Tony F Dordogne
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Posts posted by Tony F Dordogne
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Same as Hoddy and Mr Hoddy, who dropped by yesterday to catch up on a few things.
And also same as 5e, a lot of my veggies have been in the ground or hardening off for the past few weeks, no frost and plenty of rain so they're well established apart from one cucumber whish I lost.
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What is the list for Dharma?
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Would help Tzio if you put a location on your avatar so people might be able to make a personal recommendation. I know an excellent guy but as I don't know where you are ...........
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[quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]Only under a labour government... ;)[/quote]
Nonsense, elections in the UK are local responsibility and they ran out of papers in areas where Labour don't have a majority on some of the local councils that seemed to get it so wrong.
Apparently there's a UK directive which says everybody who was disenfranchised is due a payment of £750, which could blow another big hole in local authority budgets.
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Snowing here right now in the Dordogne!
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[quote user="AnOther"] Having had an Austrian mother I think I could move back to UK for long enough to qualify for his £50k golden goodbye [Www] [/quote]
You may be an icon for him Ernie, one of the bedrocks of Adolf's little gang was the Austrian anti-semetic groups at the turn of the 20th century and from what I recall, wasn't Adolf actually Austrian?
The bizarre thing is that Elgar wrote Nimrod for his music agent, who was a German called Jaeger - Nimrod/Jaeger/Hunter
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Impossible to give you an answer euroman without more details. How old are you both, will you have E forms (E106 etc) when you arrive?
And no, you shouldn't be going back to the UK with an EHIC card for medical treatment, part of the deal for living in France is that if you're inacif, which you're suggesting that you are, you need to be able to fund your life here with private medical care. Whilst the UK may still be your competant state, you will be living in France and will have given up your status with the NHS and the EHIC is NOT designed for ongoing health care needs.
And to be perfectly honest, if medical insurance is eating between €1500 and €2000 from your budget, you'll be struggling to make ends meet on 10k.
The very best web site for the medical information that you need is http://www.frenchhealthissues.eu/insurance/menu.htm which was put together by several people here a couple of years ago when the rules changed.
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Now that would be a good idea for the next Euro campaign perhaps we could argue that as we have right of residence after 5 years and the right to vote in local and Euro elections, it makes a nonsense if we are allowed to vote in the UK and not in France - wonder who we need to speak to in HMG about that one ;)
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Greenhouses in France are not expensive, they're extortionately priced - saw a hard plastic (not even polycabonate) greenhouse in one of the publicity circulars a couple of weeks ago, 2.5 x 1.5m and it was over €900. We used to sell something similar in B&Q just a few years ago that was under £300.
Glass houses here are very very pricey which is why most people go for the tunnels.
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Both of our EHIC cards arrived from the Uk yesterday. They would have undoubtedly arrived sooner but they were sent to our address in Finland, not France land!
Still they did arrive!
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DR, I'll send you a copy, not mine, one that I was sent yesterday and which the ExpoTeam people tell me is being sent to everybody.
Further update:
Had another conversation with ExpoTeam manager this afternoon. The current situation is that the ExpoTeam have been told to clear all the outstanding claims FOR REINSTATEMENT as soon as possible, hence the current drive to send out the claim forms etc. and to get us back on benefit and paid as far back as they can.
However, the ExpoTeam are now receiving new claims from people who seem to have waited for the dust to settle or who have seen that DLA can now be claimed in Europe and are wanting to send in new applications.
The Minister and the ExpoTeam managers are making the clearance of the backlog their priority so whilst the ExpoTeam is accepting new claims, they will not be dealt with until after the backlog has been dealt with, the feeling is that as we've been waiting so long for reinstatement, we should come first - no argument from me on that then!
People looking for reinstatement will be treated as soon as possible because they are, in all probability the same as the bulk of us. But new claimants - totally new claimants - will have to wait and the current best guess to start on thos claims is 6 months - when they clear our cases.
And totally new claimants WILL HAVE TO SATISFY THE PAST PRESENCE 26/52 WEEK RULE. -
The ExpoTeam have started to send out the final claims packs for people seeking reinstatement of DLA/AA/CA. Most people will be sent a covering letter and a simple declaration and the sooner that is signed and sent back, the sooner the money gets paid.
For people who haven't actually submitted a claim form but have asked for reinstatement, they will get the letter and declaration plus a claims pack - pain to fill in but needs must. This will also be sent to some people who have been off benefit for so long that their files have been shredded or dumped.
The declaration will include a section, telling claimants that they have to sign a declaration that the back payment (ex-statutory, similar to ex-gratia but legally a bit different) they receive will cover the period from now back to the date they made their claim for reinstatement post 18 October 2007. If you don't sign it, you don't get the money and will have to go to appeal by the look of things. And that money is in lieu of any payment/judgement made by a Tribunal which can only tell the DWP to pay the level of benefit anyway, enquiries ongoing about how it may effect claims with the Independent Case Examiner.
