Rob G

Hi, An update from those who are interested. I phoned the NHS helpline quoted by Will, and they said that as our son's grandparents are currently his legal guardians, they would need to arrange for him to be covered under their NHS cover. (Apparently you have to be over 16 to have cover in your own right.) He said they needed to register him with their local GP and obtain his NHS number, then call back with that and ask for an EHIC to be issued. As the GP wasn't able to get his NHS number straight away, they said they could register him under his Granddad's number instead. The EHIC takes up to 10 working days to be delivered, but they said he was covered from the time of the call and gave an emergency number to call if treatment is required overseas before the card arrives. Finally, we contacted the school and they were happy – they understood that he is covered and weren't concerned that he may not physically have an EHIC when he leaves for his trip. So the whole process ended up not being too complicated – made much easier by helpful input from this forum. Thanks to all! Rob

Thanks, Will – I'll post and let you know what happens... Rob

Will, Many thanks for your response, and especially for the helpline details. I'll give them a try on Monday morning and explain the situation. I suppose I'm trying to think what our options might be in the eventuality that the process is too slow and no EHIC or valid alternative can be issued before our son (who is indeed a minor) is due to go on his trip. Rob

Hi, Thanks for your response. [quote user="Sunday Driver"]Your son is now resident in the UK, not France.... ... You don't say when the France trip is planned for, but obtaining the NHS number and EHIC oughtn't to take too long to organise.[/quote] Well, yes, he is physically resident in the UK, and so could get an NHS number and an EHIC. The problem is that the trip is in less than two weeks, and from a quick bit of Googling yesterday evening, I don't think it will be feasible form him to get an EHIC quickly enough. (Yes, this is entirely our fault for not thinking about the issue sooner – to be honest, with everything else going on it just didn't cross our minds.) Hence the approach I'm suggesting. As far as the French authorities are concerned, he's still resident here and covered by French social security. If he were taken ill while on his trip in France, we could just say that we had temporarily sent him over to the UK and as part of his time there he was accompanying the class on a trip to France. I just need to get the school to accept that he will be covered by my French social security entitlement while in France. Had we thought about the issue earlier, we would have been able to get it sorted out in the way you say. The problem is lack of time – and he is desperately keen to go on this trip, so we really want to find a way to make sure the school is happy that he is covered. Rob

Hi, We are hopefully moving back to the UK in the next three months. In the meantime, our son went back to live with his grandparents from the beginning of September so he could start his new school year in the UK. I have to admit that we never thought about health cover arrangements for him. We are now forced to do so as he is supposed to be going on a school trip to France (!) and has been asked to provide an NHS number and European Health Insurance Card. The situation is this: as far as the French authorities know, he still lives here and is still covered by French health insurance. He did have a European Health Insurance Card which entitled him to obtain care in other EU countries, but unfortunately we've just checked it and it's run out. I can apply for a new one, but it's likely to take 2 weeks to come. In any case, he won't be able to use an EHIC issued in France while he's in France (by definition, it's intended for use in countries other than the issuing country). He must have an NHS number, but we can't find any record of it. I'll make some phone calls on Monday and see whether I can track it down. But does this mean he is covered in the UK? By the UK system? Even if he was, he would presumably then need a European Health Insurance Card issued in the UK in order for his UK cover to extend to France and other UK countries. The school are saying he won't be able to go on the trip if he can't provide an NHS no., EHIC and GP details. My feeling is that the most logical approach at this point is to talk to the school and explain that he is still officially resident in France and therefore covered by my French cover. I can provide them with my French social security number and our French GP's details. Would be interested if anyone had a different take on this situation. Thanks, Rob

Baypond, thanks for your most enlightening comments. Rob

So the question remains – in terms of forecasting what is going to happen to the £/€ rate, if we are going to need to convert quite a lot of € to £ in December, should we book a rate now, wait a while or not book one at all? (I realise this is purely a matter of subjective opinion, but I'd be very interested in the view of those who undoubtedly have a more informed view of likely currency fluctuations than I do.) Thanks, Rob

No problem Tom, thanks and I've PM'd you back. Rob

[quote user="TWINKLE"]Sent you a Pm with soem details.[/quote] Thanks! Sent you a PM back... Rob

