maxsan

I have 3 pensions with UK pension companies and wish to turn them into an annuity. The iniquitous situation that prevails in the UK of legalised theft by the pensiopn companies, means that when I die the fund dies with me. I wondered if anyone in France has taken out a French annuity or its equivalent and could shed some light on what happens here.

"To qualify, you must first be a French resident." This is both wrong and misleading. Go to http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/getDoc?id=11433&m=3&cid=96 and all the information you need is there. You have to be a taxpayer or registered for tax in France. There are various qualifications for what yopu can claim and there is assistance from differing quarters for different types of energy installation. For example: I have had new double glazed upvc windows fitted. Can I claim anything? Yes, if the windows are the correct standard as laid down by the impots.  If I have the work done or buy the equipment prior to the 31st of december of the second year since I bought the house, then I can get 40% of the cost back. If it is more than that then only 25%. In both cases the house must have been built prior to 1977. This is just one example and they are all different. In some cases the work (solar hot water) must be done by an acredited installer whilst in others you can buy the stuff and do the job yourself.  All the information you could possibly need is on the Ademe site you just have to take the time to trawl through it all. If you are paying tax and have the job done prior to december the 31st of 2006, then you will get the tax credit in 2007. If you are not paying tax but registered for tax (you are on low income) then the impots pay the money into your bank account.

I agree, when I noticed what was happening, I asked the fitter to stop and explained what my worries were. He said that they always do this on renovations. I took him at his word and let them get on with it as they had already taken the old windows out. The salesman will be round tomorrow morning with the bill, even though they brought the wrong size roller blind for the door and only half the mosquito nets that were ordered.  Fortunately, we only paid a 25% deposit and will not be paying any more until the problem is sorted out. I will keep you informed.

We have just had new upvc windows fitted, by a national French company. The quotation shows that the windows we pay for are of the size of the opening and yet, the windows fitted are not. The fitters have taken the old wooden frames out but left 40 to 50 mm of the old frames and pinned the new windows to that. Is this normal in France or have we been ripped off? In the sous-sol, the fitters have put the windows direct to the wall. Our worry is that the wooden frames may rot and cause problems further down the line. Our suspicion is that they have turned up with the wrong or a stock size and adapted the frames to suit. I have to also say that the outside is covered by upvc profiles so that it is unlikely that water may get in.

On further research I find that there are many problems with this type of heating. Not least of them being the claims made by unscrupolous salesmen. http://forum.hardware.fr/hardwarefr/Discussions/Pompe-chaleur-sujet-36624-10.htm This forum is in french but provides examples of actual experience with various systems.  

http://www.ciat.com/index_gb.html This is one site that has something about the system as does the EDF site. Basically EDF say that the installation costs around 60 to 90 euros a sq. metre of heated space to put in. That includes the equipment. The Cop (??) is about 3 to 1 i.e. for every 1 kw that you put in you get 3kw out although some claim 4 to 1 or higher.  Basically you have to search via google or whoever for geothermic air to air heating..  It is somewhat difficult to get informationm save that a lot of newbuilds are putting it in. Oh yes it only works to -15 degrees.

The high pressure salespeople say it would cost around 300 euros a year for a sous sol 180 sq. metres which is what ours is. EDF say it could be anything up to 600 euros a year depending on the level of insulation. As there are grants fopr everything at the moment to do with insulation, including electric roller blinds, It makes it all worth while for us. We pay around 900 euros at present for heating and hot water in the winter via an oil-fired boiler. With oil prices constantly rocketing and our boiler getting old the cost of replacement is noit an issue. The plus is that you get cool air in summer.

I forgot, it is actually called geothermic air to air heating. Not to be confused with the one that is from the ground. http://www.xpair.com/fiche_produit.php?uint_prodId=140&P=1&uint_CatCate2Id=140&uint_CateId=2  

Actually it eworks by extracting calories from the outside air and then sends them via a compressor, evaporator and condenser to units in your living space or to your existing system. the amount of electricity it uses is apparanetly quite low .  It comes under renewable energy and there is a credit d'impot for the equipment. A lot of new houses are having it installed.  it also has the benefit of providing cool air in the summer. EDF are offering low cost finance for this system. I am still learning more about it every day.

I have just come across a type of central heating which seems to be powered by electricity and uses an external compressor to push air through to units in your living accomodation where the air passes through a heat exchanger of sorts to provide heat.  As the deal for installation seems to be pretty good I was wondering if anyone else had experience of this type of heating.   I have a sous sol and do not wish to have gethermic heating and am about to swaop for another oil-fired system. 

Has anyone had a combined solar/fiuol heating/hotwater system fitted and, if so, does it work well? Also anyone know of good manufacturers of these type of systems. This is the only option open to us so please no advice about underground systems etc.

Maybe maybe not, but, it might just have an impact on those people who have small companies in the UK and wish to sell a product in France.  It could be that the by product of this ruling might be that anyone running abusienss across borders can do so legitimately without setting up in the country they are selling to. Who knows. 

