Will

Looks like I've missed some heated stuff over the weekend... First of all, I really dislike the 'guest' tag. There may be some who regard themselves as being on a sort of permanent holiday, for whom the name might fit. Others, who work, pay taxes, contribute (heavily) to the health and social security systems, serve on municipal councils are certainly not guests. 'Immigrant' is fine; I am (strictly speaking was) happy to be considered an English person in France; I have no desire whatever to become French. In fact I like to be known as an immigrant - it winds up the Daily Mail crowd who say they can't live in 'yookay' any more because of the immigrants... But I digress. Reading about 'criminals' I thought the OP must have committed at least GBH or armed robbery. But no, he took part in a French national pastime, indulged in by just about every national from the government down. If he got away with it (which it seems he did, despite the apparent drubbing from the smug 'guests') that's hardly surprising. URSSAF etc only really takes an interest in large-scale evasion, as practiced on large construction projects by crooked gangmasters employing black immigrant labour, but charging the client as if full cotisations were being paid. Maybe a blatant totally unregistered British worker - and his client - in an area where foreigners aren't particularly liked might be treated as an easy target and made an example of, but for the most part it's just a gallic shrug accompanied by 'c'est normal'. Given such circumstances there must be few people who wouldn't take a chance on a bit of undeclared work; it's certainly not right, but is perfectly understandable. There are plenty of officials in France who don't like foreigners, don't like Parisians, or people from the next département, or from the other branch of the family that their forefathers fell out with just after the revolution, so despite what is supposed to happen in theory about aid, it's highly credible that something different happens in practice. Of course, there are also plenty who are totally sympathetic and really helpful - it's the luck of the draw. Once again, it comes down to not believing all that tosh saying that France, or any other foreign country, is somewhere where the sun always shines, it costs a pittance to live, and is full of friendly peasants inviting you for aperitifs and leaving courgettes on your doorstep. As always, real life is different. The OP at least wasn't seduced by that rubbish himself by the sound of it, but the story should serve as a caution for those who still might be.

What Tinabee says is correct. You can only piggy-back onto somebody else's cover when you are not entitled to cover in your own right. Therefore what would most likely happen is that you would all be covered under the S1, but as soon as Mrs DD registers her business she would come off your cover and pay cotisations in her own right. It may be better for your son to continue as a dependant under your cover if you get a choice in this. Health & SS works differently from tax in this respect - you are taxed as a couple (no choice in the majority of cases), but regarded as individuals for health cover. But as mentioned above, it could all change after the next election.  

Although I agree totally with the general principle of it being daft to buy an English boiler and take it to France, this French boiler is identical to the one we have in England so it might be worth a look to ensure that the British version complies with the right European standards to be usable in France. Edit: It's actually a German company, with factories in various places including Britain and France.  

[quote user="Chancer"] Is it indeed possible to have a mutuelle if you dont have a carte vitale? [/quote] As far as I know, you can buy a topup policy virtually anywhere as long as you have a French social security number, as JK suggests. I had a topup without a carte vitale for at least two years. Paying and claiming back was a right pain, but it more or less worked. In fact I'm not sure that you even need a SS number. There are specialist companies like Exclusive Healthcare that sell topup policies to EHIC holders in France.  

If you are still drawing a blank, http://www.christchurchcoutances.com/ might be worth a look. Somebody should be able to put you in touch with a suitable officiant.

Was that the NHS 'Choose and Book' system, where you are given a number of options, and can choose one, by reputation and/or waiting time? In our experience it works pretty well; not a lot of people seem to be aware of it, particularly the British in France who love to find fault with the UK systems.

[quote user="Quillan"] ...Give it six months and the UK will be loosing it's as well. [/quote] The UK may or may not lose its rating; the big difference between the two countries is that although UK too has large debts it has proved more able to cut and control spending than France. The difference between the two health services provide a good example of this; France's may well be 'better', but at a cost. Sarkozy was elected on a promise to improve things in this respect, but has failed - or more precisely has chickened out in the fact of great public protests at his planned measures.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16469300 French source: http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/actuDet_-SeaFrance.-Stupeur-et-colere-a-l-annonce-de-la-liquidation_39382-2030219_actu.Htm All may not yet be lost. Eurotunnel has apparently expressed an interest in a new bid after the company has done it sums. It sounds strange, but SeaFrance's last owner (before going into receivership) was of course a train company.    

