Hereford

Hello, thanks fior all the helpful replies.  It is a slate roof.  The problem is that as far as we can see it is not "easy" ro remove the slates as the Renotherm "stcks" to them and sticks them all together - the hooks become irrelevant. They have to be prised off.   The renotherm was done 11 years ago.  We had had it done in the UK on an old tile roof in a conservation area and have not problems. We were certainly not keen on the idea of coating so will discount that. Do any of you know a good roofer in the Mortain/St Hilaire/Avranches region of southern Normandy?  Our French is not bad but the French roofer we have used for other work just shrugs his shoulders!! Many thanks in any case to you all for your interest H.

Thanks for the replies - we rather suspected that we may have to take the tiles off, but how difficult is that?  Has anyone done it!! "Coating" was suggested by an English roofer (who promptly left France to return to the UK).. Has anyone any experience of this please? H.

Hello all you renovators We have posted a message in the Section "North West France" re a problem with our roof but have had no replies yet. Does anyone have any advice on a roof that has been "renothermed" but now leaks.? Many thanks hereford

Hi everyone We have a problem with a leak above a dormer window.  We have had this looked at but without success.  The basic problem is that the roof was "renothermed" and this means that slates cannot be removed to help find the source of the leak. The French roofer we have seen just throws his hands up and shrugs - and goes away! One English roofer has looked and he suggested we may need to "coat" the roof with some product (he did not give us a name).  He then went back to the UK.     So:   Is there anyone out there who is or knows a roofer who has dealt with renothermed roofs before and could advise?  Please!!!  We are in the Mortain/St Hilaire/Avranches triangle.  French or English will be fine. Many thanks   H.

You do not have to pay anything into the French health service as such but the medical care you get is not free. You get 65 - 70% refunded, just as a French person does. You should look at top-up insurance too.  Lots of info on this on this site. H

We pay our gardener using the cheque d'emploi sytem.  We pay him €12 per hour net (his request) and the cotisations dedcucted later from us by URSSAF amount to about €5 per hour (more or less depending on age of employer!). However this works out cheaper than it looks and so is a selling point for French taxpayers as half the gross amount is dedcuted from you tax bill. The extra cotisations paid include money for insurance. Our gardener is very happy with this system, but the hours are restricted.  Someone else will know how many are allowed.  Also only "petit jardinage" can be done. This covers most things such as mowing and general maintenance. H.

We used to live in Eastbourne and now live in Southern Manche and we love it here but have to confess that the winter weather has been a disappointment.  We describe the weather generally as being klike that of Cornwall but not so dry! Also we do not get as much sun as we did in Eastbourne (sunshine capital of the south) but that is partly becasue we are inland and 190 metres above sea level.  Most years we have snow, sometimes quite a lot. In Eastbourne snow was a rarity. If you seriously want better weather then you need to go a lot further south than Normandy. I have not commented on working or earning as we came when we retired.  We do have an English neighbour whose partner has found work but at the minimum wage and finds it very tedious. H.

Yes, we are 12 km from Mortain in the Avranches direction.  Been here full time since 2002. Most local business done in St Hilaire - though we like the new Avranches Carrefour for shopping! Virtually never go to Sourdeval though... H.

You just click on the three letter code (DAC I think for the current acc) which is on the left of the balance. H

There are people in France who will make telephone calls for you if your French is not good.  If you do not have access to any advertising here I can look in a magazine/paper for you.  I think the Living France mag has ads. for this service.  I will look myself  in any case later this morning..  We were given one of these forms at one point and sent it straight to our "maitre d'oeuvre" to fill in! H.

We went last November, after the new owners took over. We thought the food was very good.  We went at lunchtime but did not have the basic lunch menu.  We did not spot all these egregious mistakes as we were given a menu in French. Next time we might ask for the English menu just for the fun of it! H.

We have had the same problem in Normandy (see earlier post).  We are even more annoyed because we are owed money by them! We pay monthly and had the avis come out at the normal time would not have had to pay September and probably October payment.  We went to the office and were told we would have the avis by the 15th November (this would be the date any additional payment would be due).   We suspect that the late issue is becasue of the later filing date this year. H.

Thanks, we had assumed we were not alone!  The most annoying thing is that the website said last week that they would all be out at the beginning of September but that bit has now disappeared and it just says they are in the course of distribution. Our refund would pay the foncieres and habitation.... H.

We do of course mean the tax due in 2006 based on income in 2005!  Sorry.

