Mazan
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Posts posted by Mazan
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>We have no new postings since
>21st July. What am I
>doing wrong?
Click on the "refresh" button at the top of your browser. If that fails empty your cache (tools:internet options:temporary internet files:delete files). If that fails delete the cookie called@livingfrance.com in the C:\Windows\Cookies directory. -
>Is this a problem with us
>or a regional fiddle?
You went to the wrong doctor. Had you gone to one that charges the "proper" fee (150FF in this case) then you would have received 70% of this. Your doctor charged more than the "proper" fee (it is up to him what he charges but the Secu decides what is "proper") and so the Secu only pays out based on what they think the charge should have been.
The difference between the two price scales is most noticeable with dental and optical work.
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>Friends of ours have been informed
>officially by their notaire that
>only the factures of French
>SIRET-holders will now be accepted
>as expenses when calculating the
>capital gains tax liability on
>sale of anyone who has
>not been resident for 5
>years.
It would not be legal to exclude bills from companies in other EU countries merely because they are not French. -
>I take a Beconase for my
>hay fever i find Piriton
>doesnt do anything, Claratyn (I
>think) is the good one
>but thats 5.00 a week
>
>But is there an equivalent to
> Beconase in France
I still wonder why people who suffer from allergies don't have themselves de-sensitized. It worked so well for me and other sufferers who I know.
Large numbers of proprietary medicines (including many that are normally prescription only) are available via mail-order from websites. Importing them to France is probably illegal but I doubt that anyone is ever prosecuted.
France is unlikely to be a good source of cheap medecine due to the heavily protected local pharmacy business.
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>1. On the CPAM attestation is
>a phrase "Hospitalisation et soins
>externes hors budget global" -
>what on earth is this
>in plain English?
Ask the CPAM about this typical French bureaucratic gobbledygook. It doesn't mean anything in plain French, let alone in translation.
>2.As we are 68/67 respectively top-up
>insurance is very necessary.
Are you sure? If you get a very serious illness then most costs will be absorbed by the CPAM at 100%.
If you don't have young children, aren't pregnant, don't need new glasses every year, don't need new teeth every year and don't expect to be given a bag full of expensive medicine every time you clear your throat (the French do: they consume more medicine per head than any other country in the world) then any sort of extra insurance is probably a waste of money.
Your payments also go to fund rest cures in Spas. I really can't see the point of paying for this, unless you intend taking advantage of it yourself.
>According
>to David Hampshire's excellent book
>on living and working in
>France mutuelles (non profit-making) are
>much preferred to private insurance
>companies.
All insurance charges vary wildly in France. It is common to find quotes that can be triple another quote for the same cover.
Whatever you do ask at least 5 or 10 different companies. Mutuelles are often preferred but they also often tend to spend a lot of the money that would be profit in a private company on flamboyant shop-fronts and silly magazines. They also provide cheap loans to members for car purchase. I would rather just have a cheaper premium.
As in the UK, the best value is usually to be had from insurers with no branch network (on-line and phone insurers).
>is a mutuelle quote of
>120 euros per month for
>average cover for the 2
>of us reasonable?
In order to get any value out of this you will need to have monthly bills that exceed 240 for medicine or 360 for doctors or some combination thereof.
How likely is this?
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>We're building a house in Languedoc,
>so plenty of sunshine, but
>nobody in the village uses
>solar - why not?
Because the French just aren't interested in this technology. I haven't the faintest idea why not. Probably because it all comes from abroad.
I know someone locally who bought solar heating equipment for a pool and it came from New Zealand/Australia via an Englishman living in the Dordorge!
>The data I have on costs
>shows that oil is cheapest
>with town gas about the
>same. Propane is about double
>and roughly the same price
>as EDF Tempo. EDF normal
>rate is about double Tempo.
Sounds right to me.
>Please can someone give me
>typical costs for these per
>KWh.
Full-rate electricity is about 50cts/kwh IIRC.
>We're planning to use Propane for
>CH
Is that the giant tank or the very large bottles?
I wouldn't have either.
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>Am I correct in assuming that
>all usual appliances, washing machine,
>dishwasher etc work OK in
>France? I understand UK TVs
>don't, is that correct?
