Mikejac

Thanks for your responses guys. I have been told by more than one source (broker and french insurance co) that they will provide fully comp cover on my UK registered car, but, as it is over 4 years old, it needs a Controle Technique first.  Also, the policy offered by the broker (which seems good value) requires that I re-register the car within 6 months. There will, therefore, be a gap of several days between leaving the UK 'for good' and getting my French insurance organized, because of the need for the CT. My point is therefore what do people do to cover themselves during this period?  The options so far seem to be: 1. Keep my UK insurance going during this period and hope that if I do have an accident my UK insurance company won't find out I am no longer resident in the UK.  Fat chance of that as I will be communicating with them from an address in France, which might be a bit of a giveaway or 2. Hmm. Mikejac

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house in 46.  We will be moving there next April and I am looking for advice about insurance for our UK registered car, which we intend to re-register in France. I have been making enquiries about insuring the car in France and have found that I will be unable to do so until it has its Controle Technique. The advice I have received  is, in general, to stay on UK insurance until the French policy can be put into effect, but this seems to rely on the fact that most UK insurance policies extend cover (for a limited period) to use abroad, which is of course intended for holidays, business trips etc.  I am concerned that if I were to rely on this and be involved in an accident my insurance company would soon discover that I was no longer resident in the UK and would deny my claim. Does anyone have any experience and/or further advice on this issue.  I realise that I could seek advice from my insurance company but that may well be negative and I don't want to 'show my hand' at this stage. Mikejac

Can anyone recommend a company in the Lot (Cahors area) who can supply and install a woodburner? If they speak any English so much the better, as I am only a beginner in French. Mikejac

Hi, the number you want is +33 1 55 78 60 56 Mikejac

I had no problem whatsoever.  I arranged with Currencies Direct to transfer the deposit to the notaire's account. They offered a better rate of exchange than my bank AND there was no charge, just the cost of a BACS transfer from my bank to them.  In all it took no more than a couple of days.  Also, within an hour or so of signing the initial contract for the house I had a bank account opened with the local Banque Poplulaire.  The only ID they wanted was our passports.  

I received the following information from a company called Solwise in the UK.  Haven't tried it out yet as I don't move to France until next Spring. You can use normally UK telephones that have the BT connector on the end of the cable. You would need a French Telephone Adaptor (on our web page: http://www.solwise.co.uk/telesun.htm - stock code ADAP- FRANCE at £2.33) but you also need Telephone Adapter / RJP/BTS - with ring capacitor (RJ11) at £2.22 - on the same web site page - this adaptors converts you BT plug into an RJ11 which fits into the French adaptor and enables the telephone device to ring. Mikejac

Hi Does anyone have any knowledge of car breakdown services, like AA, Green Flag etc., operating in France? Mikejac

Hi, can anyone with experience of registering a UK caravan in France tell me whether or not they have had to make any modifications to their van, e.g. rear lights. If modifications are needed is it better to have them done in the UK before departure for France, or wait until I get there? Mikejac

Hi Poolguy I have been reading your posts with interest, as I am shortly moving into a house which has a pool and I am a complete novice. Are there any special considerations for a Desjoyaux pool with salt filtration system?

Can anyone tell me how you arrive at a horsepower figure for a particular car, in my case a diesel powered 110 bhp VW Passat?

I recently read somewhere that it is possible to send audio from a radio channel to wireless speakers.  Does anyone know what equipment I need for this, presumably some kind of transmitter plugged into the digibox?

My wife and I are in the process of buying a retirement house in 46.  We have one child in common and I have a son from a previous marriage (both over 18).  Our notaire has proposed that we use a Donation Entre Epoux, rather than the usual Tontine.  This was the first I had heard of this arrangement and so far have been unable to find any information on it other than what the notaire told us.  Does anyone have any knowledge of this and how it affects us on the death of either party?

I will be moving shortly to the Lot, about 10km south west of Cahors. Can anyone recommend a good vet and/or boarding kennels in this area.  My French is not yet very good so english speakers would be preferable.

I will be moving shortly to the Lot, about 10km south west of Cahors. Can anyone recommend a good vet and/or boarding kennels in this area.  My French is not yet very good so english speakers would be preferable.