Tom, thanks for your comment about your brokers. I have sent you a PM. Rob

Dragonrouge, you're right – I was thinking about this last night – with the £ predicted to fall I'm going to have to think carefully about whether and at what point to book a rate. I now have another worry. Even assuming I can get the money from the notaire quickly, how quickly can I get it from my French bank account (with Société Générale) to the UK? I've done some searching on French sites and have found people referring to "virements urgents" (urgent payments), but when I search the SocGen site I can't find anything resembling an urgent (i.e. same day) international payment. Looks like I will have to phone the branch, but I'm not hopeful they will have much knowledge of international payments. Rob

Thanks for answers so far. I think my dad's going to call his insurers first and see whether we can be added as named drivers. If that's no good, I'll have to contact our French insurers and see what they say. As to the car being picked up as uninsured once we get it back to the UK, that won't happen: either it will still be on my dad's insurance or we will make sure we have a new UK policy in place before we arrive back in the UK. Rob

Hi, Thanks for both replies so far. I posted the same question on another forum and got a mixture of answers there, too. Seems like it depends very much on the notaire. I'll give the notaire a call, explain the situation and see what he says. Rob

[quote user="sweet 17"]Friends from Cognac have just done this using a foreign exchange firm.  Money got to their UK bank account in just about a fortnight.[/quote] I don't understand how it took a fortnight! It would be quicker to draw out cash and row across the channel!

Hi, [quote user="sweet 17"]Can you get a buyer lined up to buy your French car when you leave these shores?[/quote] How easy it will be to find a buyer is another question. What I'm wanting to find out at this stage is how my dad or I can temporarily insure a UK car to cover my wife and I to use it in France for a month or two. Rob

Hi, As you may have read in another post, we're planning to move back to the UK in December. We've found a buyer for our house here and are hoping to buy in the UK. We're trying to get our heads around how quickly after signing our sale at the notaire's we'll be able to complete on our UK purchase. We reckon the key factor will be how long it takes to transfer money from France to the UK. Let's say for the sake of argument we sign at the notaire's on a Tuesday morning. The notaire will receive the funds from our buyers, pay off our outstanding French mortgage and presumably send the remainder to our French bank account. So, the first question is, will that money arrive in our account on the same day? And will we be able to initiate a payment to the UK on the same day (i.e. all on the Tuesday in our hypothetical scenario?) When selling a house in the UK, CHAPS payments are used as they are very quick - the funds usually arrive within about an hour. But when I send money from France to the UK using a standard international payment (which I can do free over the Internet), it takes two to three days to arrive. So, next question: are international payments available that will get our money from France to the UK in the same day? Finally, we'd like to use a foreign exchange firm to try to book a decent exchange rate in advance. This means that, when we do transfer our money to the UK, we won't be able to transfer it straight to the solicitor's for our house purchase, but will need to send it to the foreign exchange firm first. I'm wondering whether this will cause further delays - will they be able to send it on to the solicitors via CHAPS on the same day, or will there be a day's delay? In our hypothetical scenario of signing at the notaire's for our house sale on the Tuesay morning, it would be nice to think we could complete our UK purchase on the Thursday. Is this feasible? I realise I'll need to speak to our notaire, our bank and the currency firm to check this all out, but would be very grateful if anyone who's already been through this situation could trow any light on the mechanics of all these money transfers. Thanks in advance, Rob

Hi, We're hoping to move back to the UK in December after a few years in Normandy. We intend to sell our French car before we leave, and my father has kindly offered to give us his UK car as he feels he no longer needs it. The ideal would be for him to bring it over a month or two before we move so we can immediately put the French car on the market, and then use the English car for the remaining time in France until we move back. The car will continue to be registered in my dad's name until we've moved back. The question is, will either my dad or we be able to insure the English car for my wife and I to drive in France? My dad is planning to ring his insurance company and ask whether we can be added as named drivers and covered for use in France, but my worry is that, as our address is outside the UK, this won't be possible. By the same token, I could call our French insurance brokers and see if there's anything they can do, but since the car will be registered in the UK I'm doubtful they'll be able to cover it. Just wondering whether anyone has any ideas and/or has been through a similar situation and found a way around it? Thanks, Rob