All UK electrical items will work in France. This includes TVs. Some (most?) UK TVs will not be able to tune in French Secam channels though they can always be used in conjunction with a UK satellite receiver. Any video equipment that has scart sockets will be compatible with any other such video equipment except for any possible Secam incompatibility.
>Is the voltage 220v and if
>so does this cause any
>problems compared to the UK's
>240v? I've had problems with
>a portable fridge before.
As mentioned the standard is 230 everywhere now.
>Light fittings - are screw fitting
>bulbs the norm?
It's about 50/50 with a strong tendancy for new fittings to be screw type.
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>once we were resident in
>France, would our UK property
>(either the house or the
>bank account)be equally liable to
>French Inheritance law?
Once you are resident in France your worldwide assets become subject to French IHT and will be taxed if your inheritors declare them here when you die, as they are supposed to, or if you have declared them here previously, as you are supposed to.
French IHT is _much_ higher than the UK version in nearly all cases. In some cases the difference is staggering. -
>Also has anyone managed to connect
>an Apple Mac to a
>web server ?
I have.
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>We purchased our French home three
>years ago, at what seemed
>a fair price. Our vendors
>now claim quite indignantly that
>they sold it much too
>cheaply.
This is just about as typically French as you can get.
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>I am in the process of
>purchasing a property which still
>needs a heating system installed,
>I would normally just install
>a Boiler, however have heard
>that it would be wiser
>to go for a oil
>burner?
In France central heating is run by a boiler (or very rarely an Aga type device). This may be gas or oil powered (also wood and coal though these aren't very common any more). It could also be powered by electricity but I dread to think what the bill would be!
Oil-fired central heating is far and away the cheapest to run here.
I don't know what you mean by an "oil burner" though our oil-fired boiler has a burner attachment on the front that controls the oilflow and pumps and ignites the oil. -
>I was suprised to find
>that the cost was 325
>each in fees. It appears
>that there is a fixed
>rate irrespective of how much
>land you buy. I was
>not aware of this, and
>thought the fees would be
>around 10%.
In common with most taxes in France property transfer costs are made up from a myriad of often relatively small fees, all of which are combined to produce a big total.
Some of these fees are in fact one-offs of a fixed amount and so there is in fact a minimum cost applicable to any property sale.
Your 325 seems a little high though. I thought that it was around 2000F.
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>has anyone tried an international
>bridging loan (DO they exsist?)
Your UK bank should be delighted to help you. Forget French banks for any sort of sophisticated finance.
If you do find a French property it may be worthwhile you making the purchase conditional on you obtaining a bridging loan. This can be a handy get-out clause.
>We do have
>cash available to pay deposit
>but as I understand it,
>have to be able to
>show at that point that
>you have finance available for
>the house.
I've never heard of this.
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>The first dilemma is what to
>charge for a patch of
>land - I don't want
>lots of money but do
>feel it is worth 'something'
>in a village that has
>very few homes with gardens.
> I presume this price
>will obviously be relative to
>the regional area.
I would charge them an amount equivalent to whatever having the land would add to the value of the house.
>My second dilemma, other than a
>notaire to re-write our deeds
>regarding the land, who else
>will have to be informed
>or should be contacted in
>completing this transaction?
The notaire will do this.
>Thirdly, would you agree, I shouldn't
>bare any of the costs,
>including the building of a
>new boundary???
I would agree, depending rather on how much you charge them for the land. A 2 metre wall isn't going to cost much.
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>We sign in December but what
>happens about paying the owners
>tax in January if
>we are not over there?
You don't pay it in January. The two bills come in late summer and early autumn.
They will probably sit on your doormat incurring late penalties.
You can pay all such bills and taxes by direct debit and should do so. It has nothing but advantages.
> Can you register your
>home address with anyone to
>get post re-directed?
Yes. The Post Office.
> When you phone the
>elec and water companies do
>they speak any English?
Does your UK electricity and water supplier speak French? -
>We have just bought a second
>home in Brece, Nr Gorron
>and need to buy a
>few of the larger electrical
>goods i.e. vacuum cleaner, washing
>machine.
Just to expand on other comments and as general rules though this may vary in certain stores:
But and Conforama don't include delivery in the price but both have vans for hire and can deliver for a fee.
Darty, Boulanger and most of the Hypermarkets (Auchan, Carrefour, Geant Casino etc.) include delivery in the price of large items.
