Will

As far as I am concerned the problem is not so much that there are many British in France who eat fish and chips, frequent the English-speaking bars, play cricket, refuse to speak french and all the other things levelled against them and highlighted in programmes like that. My problem (and I am sure it is mine rather than theirs) is that the vast majority of these people are not the sort of people I have any desire to mix with or be friendly towards. I wouldn't socialise with them in England, so why should I be different in France? And before we open that other can of worms, there are plenty of French people I have no desire to befriend either. I still think it could make an interesting programme though, as long as the producers don't let it all fall into stereotypical mode.

It is likely that there will be an early redemption fee on the mortgage, and maybe legal fees will be payable too, depending on the conditions of your loan.

The so-called 183-day and 90-day rules are something that HMRC apply to determine UK tax residence, though HMRC stresses these are not exclusive, and one can still be deemed resident using other criteria even when spending fewer than 90 days in the country. The concept has not existed as such in French tax law, but is frequently quoted on forums like this by those who mistakenly believe that the same rules are applied in each country. The French prefer to go along with the concept that if you spend more time in France than anywhere else you are fiscally resident in France - though, as with HMRC, there are numerous other ways of determining tax residence. The latest double taxation agreement does mention 180, or 183, days with respect to France, but only with reference to a specific situation so it can hardly constitute an all-emcompassing legal principle.

It's all fairly academic. You can be fiscally resident in any number of different countries at the same time. Where you pay tax on any particular item is determined by the double taxation agreements. As far as tax goes, you can be domiciled in only one country. This can impact on inheritance issues, and is complicated by the fact that the French taxman regards you to be French domiciled if you are French tax resident, whereas HMRC have their own, rather more complicated, definitions of domicile. Which country is responsible for providing, and collecting contributions to, health and social security services, is less clear-cut. When there is any doubt, the basic rule that seems to be applied is that it is where you spend the majority of your time. The 183 day rule might well apply, but if you spent, say, 150 days in France, 140 days in Britain, and 75 days somewhere else, in the year in question, you would still come under the French system despite being there for considerably fewer than 183 days.

Our village has a population of around 60, few of whom seem able to get on with each other. So the nearest it gets to a festival is a string of a dozen or so coloured light bulbs strung across the road near the mairie at Christmas. As an ever-increasing number of the bulbs are blown, and the string is only suspended when somebody can be ar5ed, it makes one feel rather envious of these other places - even Norm's. But at least our place is usually quiet, and no bulls get killed (except when taken several miles to be turned into beef).

The c*ck up might not have been down to the DWP or its various predecessors - there are many ways things can go awry. But as suggested, it may well be possible to make up at least part of any shortfall. You really do need to budget for cotisations of at least 40% on your profit; at that level they will be levied on profit rather than turnover. A good accountant would probably be a wise investment, in order to keep your declared profits as low as legally possible. Cotisations cover all sorts of things other than your own health care; not least paying the inflated pensions of French civil servants, and paying off the French national debt. You will also be liable for French tax on your profits.

For a five month stay your EHIC will give you exactly the same cover as you would get through S1, or indeed if you joined the French health system outright, so stick with that. A lot of people think that EHIC is merely a replacement for the old E111 which was for urgent treatment during temporary stays, but the EHIC replaced other forms too so its scope is wider. You can, for instance, get treatment for existing conditions, though 'health tourism' - i.e. going to another country specifically for treatment - is outside its scope. This explains the extent of coverage: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/Whatiscovered.aspx If you spend more time in France than anywhere else then strictly speaking you then need to join the French system. That can open many cans of worms, though as you are both over state retirement age it is more straightforward, but you would would be well advised to use the EHIC if you possibly can. You say travel insurance covers you up to 90 days, and ask about top-up assurance. I understand Exclusive Healthcare, and no doubt others, can arrange top-up cover for EHIC holders.

