kitty

Many thanks Parsnips. I was referring to both my private pension and my husband's private pension. We have declared for years and paid CRDS of course (we took early retirement on reduced pensions). Thanks again for your assistance Kitty

I turned 60 in September and have been granted an E121 covering myself and my husband (55years old). Come next May when we have to complete our tax form, how do we deal with the fact that we have had the E121 for only 3 months and therefore do not owe social charges for the last 3 months of 2009? Thanks in advance for your advice. Kitty

We went to CPAM this morning and were advised that owing to my E121 we were now changing regimes and that was why the CMU base was cancelled for my husband. However we were assured that we can continue to use our CV's in the meantime so it seems that our worries were unnecessary. We were advised to contact URSSAF re the refund due to us so I have e-mailed them and will wait patiently now for the money to be refunded. Thanks to all for their help and advice Kitty

SD was spot on - I was on my husband's E106 so now understand why my husband's CMU has been cancelled. But what happens next? We already have Carte Vitale's. Can we still use them as before? Unfortunately we have already paid the latest URSSAF bill. What do I have to do to get the money back? Thanks for everyone's help with this Kitty

Hi I turned 60 recently (mid September) and took my E121 (with my husband as dependent) to CPAM. Today we received a letter stating that my husband is no longer entitled to CMU since 30/6/09. I realise that there are changes when one submits an E121 but am uncertain as to what exactly should happen. Is this letter 'normal'? Is the fact that the date stated is some 2 months ahead of what might be expected unusual? I believe that it may take several months before the UK side of things gets sorted out so what happens in the interim if the CMU has turfed us out? Can someone who has been through this please help me understand how the process unfolds and if we should be concerned and need to visit CPAM ASAP? many thanks Kitty

Hi, We have pulled up all our floors and relaid them with underfloor heating pipes in the screed.  The system at present relies on evacuated tube solar panels which work fine when the sun shines.  The floor gets warm in an hour.  We have lots of data if anyone is interested.  Our progress is shown on our blog http://smartfrance.blogspot.com .  We have 2 Mitsubishi reversible aircon units as well for when the sun doesn't shine.  They work well except when it is really cold, then they struggle to cope.  The units are a few years old so may not have the latest refrigerant in them.  We are thinking of attaching a water/ water heat pump to the underfloor system and will probably buy that from Navitron who have a supplier in France.  The heat pump on the underfloor loop would make our system more flexible.  We may scavenge some of the heat from our swimming pool and the rest from ground loops.  As we have a digger and a large plot the groundwork should not cost much money, just time.  We bought our underfloor heating pipes from Brico Depot and so far so good (costs about 50 euro per 100m and we have 700m).  We had no leaks on installation and the pipes appear to be very tough.  Has anyone used a Navitron heat pump in France?

Hi We want to send a parcel weighing 6kg to the UK. Has anyone found an economical way of doing this please? A quick check on the inernet came up with prices around 60 euros - more than we hoped to pay. Thanks in advance Kitty

Hi Our local CPAM office were happy to take our British birth certificates in English - no translation required. Sounds like we were lucky. Sorry I can't help. Kitty

Hi We have decided to invest in a greenhouse but do not know if we need to get planning permission first. I am not sure if this is relevant, but it would be sited at the back of our garden and not visible to anyone. Any advice or experiences would be helpful Thanks in advance Kitty

Hi Mik Unbelieveable - guess what - we received our CV's on Friday!!! [:D] Many thanks for sharing your experiences with us - it helped us cope with our own frustrations - hopefully you'll have your CV's very soon too Kitty

