BJSLIV

Conforama operates, as do many French companies, as a partial franchise setup. This means that the web-site may well not be responsible for local deliveries. From experience the local sheds tend to deliver within the week  often on  a set day per commune, if the goods are in stock, which they often are. Delivery charges are typically 20-30 euros an item. Some people have found that the charges can be negotiable if you buying a "houseful"

If its a camper , though its the same size as its commercial twins, it presumably escapes commercial tariff because it is either adapted for the carriage of passengers or not designed for commercial use.

Good to see that whatever happens to all the rest, Les Fonctionaires will be keeping the 35 hour week, as it is not a priority to do anything about it.

Perhaps your mate received a lump sum redundancy payment as well as , or instead of retirement. In which case any amount of redundancy compensation over £30k would be taxable. Thats why some redundancy schemes now phase the payments over a number of years to avoid the tax.

"Is the civil servants' lump sum tax free?" Civil Service, Local govt, Firemen, Teachers ... Like everyone Lump Sum payments at retirement made  within normal  Inland Revenue Rules are paid tax free. "I don't understand how some of you can be French Residents yet have not yet 'Retired' " Presumably some people, like myself have retired early but their pension and the lump sum that goes with it will not be paid for a number of years.

The nearby discussion entitled "Address" gives details of how to contact AOL, if you wish to escape their  clutches.

This gives all the information about contacting AOL

This gives all the information about contacting AOL

This gives all the informatiuon about contacting AOL

Dick I thought that TU's point in calling this thread "Just Another Country" was that that France is  similar to any other. Same crimes , and in my posting same police problems, hence the posting. A counterbalance to the land flowing in milk and honey view.  

Mind you if you look at the Amnesty International Report on France http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/fra-summary-eng As Loyd Grossman might say "Who would live in a country like thiiiiiis?" Makes the UK same positively idyllic! http://web.amnesty.org/report2004/gbr-summary-eng  

A builder friend of mine pointed out that rendering is usually put on to cover something up. Obvious Really! Don't assume that once you remove the rendering, that you will necessarily find pretty stonework like your neighbours. Apart from houses of the well to do, most properties were built with cheap materials which were only fit for rendering.

My reading of the rules agrees with what Eskanazi has been told. However if the husband is working in the UK, there is probably scope, accidentally or deliberately, to  take advantage of the clause that says benefit may be paid for children who leave the UK temporarily  for educational reasons.

Have you been living in the house long enough to test whether the EdF estimate was accurate? Were you relying on the EdF for all your heating? If it is accurate, and you were relying on EDf then I would have thought that the charge should remain  broadly the same. Logic being that gas is cheaper but you may heat the house more. If you haven't got a proven record, then the new charges may not be too out of line. I know that EDf quote about £1000 heating per year for a highly insulated modern house, and older places can cost more unless exceptionally well  insulated. On balance I would opt for Pay As You Go, Its not as though they offer preferential tarrifs for Direct Debits, and you can still pay by Direct Debit  as each bill arrives.

In the pack of papers that came with the Permis there should have been two triplicate forms, one to declare the start of work (Ouverture) and one for the completion (Achevement). You, as the person in charge, send these to the Mairie, and you get one back to keep. I assume that you didn't buy a house that had already been designed and built by the builder on spec. You should then receive the dreaded form H1 from the Tax Office in which you tell them all the details of the house, size, rooms, bathrooms, heating  and they reassess the tax. We sent ours in early this year, and it still but the Fonciere still came back Non Bati. Fearing the worst as they seem to hammer modern houses for tax.

Yes still at the same spot, I never noticed the changeover. http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html

If you want to encourage Speedferries you will have to be willing to put up with a few teething problems. The overhaul of the craft was not planned, and they decided to bite the bullet and take it out of service, rather than suffering ongoing minor problems. So the staff probably didn't know that it was going to be cancelled the day after you went out. As far as your "compensation" is concerned, its less than two weeks since this all happened so they are probably pretty busy. Keep nagging, and I'm sure you will get your refund and free flight. Remember what they have offered is already better than Ryanairs cancellation policy!. Perhaps there will be less risk of disruption if and when their promised  second craft arrives. In the meantime you can't really expect the other operators to bail them out!

