Sharon

LAST EDITED ON 13-May-02 AT 09:41 PM (GMT) >Does anybody know what cover you're >entitled to (if any) if >you want to start a >business and don't forsee any >income for the first year >or 2? We're in this position ourselves - arrived here a year ago, just bought a house, launching what we hope will be a successful business this summer, no relevent income to speak of at the moment... Because we are still UK citizens, paying tax over there (I work part-time for the UK earning an extremely small income that doesn't qualify for tax, my husband doesn't work; all our efforts are going in to starting up this new venture), we have the E101 (exempting us from French social security payments and allowing us to continue under the UK SS system) as well as the E128 (for medical cover). As I understand, the E128 allows us to claim back medical expenses under the French CPAM (Caisse Primaire dAssurance Maladie) who in turn, under an EU reciprocal arrangement, are effectively paid back by the UK SS. Apparently, you can renew your E101 (and by extension your E128) for as long as you want (it's called an E102 when it gets renewed) as long as you remain taxable and under SS in the UK. I think the rule is that it's only supposed to last for 1-2 years, and after that you join the French SS system, but the guy in the DSS I spoke to said as long as you spend minimum 3 months in the UK a year, you can reapply as often as you want... in the same breath adding that you can white-lie about the length of time you spend in the UK and there's no way of anyone checking up. Hope this helps. If you find out any more, let me know as we're still in the process of discovering the details for ourselves.

I have just found out I am expecting our second child and want to give birth over here. I'd really like to speak to someone - in English preferably - who knows not only about the French maternity system (I've read all the threads on this forum about having a baby in France and have quite a bit of www literature on the subject) but how to avoid the typical institionalised path that the 'system' wants women to go down. My last birth was at home (in the UK) so I'm used to putting up a bit of a fight to get my way! For example, I'd like to know what my minimum legal obligations are in terms of ante-natal tests/exams, how this affects maternity pay (I read somewhere that you need to prove you have attended your first four monthly ante-natal tests in order to even qualify for it), home birth protocol, the birth clinic due to be opening in Montpellier (if anyone has any info on this I'd be particularly grateful to hear about it as I gather there are political reasons preventing the place from opening even though it's been ready to go for a while)... as I understand, French women are encouraged if not obliged to undergo a battery of ante-natal tests, examinations and doc/gyno visits - much more than in the UK - and I'd rather avoid the majority if I can. Any help or advice VERY gratefully appreciated.

Hi, I'm a newcomer to the LF forum and thought I'd kick off with a nice complicated query. We have just bought a house with a large area of terraced land in the Cevennes mountains (Lozere) - and have just discovered that our neighbour plans to instal a septic tank on a small area of his property which juts into our land across the road from his house (a strange land division arrangement but there you go.) Below the four terraces he owns (approx 300m sq in area) - sandwiched on both sides by our land - our property continues down the valley for a couple of hundred metres. We are concerned about the implications of his septic tank a) being so close to our house and within a few feet of our garden re any smells, and b) being upland of a large section of our property therefore having to drain down through our land. Does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing or any advice? We are due to have our first friendly meeting with these neighbours in a few days' time and would like to raise the issue then. We have been told by the former owners of our house that we need to tread cautiously with this particular family. We have also been told that these neighbours would require our permission to take any off-run through our land by underground pipes, but we're not sure whether the same would apply if they were just to let it drain into the soil. We have also been advised - informally by our notaire when we bought the house - that any structure built on their land would have to be out of sight because of its proximity to ours (we have a summer house within 50m of their land). Aaarghh! Help please! sharon