Pickles

[quote user="Quillan"]Back to the EU bit, there are some things you don't have to guess at because they are known. [/quote] Yes, but even the things that you and I might agree are "known" seem to be disputed in some quarters. [quote user="Quillan"]In short there are quite a few things which may go, need to be renegotiated or stay because they apply to EU citizens as opposed to individual countries and by not being a member. For those that have retired to France they are very big and important concerns and they need to know where they stand.[/quote] And therein lies the rub: I do not believe that by the time of the referendum it will be clear what leaving the EU will mean for the UK in any real level of detail. This affects not just those who have retired to France but those who are in the UK as well! And I suspect that making the position clear for those UK citizens who are living in the EU will not rank very highly in priorities of the in/out campaigns. As with the Scottish neverendum, the choice was between an existing certainty with the possibility of some future evolutionary changes versus an utterly undefined future with no real clear information about whether that future would be within or outside EFTA, with lots of misinformation about the positions of Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, the US and Australia (along the lines of "we will just be like country X").

The link below is to a site that offers a free piece of software that it claims will help you to evaluate the risks and produce appropriate documentation. http://www.evarisk.com/document-unique-logiciel I haven't used it and have no connection with the organisation.

I bought a new annual car hire insurance excess policy today, and as I was idly perusing the policy document, I was surprised to note that the company (Questor) will sell this policy to people resident in most of Europe: not just the UK. If anyone is interested, you can get a discount by looking at Martin Lewis's moneysavingexpert site. I have used them for a couple of years and indeed tested the system last year when a sharp stone put a nasty cut into a hire car tyre sidewall. They paid up promptly with no fuss.

[quote user="Thibault"]It is interesting that the recent example of coalition politics (which would be inevitable with PR) led to people deserting the Lib Dems because they were not able to implement all the policies they had in their manifesto (nor were the Conservatives). It seems that the electorate like the idea of coalition politics but do not like the reality of it.[/quote] I think that there is a difference between "compromising" on what is a major policy issue and agreeing to vote for a diametrically-opposed policy. However, Westminster politicians are not used to coalition politics nor how to get the best out of PR: they are used to the "I'm the biggest bully, so bow down to me" approach. I think that PR demands a very different way of conducting politics, from the strategic positioning of the party downwards.

[quote]All car policies should include a Third Party towing risk but this covers damage caused by the trailer not damage caused to the trailer. They don't cover theft of the trailer or damage caused to the trailer while attached. [/quote] I think that this may be the general case in the UK, but the OP and Dave are coming from a French perspective.

[quote user="Rabbie"] However the disparity between the total number of UKIP votes and the actual number of MPs elected shows the undemocratic nature of our electoral system. It is clearly absurd that gaining 36% of the votes gives you a majority or that gaining 49% of the votes gives you 95% of the seats. No wonder people are loosing faith in the democratic process when this occurs. Too many safe seats do not encourage people to take part.[/quote] Yes but, the UK electorate had the opportunity to change this system VERY recently. We have to face the fact that only 42% bothered to vote, and they voted more than two to one in favour of keeping the existing system. I suspect that some of the 58% who didn't vote (as well as perhaps some of those who voted to keep the current system) are amongst those now crying "It's not fair" (present company excepted!!). Writing as someone who is in favour of some form of PR, I have to say that for the time being we are stuck with the current system, and until it is changed, we have to live with it as being the democratically chosen system for the UK parliament, warts and all. I haven't seen evidence of a mass campaign to change the system in the light of the perceived inequity of the results of the last election ... just complaints from the disadvantaged parties. Given that in our political system there seems to be a penchant for "strong leadership" which usually translates as almost a cult of the personality, First Past the Post facilitates this whereas for PR to work properly, a different sort of politics (and politician) is IMHO necessary. Small parties want PR until they become big parties. I've probably said this before, but I thought that the case for AV was VERY badly presented, and the case for retaining the current system presented a whole crop of "simple facts" nonsense that any competent person could have ridden a coach and horses through, and yet the AV campaign failed to do so.

If you use apps which have offline maps, (eg Sygic or Maps with me), and are prepared to restrict your use of Internet functions to places where you have a wifi connection, then all you need is a bog standard mobile phone contract eg the cheapo ones by Leclerc or those that come as an adjunct to a landline/broadband deal.

Full management for 15% would seem a bargain to me, especially when you take into account the costs of advertising (eg on an internet platform). I think it would be significantly higher than that. I believe that Interhome charges upwards of 30% for full management where it can provide all services. Your comments about not having a yard made me think a bit. Are you thinking about buying a flat? If so, you need to be very careful when choosing the property: Flats are held in copropriété, which means that there are charges for common services provided. Depending upon the development, these may include heating and hot water, so you could end up subsidising year-round residents. Taxe fonciere and Taxe d'habitation tends to be higher in towns than villages. The reglements de copropriété will dictate what can and can not be done with your flat, and you need to be careful that use is not restricted to principal residence.

To my untutored eye, by the time that the exit from the euro occurs, I suspect that the amount of personal savings in Greek banks will have dropped to pretty much zero, having been shipped to bank accounts in other countries or stuffed into mattresses. The ECB will take a big hit since it seems to be the only thing keeping the Greek banks from going bankrupt. In any case, they will only be leaving the Euro zone, not the EU.