Hi Mik Thanks for the update. We too have some news - we visited our local CPAM in early July when we were told that my birth certificate was unclear! The lady photocopied it several times before she was happy she had a good copy and then said that we would have application forms for our CV's in a few weeks. We were amazed but happy! However, none came.  So we went back in mid August and the very same lady told us that we had temporary numbers and we would have to wait - there was nothing she could do. We were amazed again! But we left, despondent, not wanting to argue and perhaps hinder things even further! The good news is that, about 10 days ago, we each received a letter with details of our DoB's and birthplaces, asking for us to sign these forms as being accurate and attaching recent photos - however they still showed our temporary numbers! So perhaps we will receive our CV's too - we will wait and see - everything is crossed needless to say. We'll let you know if we are successful. Kitty

We are just about to finish our pool heating system.  It relies on Navitron evacuated tube collectors.  The heat is transferred to the pool via 100m of poly pipe buried in the concrete base of the pool.  We have 25 m2 of collectors.  The pool is constructed of poly blocks filled with concrete and the base of the pool is also insulated with polystyrene.  The pool is covered by a pool Abri.  We hope we can keep the pool warm most of the year.  The house underfloor heating will also come off the same circuit.  Our blog has full details ( http://smartfrance.blogspot.com ).  So we will have performance data soon if anyone is interested look at the blog.

Many thanks for the info - the morale of the tale suggests another visit to the dreaded CPAM - we went 2 weeks ago - on a day they decided to close - it's never easy is it? Thanks again Kitty

Cheers - that would be much appreciated. Kitty

Many thanks  Kitty

Hi Les Our E106 finished in Jan 07, hence my anxiety. Did it take you 2 years from the time your E106 expired to get your CV's? If so, then this is maybe the norm and I just have to be patient. Thanks for your help Kitty

Hi Hoping someone can help us. We live in Languedoc, near Carcassonne, and last August we were advised by a person at our local CPAM that they had copies of all the  necessary documents and we qualified for our Carte Vitales. We were advised that we all we had to do was to complete the necessary forms which we would receive soon afterwards in the mail. However, soon afterwards the 'Inactif' issue arose so we were not surprised when we did not receive the forms. Given that this 'Inactif' situation has now been resolved and we are once again in the system, as fully paid up members of CPAM, we thought that we would ask for our Carte Vitales again. Today I recieved an e-mail stating that as we have a provisional social security number we cannot have Carte Vitales. However we can continue to use the attestation that we have recently obtained at the local CPAM which is valid till 2024! My question is how do we move this forward and get 'definitif ' social security numbers? Thanks for any help offered Kitty

Hi all We have constructed our pool (11m by 5m) and are now looking to buy an abri. We want one that is not too high but not the very lowest kind available - we need one that is about 1.3m high in the middle and 0.8m high at the edges. Does anyone have any advice on how to select the best abri - any experiences to share would be gratefully received. If you want to let me know by PM that would be fine and not contravene any rules either. Thanks in advance Kate T 

Hi, If you are making a pool consider putting solar collectors in the terraces around the pool.  We have done this, see our blog http://smartfrance.blogspot.com We will also buy evac tube solar collectors and we have a source in France that is less expensive than Navitron and nearer :) .  Contact me with a pm for info.  We intend to heat our house with a solar combi system. Bob T.

Is there anything stopping us employing Polish builders in France? Thanks in advance Kate T

Many thanks everyone for your help - cheque now posted Kate T

My husband and I are both retired but not yet 60. We have been resident in France since May 2005. We recently recieved an 'avis d'echeance' with a demand for payment of a cotisation for the 2eme trim 2007.  We have never had one previously. I understood that URSSAF was for employed people or employers. If that is not the case could someone please help me understand why we have received this demand for payment? Many thanks in advance Kate T

We are in the same situation except we decided to market our house by ourselves doing our own website. We also put a sign on the gate - this has led to calls from at least 6 immobiliers so far - they all get the same response - we want to do this ourselves - no way would we allow our purchasers to be 'stung' for 8% or so of the purchase price. We have bought another house in the same village which we found out about from friends - but as the current owner had signed an 'exclusivity' agreement with their agent we still have to pay a fortune in fees. I don't mind an honest day's money for an honest day's work but, in general, that phrase does not apply to the immobilier industry - not in France or in the UK