JeanClaude

I am not sure if this is going to help............I just think it will add to the earlier threads. My wife and I retired early on ill-health grounds last year. We have non-governmental pensions from our previous employers. In one case a major Plc the other private. We are told that if we make an application to the Tax guys here then they will consider it, and if appropriate will issue a notice to the Trustees of the pension scheme(s) whereby tax is not deducted in the UK and thus paid gross into France. We still live in the UK so not pressing at the moment. But your note has just struck a chord in that my best mate is a DCI, and head of CID training at a certain Police Force in the UK. He is retiring next year, and thought that his pension would be paid gross as he is moving to France.

I have just had this conversation with Credit Agricole on the same subject, save for the fact that the amount was 5000. As we are not in Euroland, they treat obviously the as a foreign currency and if the cheque is drawn on an English bank it is subject to various commissions, and costs between banks. Perhaps its better to take euros to France or pay by credit card or whatever. But CA reminded me that anything less than 8000 was not cost effective...............!!!!!!!!!!!!

Naturally and to a man we all very much hope that everything is ok. It will be............. How about this. A friend of ours had pains in the chest went to see the specialist on a Tuesday, heart problems. Following Thursday, triple heart by-pass, now recovering at one of the French 'health farms' Wonderful service

Call me old-fashioned but I am a lawyer and much against my better judgement went down the route of Currencies4Less and booked at a rate that we were happy with. They did not let us down but I was still worried over someone that I had never met or knew little about had a substantial sum of our money. As I said they did their job and no problems. Their rate was also better than the bank! Shop around see what you bank can do. A little thought. Substantial sum hit our CA account but on the 2nd of the month. Their commencing charging days for deposit account interest is the 1st and 15th of the month Thus interest did not start kicking in until the 15th. Final point CA let us down so badly on completion, if I were you I would watch this point like a hawk, get peoples names, phone numbers emails etc and bombard them with the details to make sure it goes through. regards

there are various threads on this, and to be found under the search button. Basically, and yes its slightly expensive but we just send cheques to CA at Britline. We also have a La Poste account, and just draw money out in France via our debit cards, either pay it direct to CA through the CA in our town, or pay it in to La Poste and draw a cheque. The latter way incurs no charges. regards

Take the cheque with you or your own personal one...........and quick at that!

>we applied for and received e106 >and took it to our >local CPAM office, they said >to send it to this >woman with marriage certificates, birth >certificates etc. I rang the >woman and she said yes, >send it to her. > >I sent the stuff a month >ago - should I be >expecting something back from her >and do they send me >anythgin to say Ive got >cover? what do I do >if Im ill and how >do I show the carte >de sejour people that I >have got cover? > >hope soemone can shed some light >- this is all very >worrying >Maria this has nothing at all to do with this thread, save we completed on our house on the 8th November last, and it is only today we have received the deeds, plus a cheque for overpayment of taxes! rdgs

We have completed the first part of the legalise on our French property and will complete on the 30th November. However, we seem to have a strange hole in the wall above cooker with a glass cover, and which apparently takes logs (of which we seem to have ten years supply)as a form of heating both to the kitchen and on the basis that hot air ovbiously ascends to the upstairs rooms. Has anyone come across this please, and how safe is it, rdgs

We are moving over in November, on completion of our house near Villedieu. Sorry for our lack of knowledge, however; my wife suffers and has suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis for twenty five years and is on a new drug and requires blood tests and subsequent results every two weeks before going back to a specialist hospital in Bath to see the specialist. Conventionally the blood test is taken at our local GP centre within a community hospital, here in Chepstow. I would not know where to start in France, in that our only visit to a GP in France sent shudders down our whole being in that the GP was housed in an environment that dated from 1901. I would have hated to have a blood test taken there. Can anyone please let us have at the very least a starting point on this. Our nearest main hospitals will be St Lo. Coutances, and Cherbourg, rdgs

Having just purchased a property near Villedieu may we just say that we support and recommend Britline, they have been wonderful. You need passport and birth certificates and all that stuff plus a utility bill in the UK. After that its plain sailing. The easiest way we have found (and the most beneficial ff wise) is to send them UK cheques made out to yourselves for third party cheques cannot be treated as negotiable instruments in France, rdgs