If you don't want to make your own: 50 for £7.49 http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0259596 or 35 for £4.99, 10 for £2

We did exactly the same towards the end of last year, and because the vehicle had only been french registered for a short time - to date it precisely, it was one of the first batch of 'new' numberplates - the local DVLA office was able to put it back on the British system, with its old number, and no need for certificates of conformity or any of the other stuff. All it took was one trip to Oxford, payment of a registration fee and the road fund licence fee, followed by a fairly long wait for the new V5C. The only potential problem was getting the MoT test done with the French number, but the garage used its former English one which was still on the national computer system. Of course, not all DVLA offices might be as co-operative.

Sorry to bring this up again, but it seems to be spreading, if two adjacent postings from a certain other forum are anything to go on... http://normandy.angloinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=86751 Can anyone recommend someone French or English to replace an old analogue TV aerial with a digital aerial. We have tried some of the advertisers on Angloinfo Normandy without response. We are close to Domfront. Many thanks. http://normandy.angloinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=87447 Digital TV Aerial for sale posted on 02/09/2011 at 11:48 Tv Aerial for sale. Suitable for house or caravan etc. Easy to install - it's the white 'box' type - just pop it into your attic space and plug the other end in next to your tv. Selling as we no longer have any cable from aerial to tv - dog chewed it. Think we've still got the box for it too, will have to check. Was connected to our TV and TNT box, picked up all digital channels fine. 40e

Neither. She is well versed in knowing exactly what kind of contentious, seemingly off-the-cuff, remarks are likely to get readers, both of forums like this and of pseudo-highbrow periodicals, huffing and puffing into their cheap French plonk. [:P]

[quote]Gallic humour ....  [/quote] Is that not an oxymoron? I actually love the journalistic style of the French provincial press. Why use one word when ten flowery ones will do? These people believe that reports of court cases, deaths and meetings of the local petanque club deserve to be fashioned in potential Pullitzer Prize-winning style. Even the grammatical errors are dressed up in ornate adjectives. As one whose own journalistic training centred heavily on conciseness, clarity and correctness, I love to see how others think it should be done. [;-)]

[quote user="NormanH"]Naw, that's dead boring [/quote] And when necrophilia is combined with sadism and bestiality, you really are flogging a dead horse.

[quote user="NormanH"]I haven't used it for over a year, but I used to keep the services in Windows on manual and keep them off unless I was using it. [/quote] Are you referring to Expat Shield, or Live sex? [;-)]

To be fair, their costs, like most businesses in France, are very high. The crunch is that in comparison with England, there are relatively fewer sales concluded through agencies, so the costs have to be shared out among fewer transactions. I am sure that few agencies in France have been profitable over the last two or three years and are existing on the large sums made during the good times (when the profits were certainly not passed on to salaried employees).

I have heard of cases where salaried employees have been, in effect, sacked and re-employed as contractors on the autoentrepreneur scheme at the equivalent of well below the SMIC. It sounds highly illegal to me. I am also married to somebody who worked for several years on the SMIC and had to cover her own car, fuel and phone expenses in a part-time job that demanded high levels of use of both of those things. OK, they were, at least in theory, tax deductible, but she effectively received a negative wage on some days.

Pickles - Thanks for the information. I was sure that this specific point had been raised before among the myriad of topics about vehicle registration and insurance. And you were the person who knew. SD - I quite agree with your point about the French Code de la Route providing the definitive legislation. However, the point under discussion was that an 'old' French law had allegedly been rendered invalid by a piece of EU law that nobody, save an agent in France for a UK insurer, seemed to be able to find. It still mystifies me why people who want to live in France seem to have so much difficulty accepting French law and French practice. Frankly, to say that you, as a French resident, insure your vehicle with a UK insurer because you have had a bad experience with the French system, doesn't add up for me (sorry if I have misunderstood, but that is how I read it). After all, I have had a bad experience with the French tax people, but that didn't absolve me from subsequently paying taxes in France - I couldn't opt to pay in England instead even though we are all in the EU.

Kathy The link is only a summary of the law and doesn't cover every eventuality. The most important point is that the owner of the vehicle must be traceable. You will find a contact page -under "still need help?" - from which you can ask specific questions like that. I seem to recall seeing, maybe on another forum, that somebody had asked a very similar question and got a positive reply.