We file online and pay our tax monthly.  The online website stated last week that 90% of the "avis" were out and the remaining 10% would be available "au debut de septembre". Having had nothing, and expecting a tax refund, we went to our local tax ofice this morning.  We were told that our return has not been procesed yet but would be done by 15th November.  As we calculate that we are owed a refund on the payments we have already made (we explained this to the lady on the desk) they suggested we go to the Tresorerie and ask them to cancel our last two monthly payments.  The Tresorerie lady was very sympathetic but explained that they could not cancel the two payments. She assured us that we will get a refund eventually!! We are very unhappy about this and feel that this does not encourage any of us to pay monthly.  We assume that the delay is because of the late issuing of the forms. Has anyone else had this problem or is it a local one perhaps? Our tax office is in Mortain, Manche. Hereford  

I too used Imigram injections in the UK. My doctor here said that the French health service would not cover the cost (although I could have a precription and pay for them). He implied that "they" were concerned about it's safety!  I now use the "melt on the tongue" pilss mentioned by an earlier poster.  They work well but are slower than the jab (which for those who don't know works in minutes). It takes about half an hour to see any effect. Much easier when on, say, a trip though as don't need to go into the "ladies" to take it. Talk to the doctor here once you are registered.   Mrs H.

A friend tells me that she puts the total income from her gite on her (french) tax return but that when the tax bill comes only 60% of the income is taxed. Perhaps this 40% deduction is to cover all expenses? (Mrs) H Perhaps someone on the section regarding "gites" could explain this.

It may depend on who your employer is.  Our son worked at CERN (8 years ago) in Geneva but "lived" in France and was "employed" by a UK agency. The French did not want to know about him (not even for a Carte de sejour) because he left the country every day to go to work, the Swiss do not tax CERN employees (so we were told), and the UK said he was non-resident so he had an NT code.  Answer - no tax, great joy all round!!!! The firm you are working for probably have other employees in the same position, they will be able to help you we would think. H.

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Mutts:    That is no change to the current regulation on personal pensions.  Not sure what exactly is happening in 2006 yet, although we do know that it seems you may not have to buy an annuity at 75, depending on how you deal with your fund. Mrs H has just taken her whole fund as a pension - it had a guaranteed rate above the current annuity rate and as has been said the lump sum if taken would be taxable here in France. It is usually worth paying the class 3 voluntary contributions. You can do this in arrears. Speak to Newcastle. H.

Our understanding is that ALL income must be declared in France.  Tax deducted from Interest in the UK can be claimed back in the UK, but obviously not tax credits. We do not have dividends but it would appear from Quillan's reply that at least you would get credit for the Tax credit in France.  We assume you enter the "gross" dividend and show the tax credit separately on your French return. We agree too that the 11% CSG will be due as it is on all investment income. H  

In reply to an earlier post: I am just coming up to 60, but husband is over 65. I was self employed for most of my working life so paid no "stamp" at all, just class 4 contributions for which I get absolutely nothing. I still feel that married women who paid the full stamp get a a raw deal too. They pay the same as their husbands (ignoring graduated contributions as they are outside of the basis NIRP) but they will only get £30 a week more than those of us who paid nothing. As an example a friend was widowed within a year of getting her pension. The pension has now been made up to the amount her husband got. This would be exactly the same whether she had paid a full stamp or not. You can only get one NIRP once you are widowed. I have no compalints about my pension, I chose not to pay in but get my £50 anyway. Not only that but because my husband is ten years older than me we have been getting the same £50 (me being a "dependent wife" ) ever since he reached 65 and we both "retired" from self employment. This thread has lost sight of the original posting! Mrs H    

Many thanks, will pass the message on.  Much easier to phone Newcastle when you have some info and backing! Mrs H

Ron:  Don't worry. we married women still get the E121 when we retire. I am only to get £1.29 of "additional" pension based on my own graduated conts. before marriage but will get the basic "married woman's" pension based on husband's contributions. My E121 has already arrived! However you are right to say that women get a bad deal, you get the £50 or so based on husband anyway and even if you have paid for 40 years you only get the extra to take you up to the full £80 or so.  Mrs H.

Sorry I cannot find the answer I need on "search", tho I accept it may be there!  Would be glad of any help. If you are "early retired" on pension (say a teacher) because of illness (in the case of the person I am researching for: Parkinson's disease) do you get an E121 if you move to France or do you just get an E106 from previous work? I am talking about very early retirement at under 50. Any help, especially from anyone in the same position, gratefully received.  I assume that a hsuband can be covered with an E121 too if one can be issued? Many thanks Mrs H.