[Heating Oil]

Heating oil is known as "Fioul" (pronounced fee-ool). Usually you just phone up the supplier and arrange for the delivery tanker to come the next day. Saturday deliveries are usually possible. You don't have to buy a full tank but it usually gets cheaper the more you buy. A good starting quantity at this time of year might be 400-500 litres which should last quite a while until you turn the heating on !

Don't forget you need to turn your boiler off for about 4 hours after the tank has been filled to allow all the sediment to settle.

[Controle Technique]

As I understand it, once a UK registered car has been in France for 6 months it is legally deemed to have been imported and, as such, must be re-registered. Prior to re-registration, a UK registered car must have current valid road tax. Failure to comply with the laws of the land could render any insurance cover invalid.

Brits who come over to France and ignore the laws just get the rest of us a bad name. No-one, of any nationality, wants to run the risk of being hit by an uninsured car. The problem over here is that the policing of such matters seems to be reactive rather than proactive, meaning that most people will get away with it until they have an accident - at which time the gendarmes will throw the book at them.

[Newcomer to the Gite business]

"Buy to Let in France"

by Clive Kristen

ISBN: 1-85703-880-0

My copy is a few years old now, and very well thimbed but cost me £10.99.

A great book which was invaluable to us when we started out. A must for everyone who is thinking about letting gites or those that already do but aren't sure they've got everything covered !

[Pool opening times?]

We have three gites with a shared pool and the pool is open 10am to 8pm. Any later and there is always the chance of noise disturbing young children who have been put to bed. HOWEVER our "pool rules" do state that the pool can be made available at other time on request. If such a request is made we usually say yes but ask them to keep the noise down if there are young children staying in other houses. Everyone always seems very happy with this arrangement. To be honest, most guests haven't even appeared before 10am and by 8pm they're nearly always eating dinner. We did have a really enjoyable midnight swim with champagne a couple of weeks ago with some regular guests !

[Last minute cancellation]

As I understand it, where a guest has made advance payment (either a deposit or full payment) it needs to be made clear whether this is deemed to be "un accompte" or an "arrhes". There are clear legal distinctions between the two.

With an "arrhes" the gite owner's liability is limmited to twice the rental amount already reaceived. With "un accompte" liability can be unlimited if the guest can prove, in court, that the gite owner is in breach of contract.

On the other foot, however, with an arrhes the guest can only be held responsible to lose the deposit paid if he or she cancels the booking. With "un accompte" the guest is liable for the full rental amount if cancelling.

In most cases the "arrhes" option is favourable to gite owners. Two things need to be made clear in your booking contract. Firstly, you need to make it clear that the contract is made in france and French law applies. Secondly you need to state that all payments made in advance of the commencement of the rental period will be deemed to be an "arrhes". That should cover you if the worst happens !

[A plug on an electric cooker - is this right?]

I recently installed a new oven in one of my gites and it is less than 10amps so I reckon you're ok. It's not wired to a plug but it is connected to a dedicated 10A fused supply. The fuse hasn't blown yet so I guess the spec details were correct ! As someone has already said it is the hob (if electric) that draws most current. In many under counter ovens you can only use either the grill or the oven at any one time so this keeps the current down.