hi
You asked the question......answer is, I think, you haven't missed anything out.
I think, you didn't really want to hear any other answer to your original question, which was:
"I just wondered what people think of taking their cats on holiday to France ?
I have 2 cats and a house in the Suisse Normande. The journey from door to door can be minimised to 9 hrs. Would you consider taking cats for a three week break, or even a 2 week one??
I have 3 sets of neighbours I can ask to feed them in the UK,so that's no problem, but they really seem to miss us when we are gone .
What do you think??"as you had already made up your mind!
You have decided to go for four weeks and, I think, your cats will be fine. However, I do also think that your cats would have been fine (and probably less stresseed) if left at home, considering that you had the offer of of 3 reliable neighbours offer to look after them.
You really have to think of the best for your cats. Cats, unlike dogs, are happiest in their own surroundings. So, there you go, that's my tuppence worth, for what it's worth!
In my opinion, to put your cats through a lot of unneccessary upset, in the belief that you're doing the best for them, is totally unrealistic. Let's face it, you are doing this for you. You feel guilty at the thought of leaving them for 4 weeks. Well, you are their owners, and obviously you love them to bits but, please think of them, not yourselves.
Sorry to go on, I really am a devoted cat lover, but if I hadn't been coming over here for good, I wouldn/t contemplate bringing my cats on holiday with me, even for 4 weeks, especially if you had offers of responsible people to look after them. Cats are different from dogs. Cats are happiest in their own environment, whereas, dogs are happier with their owners.
I'm sure others will disagree with my opinion, but I've been a cat and dog owner for many many years and this is my opinion.
Best wishes
Anna
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Hi
I've had a very old slow cooker for years now (I'm a great believer in slow cookers!) and it's been very well used so I wanted to treat myself to a new one. Pretty well impossible to find in France and if you can, I would imagine it would be very pricey. So I opted to get friends to bring one over from the UK. I opted for a Tesco slow cooker (about 3 litre size), cost £19.96. My neighbour's wife (he's English and she's French) was very impressed with my slow cooker so they also bought the same Tesco one.
That was last week and I've just had a look on Tesco's website and ......would you believe....it's been reduced to £14.96??
Take a look here:
http://direct.tesco.com/q/N.1999571$4294967133/Nr.99.aspx
and get there pronto...you won't be disappointed, it's a really nice piece of kit!
Anna
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Personally, if you have 3 sets of neighbours willing to feed your cats, I would leave them at home, especially if your holiday is only for 2 or 3 weeks. I think that cats (unlike dogs) are happiest in the surroundings they know and, normally, don't really miss their owners too much! There are exceptions, of course, but, if your cats are healthy when you have returned from previous holidays, then, I would keep them at home.
It is a long way over to France and, as the OP, has said, it would be a big hassle with Pet Passports too. In the past, when we lived in the UK, we always left our cats at home with a friend or neighbour organised to feed daily and we have always come home to healthy cats and a big purry welcome!
So, I wouldn't put your cats through the trauma of travelling if you don't have to and be happy in the knowledge that you're doing the best for them.
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This is probably not what you want to hear and I do empathise with you! However, 15 and a half years on and I'm still working hard at pleasing my daughter-in-law! As far as I have found, there is no other way if you want to keep you son and, in our case, our three grandchildren. That old saying comes to mind....."a daughter is a daughter for all of her life, a son is a son till he takes a wife! Very true!
I'm sure there will be others who have different experiences of daughters-in-law. Mine is very nice at times and can be extremely caring and helpful too but only when it pleases her. The latest little niggle (but I'll never let on it's a niggle!) was when my youngest daughter visited them for a night and went to wash her hands at the kitchen sink. She asked for the soap and was told that there wasn't any in the kitchen as her brother had this nasty habit of washing his dirty hands in the kitchen sink and that is so unhygenic! Well, of course, where would he get that nasty habit from? I rest my case!
I have never fallen out with my daughter-in-law and my advice to you is to roll your shoulders, count to ten and keep sight of the fact that your son has made his choice and unfortunately you have no say in that choice! And, for goodness sake, don't fall out with her or you will most likely loose your son as well....after all, to him, she is the best thing since sliced bread!
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Thanks, yes, I was a wee bit nervous about it! However, just posted off a cheque, made up to 400€ (just sounds so much better rounded up!) so feeling now that it was well worth the effort, especially with such good support from people like yourself. It's really amazing what a little effort can achieve and leaves us with such a great feeling of being able to do something to make a difference in some way. Also, I received a lovely e-mail from a French lady from the Association L'Europe des Levriers, thanking us all for our efforts.
Thinking ahead now to possibly holding a charity auction so, if anyone knows anything about that sort of event or has even just attended one, please do get in touch so I can pick your brains! Not expecting you to have to get involved.......just want to find out more about how it works! And, we have already been offered our first auction item from Magnolia!
"Mixed" country passport
in Pets
Posted
Our French Vet, who speaks excellent English and deals a lot with Brittish Pet Passport holders, told us that, if a dog is resident in the UK, then it's ok to have the rabies booster done every second year (and could well now be every three years if the product is okayed for that). However, if the dog is resident in France, i.e. remains continuously in France for a certain length of time, which I can't remember offhand (could be 3 or 6 months), then the rabies booster must be done every year for the Pet Passport. By the way, some Vets will "adjust" the date for the booster, on the Pet Passport, if you have missed it by a few days, so it's worth asking!