Tony F Dordogne

Hi Benjamin Whilst it may be possible to qualify for DLA on a residency basis, to get the benefit whilst living abroad you have to have been first awarded it (I seem to recall) in 1992. I have recently given up my DLA on those grounds, I qualified on residency in France but not on the other rules - fell short by about 6 months!  

Old fashioned creosote is now banned in Europe and I'm not sure that the stuff with the same name that's sold now will have the same effect.  Bet you can get the old stuff somewhere in 24 though! Just a point, Roundup and similar treatments don't rot the roots.  They are systemic stump killers which do kill everything off when you drill or chip holes for the crystals to go in but the stump and roots stay there - dead but there and it says that in the box also.  Easier to dig out though, been using the stuff on and off for years. Small tip - if you go down the Roundup route, drill the hole, buy a cheap bag of wine bottle corks and put a cork into the hole after you've put the crystals in - stops it being washed away.  

Definately register for your own CV with your own E121, you never know when it will come in handy. I was on my wife's card but because of my own health problems I got an E121 despite being well under 65.  I've now been given the 100% reimbursement and it's just easier for us with two cards, especially with our claims on the assurance, makes working out who gets what reimbursed tidier.

Again, nowhere near you but there is another British Library in Carmensac, Commune of Meyrals, near St Cyprien (24)

Well hardhat, who needs enemies when they have friends like you around! Miserable s*d

I think I think that Chris has a good idea here but I'm also not sure that I understand what it is that he wants to do. Chris, if you're not working with artisans but are working with an estanblished French company, surely they would have somebody doing the work that you are talking about already? And from what I understand from friends having new builds done, most of the builders involved in new build are also stretched for time as artisans are. Are the company/companies you want to work with French or UK based?    

We are going through the process of getting our medical records at the moment. You now cannot get them through your UK GP.  They are the property of the appropraite Health Authority/Primary Healthcare Trust and as such, you have to get the records from them. Tell your GP that you are moving.  Then write to the PHT and tell them that you want your records. They will send you a form to fill in together with an invoice for between £30 and £50 per person. As for whether they are useful or not, our French GP borrowed what we already had and copied the lot.  My haematalogue was certainly interested, copied the lot and gave me back the copies, keeping the originals. Despite the horror stories about GPs/Specialists not speaking olr understanding English, all the people we have seen were willing to let us try our French and only spoke to us in English when I was really stuck, except the specialist who speaks perfect English. None needed any translations though obviously we may have just struck lucky.  

Ummmmmmmm, we arrived here on 2nd Feb this year and haven't received anything yet. Should we have done something to get the Taxes Foncieres, some sort of registration?  I know that our Notaire told us he had dealt with everything and we're on the cadestral at the Mairie so do we just sit and wait?

Standard joke in the services, Police, Fire etc back in the 60s. 3 sheets of Izal for each visit, one backwards, one forwards, one shine.

We love our gay daughter as much as we could ever love our other children.  She is brave, resourceful and an absolute joy in our lives, 30 something, daft as a brush but we wouldn't want her any other way.  And our gay cousin, gay nephew and my dear gay old uncle and his partner, wonderful men who taught me so much about how important difference is. It's the differences that makes life interesting and exciting, how boring if we were all the same - safe perhaps but somebody would end up being different in some way.

We just got a devis to have a local reputable company come round to our inaccessible back garden/part of our wood to remove a number (12 or so) dead or dying oak trees and a couple of other types, which are close to the house, cost E2300, they tidy and clear site, leave the wood neatly cut in 1m and .5m lengths for us to use in the insert in a couple of years time. If you're near 24 pm me and I can give you the company's details. 

We just got a devis to have a local reputable company come round to our inaccessible back garden/part of our wood to remove a number (12 or so) dead or dying oak trees and a couple of other types, which are close to the house, cost E2300, they tidy and clear site, leave the wood neatly cut in 1m and .5m lengths for us to use in the insert in a couple of years time. If you're near 24 pm me and I can give you the company's details. 

My OH and I both have chronic conditions that require loads of medication. Even after I've presented my CV I still have to pay over E100 every visit, which for me is every 28 days.  Between the system and the insurance I get it all back less the E1 supplement we all get hit for.  Doctors every 3 months for a repeat prescription, by appointment, takes 10 mins and I get the E20 back. I don't see what the problem is here for residents unless you're trying to perpetuate the myth of the Brits trying to get around the system and being smarta***s - don't see the need to go into a pharmacy and lie about being on holiday at all.  