[quote user="NormanH"]I thought it was to show their Party membership [6] [/quote] Is that why there is so much red hair dye around in our part of France? Although I share Idun's lack of understanding abut the appeal of smoking, some of us are old enough to remember when smoking was promoted as beneficial to your health. Apart from the obvious cancer risks, smoking is still believed to be a good way of avoiding obesity in many people, it can also, apparently, prevent Parkinsons Disease, it helps some heart medications work better, and it can delay the need for joint replacement surgery (though in the last instance it has been pointed out that knee and hip replacements are often needed for people who exercise a lot, and not too many smokers can be seen out jogging). [;-)]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"] It's a good job I haven't anything even vaguely useful to contribute. (smiley)[/quote] Neither have I, so it's a pity Clair's fix works for me and not for all the other people using FF9 on an up-to-date computer, who have sensible things to say. [;-)]

As nobody is rushing to give you a personal recommendation, may I suggest you look at http://www.surveyors-en-france.com/ ?

I've read it too. It's a rather strange and complicated book, which may be why I enjoyed it. It purports to be about Japanese art and collectibles but is really about family history; the author never manages to describe the so-called subjects of the book, apart from a few isolated examples. This may have been intentional on the part of the writer, but I'm not sure about that. It provides an interesting and different insight into Japanese culture, but is far more about being Jewish in France and Austria during the pre-WW2 era. There is an illustrated version too, but I think that might just spoil the quirkiness of the text-only story.

There were four passport check lanes open yesterday in Portsmouth, for one ferry arrival that was near-empty of passengers (plenty of freight, but they have different arrival arrangements). We have never got off the ship and out of the port more quickly.

Only yesterday I was reading an article about how the wealthy British were wanting to move to France because of the lower taxes and fewer cases of burglary and crime. The authors suggested that although they may be wrong about the taxation, they had a point about the burglary because official statistics showed France was a much safer place. It must be true, it was in the Connexion.

Cheminot - being on holiday in France I am trying to forget about work, but the Lloyd's List article is slightly misleading. Although, as it say,s the tighter limits for fuel sulphur content do not universally enter into force until 2015 and 2020, the Channel, North Sea and Baltic are all emission control areas where a 1% sulphur limit applies now - which means ship operators have to pay a premium for low sulphur heavy fuels, or use distillates. More importantly, ships are required under EU law to use 0.1% sulphur fuels in EU ports now. This effectively applies to generating set engines rather than the main propulsion engines, but even so because the normal heavy fuels and distillate fuels are not directly interchangeable, the gensets have to either burn more expensive distillates all the time - which has in turn meant costly changes to fuel pumps and associated equipment - or shipowners have had to invest in changeover equipment so that both fuels can be used. This is just one of several increases in operating costs that shipowners are having to face, so rising ferry prices are inevitable. http://www.ukpandi.com/knowledge-developments/industry-developments/marpol-annex-vi-air-pollution/ - the text of the EU legislation is also available online.

[quote user="just john "]I'm struggling to understand Brittany ferries twice the price of LD...[/quote] Having just done my own comparison for travel next week, return the following week, LD couldn't offer the times or accommodation I needed, but for the nearest equivalent LD was all of 65p cheaper than Brittany Ferries (2 people with car and dog, cabins both ways on Brittany - but no cabins available on LD so opted for 'sleeper seats'). As it costs at least £30 in tolls and extra fuel to go to Le Havre rather than Caen I wonder which would have had my booking? I totally agree that if you are flexible on times and book up well in advance LD Lines can be cheaper, particularly at peak times, but we usually need to book nearer the time of travel and can't vary the days of travel. And there are more important things for me with ferries than just cost. Having been quoted more in Summer to travel as a foot passenger on LD Lines than I ende dup paying to take the car on Brittany, I have more or less given up on LD Lines. But plenty of people prefer LD Lines, so best of luck to them.