It's a condition of most motor policies that the insured vehicle must be completely legal for whichever country in which it is being used. As French law still says, and as far as I am aware this is backed by EU legislation, that if you live in France your vehicle must be registered there, the Bacchus policy must, by definition, allow vehicles that are not compliant with French law. I don't want to take this further because, having owned, used and insured several French and British vehicles over the last few years, I've never had a need to go outside normal established practice as far as registration and insurance are concerned. No doubt those who like living on the margins of the law, particularly with vehicle registration, will be interested to learn of this company.  

I can point to these summaries of EU legal requirements: http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/registration/formalities/index_en.htm http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/insurance/validity/resident_en.htm Are you really saying that these summaries, updated within the last few months, are based on an outdated/superseded French law? That would mean that in Britain the DVLA is wrong too. Perhaps you should get the EU and DVLA and the Motor Insurers Bureau to correct the information they are putting out. I have seen the actual legal documents on which these summaries were based, and could possibly find them if I had the time, but I am sure others will be better placed. As far as insurance goes it rather hangs on whether or not Bacchus or the UK underwiters are authorised by the French equivalent of the MIB to issue policies in France. As this involves paying substantial sums, which don't really add up for a comparatively small expat market, and the major insurers find it more economical to set up subsidiaries in the other EU states rather than going through this route, I would personally want some very strong evidence that this insurance is fully legal.

I suppose somebody has to point out that under EU law a vehicle has to be registered and insured in the country in which it is normally kept - which means, to all intents and purposes, the country in which its keeper is regarded as being resident. So the registration in one place, insurance in another, scenario is clearly outside the law. It has already been done to death on these forums that if you live in Britain then, apart from under a few particular circumstances, you cannot drive a French-registered car in Britain. So it works the other way round too; if you French resident then your car can't be British registered. So those who fail to register their vehicles in the country where they live are also operating outside the law. But as has been said above, insurers are interested in taking your money, and the agents work to earn commission, not uphold the law. And as has also been said, nobody gives a stuff anyway. Unless you come across a particularly officious law enforcement officer, or you make a large insurance claim, of course.

Yes, the market is flooded with started-but-not-completed 'projects' in various stages of completion, or otherwise. You have a much better chance of selling an inexpensive restoration project than a completed shell waiting to be finished off. Plus you, and the buyer, will have less to pay in terms of taxes and fees.

I tend to agree with Norman. I have no problem with being an English person in a French community. I like it that way. I have no desire to become French. I've never understood this apparent need to be, or appear to be, something you aren't. Perhaps you become 'integrated' when you stop being bothered about it? And perhaps learning how to spell it is the first step...

[quote user="Frenchie"]I named my son Guillaume, because 1. it is a medieval name, 2. It can't be shortened , really. [/quote] My name is a shortened version of that (admittedly the anglicised version) In fact one of the shortened versions caused great hilarity at primary school because the other kids could say 'willie' without being punished for using rude words. And our French neighbour thinks that the English version of Pierre is hilarious, as it's the same as the French verb 'to fart' [:$]

[quote user="Russethouse"] I've always believed that the dpi for any photo intended for print (magazine) should be 300 minimum... [/quote] Absolutely correct. The bit that is often missed off that dimension is 300 dpi "at printed size". Therefore if your image is to be reproduced at, say, 6in x 4in, you need a resolution of at least 1800 pixels x 1200 pixels in order to achieve the correct dpi.  If your image is measured at 72 dpi, which is perfectly common, then you need to check the pixel size. As long as it's a minimum of 1800 x 1200 it will reproduce in print perfectly OK. For your 2.85 x 4 example, you need resolution of at least 855 x 1200. I wish that PR companies who send images for printing would realise that simple rule. You can't just grab something off the web and resample it to 300dpi; a 640 x 480 image is only good for printing (landscape format) at a maximum width of 2.13 inches - i.e. less than single column width in a typical magazine. Conversely, you don't necessarily need multi-megapixel photographic equipment to produce print-quality images. I find that a 6MP camera with a top-quality lens (like my Nikon D70S) gives far better results for anything smaller than a full-page front cover shot than a compact with double the resolution.