I think you will find that irrespective of where the father is working, if a child is permanently living outside the UK then entitlement to both benefits cease. It is the location of the child that matters . For example if you are working abroad but the child remains in the UK , then the person looking after the child should  claim the benefit. If the family is living in France then you join the French tax and benefit system. However we all know that they often get things wrong when calculating benfits, just ask all the people currently facing withdrawl, or repayment of tax credits wrongly given!   From Hansard. Child BenefitMiss Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what checks operate to prevent those living abroad receiving child benefit paid into a United Kingdom bank account; and what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money thus claimed. Mr. Andrew Mitchell: Child benefit is normally payable only to those who are resident in the UK. Exceptions are made for temporary absences abroad for up to eight weeks, and for longer periods in certain circumstances where a child is absent abroad for education or medical purposes. When people leave the country, payment of child benefit terminates after the eighth week. A number of different mechanisms are used to prompt notification by those leaving the country for longer than eight weeks. Operation Rattle was launched in November 1995 to deter this type of abuse. To date, cases have been found which, if action had not been taken, could have led to expenditure of up to £8 million

Heaven forbid that it should happen to anyone, but if a drowning incident occured at your pool and you had one of these non NF alarms fitted, you would be liable to prosecution . The law says that the alarm must be NF approved, not that it should be as good as or even better than NF. No label equals no protection from the law. More food for thought. I have always thought that alarms would be more trouble than they were worth,, however good the design.

  Irrespective of detailed considerations, a few top of the head reactions. Presumably you pay tax in France on the rent of the property to the UK company. If the company is then the tenant of the property, you would be setting yourself up for thy UK IR to tax you on the benefit in kind of using the property. When any local inspections take place yuou could have real fun explaining to the Gendarmes that you are really supplying breakfasts in the UK. When you need local help, who would employ the cleaners etc?

Nick I fully recognise that what I wrote referred to P&O rather than Brittany, simply because I didn't have their terms to hand, and as "everyone knows" they often tend to operate in similar ways. So I've now looked at Brittany Ferries which states: Vehicles exceeding 6.5m in length which are not specifically constructed or adapted for the carriage of passengers are subject to freight tariffs, as are vehicles of lesser dimensions but which are carrying merchandise for hire and reward.  IE  a vehicle less 6.5 metres carrying commercial freight is freight, and anything over 6.5 is freight irrespective of whether its commercial or not. To me it seems daft that the tourist website accepts bookings for vans up 8 metres. Looks like another case of uneven (Beneficial for once!) application of the rules. You've obviously done it, so I hope that like  you, Dunrunnin and Boghound ,Bob Redcap is the lucky type. Personally I always seen to drop for the losing ticket, and the bureaucratic stickler!

The old advice is probabaly still correct, if you will be earning the money to pay off the loan in the UK, then borrow in the UK, If you will be earning in France, borrow in France. Whatever gain you may make in interest, can be more than outweighed by Exchange Rate swings, and money transfer cost. In addition UK lenders are less picky about who they will lend to; French banks are tied by very strict Income/ Loan rules and regulations.

Though what the others have said is true of shops such as Fly, Conforama and BUT (MFI/IKEA equivalents) shops such as Roche Bobois, La Grange and Mobiler De France operate to similar timescales as the UK ie 6/8 week leadtimes  but do deliver.

As I said Redcap probably needs to find a vehicle shorter than 5 metres.

I fear that like many people who flit back and forth your requirements will fall down the cracks. I did think that you could use Europ-Assistance. They have a French Annual Travel policy that covers two people and a car for twelve months travel and breakdown cover for about £100. But it only applies to French registered cars. They have a UK European policy that covers up to a maximum of 180 days in a year for UK cars, but they only cover cars up to 16 years old, how old is your old Rover?, and each journey has to start in the UK.