Before the conspiracy/cartel theorists get too worked up, don't forget the fuel restrictions which have recently entered into force, and which effectively mean that ferries using EU ports and travelling in designated emission control areas (of which the Channel/North Sea is one) can no longer burn comparatively cheap heavy fuel oils and have to use the much more expensive distillate diesel fuels.

So where, under PPP's interpretation of the news item, would that leave the many non-French nationals who serve as municipal councillors?

[quote user="suein56"] We used to use Specsavers when living in the UK and they were nearly always excellent ... why, oh why can't they open some branches here ? Perhaps a bit of a rhetorical question, methinks. Sue [:(][blink] [/quote] I've seen Specsavers branches recently in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands. I would imagine that the business model isn't compatible with the French system. Have found Specsavers and Vision Express in UK to both be good and with quick service. I've also used a company called Selectspecs which is UK-based but uses a factory in Hong Kong, varifocal lenses (not that I had them) are £25. The company will post to France at no extra cost.

If you are French fiscal resident (as defined in my earlier post) even for part of a tax year, then you are legally bound to make a tax return for that year. Even if you had no taxable earnings in France for that year. The advantages of making even a 'nil' tax return far outweigh any potential or perceived disadvantages.

[quote user="Quillan"]...With a few, and I mean a few, exceptions I just didn't like the people. I certainly wouldn't associate myself with them in the UK let alone in France just because they are English speaking... [/quote] Hang on, isn't that what I said on p5 of this 36-page topic when you accused me of stereotyping? [;-)]

Basically, you can be considered tax resident in France if: 1. Your main home is in France 2. Your spouse or family live in France 3. You have financial interests in France (e.g. you work in France, even part time) or 4. You spend more time in France than in any other country. That's not a totally exhaustive or official list, but it covers the main criteria. It would seem that none of the above apply to you, so you should not worry unduly. And even if you do qualify, you can be resident in more than one country and it won't necessarily mean you are being chased to pay large sums of extra tax. The best advice is to respond to the letter saying you are non-resident, and when next in France go and see your local tax office and explain the situation. Take a French-speaker with you if necessary. And definitely don't try to be clever, just be honest.

So I take it, knee gel, that you would be happy with the range of programmes available on freesat, i.e. these. In that case a freesat recorder looks like your best bet, the Humax one is very popular and the Panasonic is excellent too, I believe. The Sagem doesn't get a very good press, but is cheap, while the Samsung one currently advertised on the page linked above looks worthwhile too. As far as I know all the recorder options are HD. They will work perfectly OK with a standard TV; you don't necessarily need a HD set but you won't see HD programmes in high definition on a SD TV of course. The other thing you will need is a second LNB and cable from your dish. The LNB is the sticky-out bit that actually receives the signal. You need this because the recorders have twin tuners, so you can, for instance, record one channel while watching another, and each tuner needs its own LNB and cable. The easiest way to achieve this is to buy a dual (or quad) LNB that can be fitted to your existing dish, so no realignment should be necessary. You can get these on ebay or Amazon, and aren't difficult to fit yourself, or you may like to leave it, and running the second cable, up to your tame installer.

As far as I know the Barfleur is laid up for the winter season in the 'Noveau Bassin' at Caen/Ouistreham, and no decision is made yet as to whether the ship will return next year or be put up for sale. Just like last winter in fact. Cutting passenger traffic at Cherbourg over the winter months seems to be a regular thing. The amount of off-season traffic on the Poole route does not justify keeping the service going, particularly as ships may be needed to provide relief cover for maintenance and drydockings.

It may seem an obvious question, and I know I run the risk of causing offence by asking it, but was the job all signed off and final payment handed over? I ask because, and you will probably know this from the amount of homework you did, that the insurance does not come into force until the job is finished and paid for. But as others have said, the notaire, whose job it is to make sure that all legal aspects of the sale are in order, should sort out the paperwork. It's what he/she is being paid for, after all. This page should help. It, and the associated forum posts linked from it, would seem to suggest that the absence of insurance won't legally prevent you from selling, but you may suffer a reduction in value as a result.