[quote user="Thibault"][quote user="lindal1000"]t As far as I understood it the TTIP was initiated by the USA, who want better and more favourable access to European markets. Why would that be any different if Britain was out of the EU? The only difference as far as I can see is that we would have no say in the negotiations and have to go along with whatever was decided.[/quote] That is also the case if the UK was part of EFTA and wished to continue to trade with the EU, it would still be bound by all the EU regulations with absolutely no say in what these were or how they were applied.[/quote] And part of being in EFTA means that we would end up making similar sized EU contributions to those that we make now, so I have been led to believe. With no input as to how they are used.

[quote user="Quillan"]I thought it was a bit high. How do you find out what the rate is, by asking the mayor?[/quote] I thought I was clever. This site claims to give you the numbers. http://www.aude.gouv.fr/taxe-d-amenagement-r1287.html However, the links don't work for me. It appears that you need to talk to the DDTM for the Aude. The rate seems to be a secret ...

[quote user="Quillan"]Well after the 1st Jan 2015 ammendment it woud seem they really don't want anyone to build when they quote a rate of 705€ m2.[/quote] Except that this value is then multiplied by the taux - which it says is between 1-5%, so you are looking at 7-35 € per square metre.

If you want to be really quiet, why not get one of those "dry mop" type thingies that you can use to remove the dust and hairs: they seem to trap the grot electrostatically, and you can then  wash out the mop to clean it when necessary.

[quote user="adjh"]I have a property in the Ariege with a small piece of land. A small corner of this land which was not mine has now been bought by my adjacent neighbours, turned into a parking area for their lorry and van. I was not informed by the seller or the purchaser. I was not living at the house at this time.The land was marked out with geometric stakes before this happened.  Should I have been notified by the seller and buyer. It has completely ruined the back garden and potentially devalued the property. Should I have been legally informed and given first resusal by the seller before this sale went through. Has anybody had any experience of something like this before? [/quote] It sounds like there was no physical boundary previously, but this really makes no difference. Unless there was an existing agreement covering that plot of land (and it doesn't sound that there was), you had no right to be informed of the sale (although the seller might have been able to get you to bid up the price if he had wished to!). If you find it unsightly, the best that you can do is to screen it with a proper boundary fence, just on your side of the boundary.

[quote user="NormanH"] Yes keyhole for the second....but then a bloody pulmonary embolism so have asked to have a stay at the sea side to recover in a nursing home [:)] [/quote] Ye Gods! At that rate you'll be needing a season ticket for the bed. Bon rétablissement!

[quote user="NormanH"]To clear Pickles' name I should make it clear that his emails concerned surreptitious moonlight fits with white vans full of furniture manned by immigrant labour from a highly secret and sensitive location in Montpellier towards the mountain passes of the Pyrénées.. [/quote] Gee thanks, NH! And just I was getting used to not being stopped and searched at the Chunnel and "controles" by les douanes.

[quote user="mint"]are you really pickled,  at this time of day? [/quote] If it was good enough for Winston Churchill, then it's good enough for the rest of us ...

[quote user="mint"]So, what are in them messages then, Pickles?[/quote] Ah, I could tell you, but then I'd have to take out a contract on your life involving an unfortunate incident in which a field's worth of lavender falls on your head ... [quote user="mint"]Were they, for example, proposals of marriage?[/quote] Didn't Jane Austen write something about "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a barrel, must be in want of a cooper."

NH, you do realise that each time I have sent you a message, you've ended up in hospital? I don't usually have this effect on people ...

[quote user="ebaynut"]Come the brexit in the next year or so, it should help to stop this constant flow of people from around the world arriving here, and its LONG overdue.[/quote] I'm really not sure how leaving the EU will reduce illegal immigration. It might reduce legal immigration of EU citizens, but that's it. Are migrants from within the EU a problem?

I'm not sure where the original quote is from ... [quote user="idun"]Double taxation agreements ‘Double taxation agreements’ mean that you should not be taxed twice on the same income by two different governments. The UK has double taxation agreements with many countries.[/quote] With a double taxation agreement in place, you may have to pay tax on the same income to two different governments. However, the double taxation agreement generally means that where this happens, you receive credit against tax due in your country of residence for the tax paid in the country in which the income arose.

FWIW, I had a look at the Payleven site which said that the best test was to download the app and see if it installs correctly. I have just installed the app on our Hudl Mk 1 and it ran. Obviously I don't have the reader (which runs on Bluetooth), but connections between devices and the reader do not seem to be the problem: it is whether or not the app runs on your android device.

Our French car insurance named both of us, but allowed any other driver. Additional excesses applied to young (ie <25 years old) and inexperienced drivers (ie those who had held a licence for <3 years, regardless of age).

[quote user="friend of stouby"] andyh4, quite curious how you got around your multi country problem... Thanks for your opinions[/quote] There are special rules for so - called "frontalier" workers ie those who live in one country and live in another.

[quote]I am fairly sure that in one of the many other threads on this forum in which this topic has been done to death and (way) beyond, the DVLA were on record as saying that throughout the EU, cars had to be registered only in the country of their owner's residence - ie they thought that in France it wasn't possible (legal?) to register a car to your holiday home. [/quote] I don't think that the DVLA have actually said this - it would be beyond their competence. However, it is stated in this way on the EU's main site and it is only when you burrow down that you will find the exemption for cars based at holiday homes clarified. The key issue is that in most EU countries, there is a period of grace when you import a car before you have to have it re - registered, whereas in the UK there is NO period of grace. If the UK introduced a period of grace, then all the problems would be solved.