Sooner you sign the papers and get them back, sooner you get the benefit reinstated and the back payment made :) But, be aware that the claim will still have to go in front of a Decision Maker to ensure that claimants still conform with the legislation and qualify for the benefit but the past presence test has gone as, it appears, has the requirement to have appealed the original decision to withdraw the benefit.
More importantly, the ExpoTeam's senior manager confirmed to me this afternoon that signing the declaration does not stop claimants from going for the money for the period they left the UK and lost entitlement to the date they have been paid from by signing the declaration. So, for example I came off the benefit in August 2005 and applied for reinstatement in October 2007. Therefore I get the back payment from now back to October 2007 and can still take them on for the period August 2005 to October 2007 and the status of that part of the claim is under consideration now as part of the test cases, the judgements on which we are currently awaiting.
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[quote user="knee gel"] Hello Tony, Do you still have the article? Thanks Chris[/quote]
Yes Chris, send me an email with your email address in it and I'll send a copy on to you.
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Out of interest I've looked at our deeds and there's nothing in there about the woods being protected at all, just about the ownership. Whilst I was in the Marie this morning I looked at the cadastre and the woods all around are shown as being protected so the cadastre would seem to be a good place to start.
But that doesn't detract from management which is, according to my locals, a given, especially when there are so many regulations about controlling woodlands in case of fire.
Polly, it's the Huguenot Cross.
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Sorry Leo, badly written, should have put a paragraph spacing between the first sentence and the rest of the message. People on here who actually know me will tell you I'm neither patronising or insincere and I do wish the OP all the very best when they return to the UK. Like DA, personally, I wouldn't go back there to live, I much prefer the life I have here but if people want to move back to the UK, it's their decision and I do - sincerely - wish them well.
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Polly I think that protected in this instance is covered by a national law but there may be some local ordanance which covers that particular woodland. Instead of a paying visit to the Notaire, perhaps the OP should just visit their Mairie and ask there?
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Best of luck when you go back to the UK. I don't know this French culture where you get bombarded by paperwork, perhaps it's a different life style that we live here but apart from a bit of official stuff and political flyers from the Consiel General and Assemblee National, we only deal with the day to day utilities and our personal post - and nobody's chasing us for anything so we must be doing something right - or nothing wrong.
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I may be able to help without seeing the paperwork. I actually live in an area which is protected woodland and own a large protected wood and I'm also responsible for the protected woodland in my commune as a councillor - it's an interest of mine.
You are allowed to manage the woodland without getting permission from the mairie. Therefore cutting and thinning trees is allowed - recently a neighbour of mine has cleared his patch of protected woodland to use the wood domestically and there was no need for him to get permission at all.
The protected status usually means that CU will never be granted for that plot. I coppice and cut wood in my woods regularly and don't have to get permission to do so.
Hope that helps.
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I think this is all about perception and prices. I know that plant prices here are much cheaper than they are in the UK and on the flower/plant fairs, they are considerably cheaper than places like Jardiland. Noticed that a lot of the bricos have had expensive tomato plants in for a couple of weeks now, forced and looking a bit leggy but crazy prices.
Our local plant fairs have locally grown plants, expecially veggies, which I buy for the basics and now concentrate on seeds for the less common types of veggies, like the greem tomatoes and white aubergines (and my rare breed/endangered seed scemes) which you don't see but they're great (and cheap) for toms like marmande or the yellow pear type.
And for things that I like to grow like graminees, not a problem to pay a bit for them tho some of the brico places are way expensive, like a fairly small phormium for €48 when I bought one locally for under €20 the same size a couple of weeks ago. Joy with having such a large garden and liking to 'specialise' is that if I buy graminees or plants like day lillies, I can split them, gro them on in pots and then have multiple plants the following year so the initial outlay is minimised by multiple plants from the same stock.
One of my fave places to buy plants is a veggie stall on St Cyprien market where they gro the veggie plants bio and then sell them on for a very small amount.
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[quote user="powerdesal"]Not entirely relevant to the question by the OP, but.......Can someone please tell me what the various acronyms mean, IB, DLA, CA, ESA etc etc. (not a UK resident hence I don't know)[/quote]
IB is Invalidity Benefit, in this instance, long-term Invalidity Benefit which is exportable for people moving to Euroland and at the same time the claimant gets a National Insurance credit every week - generated because you were signed off work by your doctor with a 'sick note'. For some people, that was also accompanied by a form IB 5, which meant that your medical condition was so serious as to mean you were unlikely ever to work again, one step down from special rules, which means you're expected to die in the next three months.
The IB system is being replace by the Employment and Support Allowance which is designed to get people away from 'just' being sick into a place where they will be assessed for the work that they can do, rather than a blanket 'can't do sick note' as the system was. People on IB are being reassessed and then will either be moved onto ESA or taken off benefit completely and offered help to get back into work tho GPs in the Uk will still have the facility to issue 'can't do' sick notes.
DLA is Disability Living Allowance, CA is Carer's Allowance (and AA, Attendance Allowance), all of which were stopped for UK citizens moving into other EU countries. However, in October 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled that was illegal and as a result, HMG have done everything they can, legally and illegally, to stop people getting those benfits reinstated. Currently at the High Court (Tribunal) awaiting a judgement on the DWP's (Department of Work and Pension) activities plus multiple complaints to various independent watchdogs pending the outcome of that case also.