The E121 is issued for those on IB or those of retirment age. The medical entitlement is 100% for all treatment under convention. It is up to the French authorities as to whether the spouse or conjoint is placed as a dependent. All preceding according to experience and Newcastle.

You are right nothing is yet set in stone. These are only reccomendations and I have just downlaoded all 472 pages of turner. You can guarantee, of course that bandit blair will keep those bits of the report which cut costs and never mind the expat pensioners.  You can see this being set up with recent stories in the UK press about pensioners living in Thailand and getting heating allowance.  This was evidently in one of Murdoch's rags and no doubt planted there by the blair dictatorship.  I have searched high and low to find out exactly what this means without success. Once I have read Turner I will come back with any answers I find.  I would agree with the previous poster were it not for two things. One was the unsuccessful case brought by a pensioner (Annette Carson I think) living in South Africa who was claiming that the UK govt were wrong to deny her and other pensioners in similar circumstances, the annual increases in Staete pensions. The other is the recurring story about those who retrun to the UK from the EU and have to fill in forms to prove that they are eligible for Uk resdiency.  This despite it being quite clearly stated on the IRS site that those of UK origin have an automatic right to re-entry. There are two cases I know of persoanlly where this has happened and, when the person concerned stated that they were born in the UK and held a UK passport they were told that did not count. It may be that if the residency idea is pushed to the limit as a way of saving money we may find that we do not have the right to re-enter the UK.

Well yes although for those of us who already pay a French mortgage it is too late. Still, the good thing here in France is that when the rate goes up, the payment stays the same just the term lengthens or shortens.

This may well make my plan for changing my heating boiler to a condensing type and fitting solar hot water unaffordable or, more to the point uneconomical.  It is not in France's hands unfortunately, iot is other countries such as Germany who are unhappy at this lower rate.

I agree Iceni but it is always a place to take a sounding. I am actually getting a professional (family) to examine the facts. It is just a point of interest for me at present thankfully.  Just another area of living in France that one has to be aware of just in case, like inheritance issues.

Surely, it falls within the scope of the French take everything into account when taxing you and therefore, even it is taxed in the UK, then you will be liable to inform the French tax via your declaration.  My point was that in the Uk you seem only to be taxed on the profit (interest) you then make from the proceeds of the bond.  A French equivaklent seems to be the sving programme that after something has been held in a certain vehicle for 8 years it is then exempt from tax. I think I was looking at perps and other savings vehicles when I saw that. I would have thrtought that the rules are probably the same for you insofar as you have invested in a Uk vehicle, presumably when you were in the UK, and that the profits from that fund are not taxable under Uk law. therefore you can assume it will be classed as an asset here as well and you are only liable for tax on the profit you then make.

erm yes I realise that I think but what I was looking for is not so much that the Uk taxman would know about a French home, but rather whether they could touch that home.  In other words whther there are cross border agreements that allow a creditor in the Uk, via the Court, to reach out and include a house or asset in another country in the assets to be considered.  

Perhaps it is the same situation as with the sale of Uk property. Where you have sold a house in the UK and are living here on the proceeds of that sale, it seems that the tax office is interested only in the interest you are earning on those proceeds. That is to say, they do not seem to be interested in the actual profit made on the house. The rule of thumb appears to be that if it originates in the UK but is not taxable in the Uk then it need not be decalred in France. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule but that is the feedback I gained from my local impots.  I have taken it that any endowments that I have rec'd are nothing to do with the taxman, only the interest that I have earned upon putting the proceeds of those endowments into a bank.  One exception appears to be Premium Bonds. 

With all the news about bankruptcy being a "lifestyle choice" for many in the Uk at present, I began wondering if going bankrupt in the Uk would affect one over here.  For example, if one had purchased a house in France and become over extended financially, would going bankrupt in the UK mean that one's house in France would be at risk of repossession?  I do understand the moral arguments regarding debt etc. so if you could avoid clogging up this post with your personal views on debt I would be grateful.

Thank you both for your excellent and concise answers. That was exactly what I was looking for. The rule that earnings are the main thing tells what I can do.  

Can anyone tell me if they have borrowed money in France, apart from a mortgage, and what the criteria were. Did you have to be working? a house owner? I know about the amount of your income that you can borrow but wondered, if I wished to take out a home improvement loan whether or not that was possible. 

Thanks Emma will ask around. We did have a Wilkinsons in Bury so I know the sort of shop you are on about  In Parthenay they have "Noz" which can be good fun on a rainy day!!  More often than not a load of tat but sometimes a few little gems buried in there. Alas no foam to date!! 

Thanks for the replies, I will certainly try the local markets. Not heard of " foire fouille" before, can you throw some light on this for me?? Taq its nothing to get excited about I can assure you, back in the UK at the famous (or maybe infamous) Bury Market, which is north of Manchester, there was a "Foam Man" whose only purpose in life was to meet the need of sad people like me who try to make cushions rather than buy them from say  Tesco or currently L'clerc!!.  One day I am sure I will wake up and realise  its quicker and often cheaper to do the Latter, but not quite as satisfying.