Carrefour and Darty have functional online shopping sites.
All give 2 year guarantees on large items.
One can usually negotiate the price down in all of these stores.
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>But the biggest question mark is,
>WHERE? We favour the South
>West mainly because of the
>warmer climate, but even then
>we are talking of a
>very huge area to choose
>from.
>We are about to put our
>house on the market and
>making a trip down to
>the Toulouse area in the
>Spring.
All places have advantages and disadvantages though most of the southern half of France is nice enough in the summer months. If you are looking for a place to live all year round then I would advise visiting in the winter above all whilst you are deciding.
The same applies to buying houses: visit them on a wet and windy day in January. -
>Our agent has asked us
>to write to the notaire
>for a refund of our
>deposit. Is there
>any chance of us claiming
>interest on the money he
>has held for 14 months?
About as likely as Chirac inviting you over for drinks at Xmas.
You can always ask though.
> After all, he
>has most certainly earned interest
>on our cash.
He has.
>Also, which would be the cheapest
>means (for us, that is)
>for him to credit our
>english bank account?
Do you have a French bank account? If so do it yourself. Otherwise you are in pretty much in his hands. -
>I'm trying to furnish a house
>in France from abroad.
>Has anyone ordered furniture over
>the internet from www.meubles.com, kozee.com
>or 123meubles.com?
www.meubles is part of Carrefour, one of France's biggest companies.
I know nothing about the other ones though I agree that they look interesting. -
> I wonder if someone could
>explain to me why, apart
>from good old profiteering, businesses
>with mail order facilities such
>as Living France apply a
>surcharge to post to Europe
>when the actual costs are
>very little different or should
>be we being one postal
>grouping now.
Postal costs are different from country to country. The only EU standard rate is for a 20g letter which must cost the same to send to any point in the EU as to any point in the country of origin. So a UK 1st class stamp will get a letter to any point in the EU.
The UK is not a cheap country to post abroad from and indeed many UK companies do bulk overseas mailings from places like Holland and Denmark for the cost savings.
Even so, most UK companies do charge customers far more than the actual cost differences incurred when sending items abroad. -
>If anyone finds a cost effective
>way to get good BBC
>radio reception in the south
>(Vaucluse) could they please advise
>me?
You need a Sky digibox and free card to get all the BBC radio in CD quality stereo and also all the regular UK TV channels, and more.
I can supply a brand new and fully guaranteed digibox for 295 which includes arranging the card and as much phone advice as you may need on buying and installing a dish.
I am in the Vaucluse also. (And very nice it is too, except when the Mistral is blowing like it was yesterday!) -
>I am self employed at the
>moment, and the contract that
>I am currently on will
>cease on 30th November.
>
>My question is, am I entitled
>to unemployment benefit or anything
>similar when I move to
>France.
The French will give you nothing unless you have worked in France.
>Presumably I will
>need a CDS a.s.a.p before
>claiming any benefits?
You won't get a CDS and French Social Security number unless you can prove that you can support yourself or that you have a job in France. If you are new here your CDS will only be valid for as long as your work contract is, specifically so that you will be unable to claim anything from the French Social Security when your contract ends.
> Would it
>be easier if I claimed
>benefit here in th UK
>before moving over?
This is what you would have to do. There are arrangements to have UK benefit paid for a time whilst you are looking for work in France.
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> Has anyone had
>experience of fitting alarms that
>have direct call system
>to security or the gendames
>office?????
Most of the foreign people around here that I know have alarms and a good percentage of them have the sort that calls a security service. All the isolated ones seem to. Some even have a system that works by radio, in case the baddies cut the phone wires. The people here do tend to have expensive and well-furnished houses though.
Burglaries of foreign-owned second homes are quite common in France, no matter what anyone says. -
>Does anyone possess a Minitel or
>has access to one?
>I need some information only available
>from it and i am
>currently in the UK.
Nearly all the information on the Minitel is now available on the internet, with the exception perhaps of the "messagerie rose".
This may not apply to your particular need of course. What is it you want to know?
tax question...
in French Finance
Posted
>property in France as my
>principal residence and let out
>my UK house. Presumably my
>UK house then becomes a
>secondary residence and if I
>were to sell it I
>would have to pay Capital
>Gains Tax in either UK
>or France?
The last I heard non-UK residents are not subject to UK CGT.