Under HMG's rules, the receipt of long-term IB is a gateway benefit for people living in Europe who wish to claim DLA after moving to Euroland rather than export it at the time that they move.
Simples !!!
I really had no wish to get back into all this welfare benefits stuff when I moved to France and was happy to loose my DLA - well, not happy but accepted it - and had no intention of having to get back up to speed on this at all!
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[quote user="NormanH"] "It's a disgrace to punish those who contribute actively into out social security system. Start by throwing out those who only take from it. We don't need le Pen to clean up France, it's enough to stop benefits from those who are only here because they live off the system (the English included)." [/quote]
Perhaps they mean the people who registered as AE when the health care rule changes came in with no intention of actually working, just using it as a device to get health care in France and to make France their competant state?
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[quote user="Grecian"] As a point of information for anyone who may have their CA reinstated after your campaign, in the letter I received from DWP they are telling me that I would lose CA if I were to take up any employment, unlike in the UK I think you can earn upto £95 a week and still receive CA, so I guess looking at that statement itself, it is telling me that France would be my competent state if I were to work in France. Just something to be aware of for anyone hoping to have their CA reinstated and is working here in France.
As regards to my wife having had an IB50 form to fill out recently, her next review is not due for another couple of years yet, so she has not experienced how things would work here in France when the time comes around. You stated in your reply that my wife will remain on IB, as you seem to be 'in the know' regarding certain benefit matters, have you had any indication that people already living outside the UK will remain on IB as opposed to being migrated onto ESA? I know that seemed the concensus when ESA was first introduced but nothing seems to have been cited about the situation since the introduction of ESA. [/quote]
I think that they're flying a kite at the DWP with the first issue on CA. I would write back to them at the CA Unit and ask them why there isn't the £95 allowance for earnings for people living in Europe and to give you the references in the legislation or rules for that statement. It's daft that you could live here and work in the UK and get the benefit but can't get it by reason of residence and working here. I think this is another issue for a Tribunal at some stage.
I don't think anybody can answer your second question yet because apart from one or two decisions, they're still being made. Somebody posted here a short while back saying their wife had lost their IB (not enough points) but that seems to have been part of an ongoing review rather than a migration to ESA issue as they hadn't completed the IB50. Again, I think this is a wait and see thingy as we're still waiting for the system to shake down and then see how the various uncoordinated bits of the DWP either communicate or fail to communicate with each other!
And of course, we're also waiting to see whether the loss of IB/ESA will also lead to the loss of DLA!!!!!
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If you do and think that it's ok to do so, whatever next, no blacks, no dogs, no Irish?
As the father of a gay child and having several gay people in the family, I'd rather let a room to them than a lot of the heterosexual people in the family and several people here have met J's gay cousin and his partner, could not wish for better or more caring house guests.
If people have those sorts of deeply held beliefs, I agree they should not be in the hospitality business. It's like the Blood Oath Catholics refusing rooms to a Jew, disgraceful.
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OK, let's see what we can sort out here.
Your wife is on IB and she will remain on that until she reaches retirement age so no problem there and as you say, the UK is your competant state. If your wife is so ill that she needs DLA and you get CA, then the continuation of IB/ESA shouldn't be a problem. Have you recently filled in the questionnaire from the UK about her IB/ESA status?
If she looses her IB/ESA one of the really big unanswered questions still seems to be whether or not HMG will take that as an opportunity to then withdraw her DLA/CA because she will no longer be receiving IB credits - you don't get them if you're claiming DLA/CA. That really needs to be tested in law, after some poor soul looses their benefit because it is arguable that the IB is merely a gateway for DLA (and NI contribution credits) and that if IB/ESA is lost, then the DLA should still be awarded - remember you can be awarded DLA and CA in the UK without being in receipt of IB.
As things stand at the moment, it's likely that the UK authorities may just take you off your wife's E121. She is in receipt of IB and DLA, not you and how she gets that benefit and how she uses it is something between you and her. Similarly, CA is awarded for her care and if you can leave her long enough to work, she may need to bring other people in to care for her, hence the CA may still be payable.
I think she is fairly OK but I think that you would be legally obliged to tell HMG that you are working and it's you that would loose the comfort of having the UK as your competant state.
But I would still reiterate my point that basing a move to any Euro country on the basis of one person in the partnership receiving benefit is always dangerous because if it is lost, the effort and hoops to be gone through to get it back can be very long winded and time consuming.
And yes, if you were/are in receipt of benefit from the UK and you work here and become part of the French social security system, you are almost certainly losing the UK as your competant state where benefits - tho not retirement pension - is concerned.
DLA some movement
in Health
Posted
Bumping the thread - there has been a further development which appears to be both positive for the claimant but may be negative for the rest of us awaiting decisions! I know this is rather enigmatic but that's all I can say at the moment.
And as a consequence of what has happened, I'm trying to get clarification from the DWP and ICE as to when a test case is and is not a test case - the same old complex legal arguments coming to the fore again.