Hi folks This has got to be a wind-up - the web site looks like a kids text message. Troll alert I think.

I've just been discussing this with the DLA Office in the UK. If you were made your initial award prior to 1992 and if you are in France for a short time, you will be allowed to keep your DLA award. However, permenant residence and initial award after 1992 means a strict 'no' and apparently there is no room for discussion on this. I would suggest that you phone the DLA offices and discuss your individual case with them - Incapacity Benefit is paid though. As for the Motability scheme, it's bad enough here trying to get registered as disabled - because you are registered in the UK does not mean that you would automatically be registered disabled here.  I'm not sure whether there are any allowances for the car, perhaps one of the others here would know. 

It's something that I've thought about and when I've been here long enough may well do. My view is that if this is where I permenantly live, where I pay my taxes, I'm part of the social security system and this is where my life now is, then I should have a say in who is running the place.  It's ok for me having a vote in the local election but France (like it or not, popular or not) is still a major player in the EU and had I been able to, I'd have wanted a vote in the recent referendum. And as for the fight between Chirac and Le Pen, why not have a say in which of them - or hopefully neither of them - would get there mitts on my tax Euros. For me it's also a political thing, bit esoteric, right to vote etc etc. I still get some UK newpapers (now only once a week) and watch UK news on TV but increasingly get French newpapers which I struggle with but at least I know what's going on in France, not Huddersfield or wherever, and watch French news because to me that is more relevant to my life now.  I also get the International Herald Tribune because it gives a more international - naturally - view of the world usually with good European and French cover. Something to think about more but as I'm here to stay, why not.

We had a whole, unbroken sheet of corrougated asbestos in the garden when we moved it, toddled off to the dechertie with it and they refused it, too much of a hazard. So now we seem to be stuck with it.

Hi folks Looking for a ChD for the night of 26th September near Rouen on our way back to UK with our 30- something daughter.  Two rooms, reasonable easy to feed, non-smoking preferred. PM me if you have a vacancy please.

Hi folks Looking for a ChD for the night of 26th September near Rouen on our way back to UK with our 30- something daughter.  Two rooms, reasonable easy to feed, non-smoking preferred. PM me if you have a vacancy please.

Hi folks Have a small contract to do some work in Rodez and would like to find a ChD for dinner on evening of 8th and breakfast on morning of 9th September. PM me is anybody has any vacancies please - we're fairly easy to feed, one or two small dietry needs, non-smoking preferred. TIA

We took the plunge and bought a French car from a local garage here in 24 which had previously been registered in 46. We toddled off to the Prefecture in Perigueux yesterday to get it reregistered.  Entered building at 10.35 am and took our ticket, left just before 11.00 am clutching our new carte grise. Is 25 minutes a new record for French bureaucracy?

We're also in the process of buying a second hand car, though it's not from our Dept (46, not 24). We are picking it up on Friday after getting the carte gris from the garage and going on to get insurance sorted at our local assurance office. Two questions - how long do we have to re-register the car in 24?  We can't get to the Preferture at Perigueux until the week after next, can we use it so long as we have insurance and a CT? Do we need an attestation de habitation from our Mairie or would the attestation we got in late January when we bought the house enough?  Or do we need neither, just all our domestic bills?  

Hi Coco Yes, it's me/us, been here since January, long story but after we stayed with you we found a place, did the business and voila, here we are!  

Well Coco, as we've stayed at your place, we'd have given it three epis for sure. Blimey, that really is nit picking, rules are rules ok but I think from what we saw (and it was LAST year) we'd recommend you for the three epis toute suite.    

What is this Forum coming to if we're being asked for advice about 'somebody' putting their affairs in order in the event of 'somebody' committing suicide? If the original poster knows of somebody that's contemplating suicide, isn't it better to do something about it rather than try to get information about what happens after they are dead?  Having dealt with a large number of suicides in my time I know that if people want to kill themselves they will, nothing can stop them but what happens now? Does the poster toddle along to their friend and say, "my chums on the LF Forum say you should go to see a Notaire before you kill yourself"? Of course a Notaire is the place to go but this is a question best pointed in a Notaire's direction, not directed to ex-pats living in a country that's not their own, what is LF now, an advice centre for would be suicide advisers? If the question is about a real person it's not a matter or counselling, statistics or anything else, to me this is a wholly inappropriate question for this Forum.  If it's just a question, well, it's just weird. Or is it that somebody is asking for help here and doesn't quite know how to?