Hi Gastines, Thanks for your post. The Chambre de Commerce is not relevant here; I'm classed as a "professionnel libéral", so the CdC has nothing to do with me. For income tax, I deal with the Hôtel des Impôts; however, I've never paid any income tax in nearly four years, so I'm not concerned about this. For social security, I deal with the following: - RAM-Gamex for "assurance-maladie" - CIPAV for "retraite obligatoire" - URSSAF for everything else (CRDS, CSG, etc.) Rob

Hi, After nearly four years in France, we're planning to return to the UK. (There are various reasons for this, which are not for this post.) We've just signed a compromis de vente on our house here in Normandy, so all being well and with a fair wind (and fingers, toes and everything else crossed), we should be back in the UK at around end September/mid-October. I will obviously need to close my business in France and re-register from scratch in the UK when we return. I've been a freelance translator registered in France for the last 3 years (registered in June 2006), and therefore pay social security contributions to various different bodies. Having gone to considerable effort to try to get an idea how big a bill each of these bodies will give me when I shut up shop here in France, I eventually gave up in the face of the unbelievable complexity of it all. In the next few days I shall take my courage in both hands, probably have a glass of wine if not something much stronger, and pick up the phone to each organisation to ask them if they can give me an estimated statement of how much I will owe them at, say, end September. As well as paying my current year's contributions by monthly direct debit, I've been setting aside as much of my gross income as possible, so I have a decent chunk of cash available to pay these bills. However, I'm under no illusions as to the fact that it may not be enough. What I'd like to know, then, is what happens if that is the case? How long do the various social security bodies give you to pay outstanding amounts? If you can't afford to pay everything off in one go, will they accept arrangements whereby you commit to paying so much a month? I'd be very grateful if anyone has any experience to share in this area, either having gone through it themselves or known someone who has. Thanks in advance, Rob

Thanks, SD, for your rapid and precise answer. S'pose it's easier to always have the old "man bag" about one's person, then. Rob

Thanks Cathy - very interesting.... but not quite the answer to the question I asked. Although I suppose one could infer that failure to produce all papers = likelihood of a fine, especially if the policier is having a bad day and there's an r in the month...

Hello all, Vehicle spot checks by police are obviously quite common here - certainly much more so than in the UK. By some miracle, in our nearly three years of living here, despite seeing many such checks, neither my wife nor I have ever been stopped. (I have to admit that on occasion we have both resorted to deliberate avoidance tactics - i.e. taking an immediate diversion upon seeing the spot check and finding an alternative route!) We saw a spot check yesterday afternoon on the way to a friend's birthday party. The first thing we noticed was that it was being done by CRS, rather than police or gendarmes. Anyone have any idea whay this might be? Just extra CRS with time on their hands? Anyway, I'll get to my main question. On this one occasion, I had done something I almost never do - I had left my bag at home containing my passport and driving licence. (I usually always carry with me a "man bag" purchased specifically for this purpose.) As a result, the only papers i had with me were the insurance certificate and "caret grise". Luckily, we weren't stopped, but this did get me wondering - if we had been stopped, would i have been introuble for not having all the required papers with me? Or would it have been like in the UK, where you are given so many days to present your paperwork at your nearest police station? Surely there are times when even French people set foot outside the house without all their papers? Thanks in advance, Rob

Sunday Driver, Thanks for putting our mind at rest re the "nightmare scenario". Additionally, I've just been on the Seine-Maritime prefecture website and read the relevant section. The requirements set out are simpler than what we were asked for when we went there in person, although it does say you need a carte de sejour. I really don't understand this, as the law says that citizens of other EU countries aren't required to have a carte de sejour. I went onto the "titres de sejour" section of the website and it says you normally  have to apply for one within twh months of being here. So could we even get one if we wanted to? My wife said the same thing as you - that we had maybe been given the sheet that applies to non-EU nationals. However, the woman looked at our British passports before giving us the sheet, and it says nothing about who it applies to - so it appears they only have one sheet for everyone. French bureaucracy is enough to conduire you up the mur! Rob

Hi Les, The issue is this (at least, this is what we have understood): if one of us were to lose our UK license, the DVLA would not issue a replacement since we no longer have an address in the UK. And the only way you can get a French license, other than in exchange for a license from another country, is by taking the French driving test. Once you've got a French licese, if you accidentally lose it, the process for getting a duplicate license is relatively straightforward (i.e. as straightforward as any bureaucratic process can be expected to be here!). Rob

That's an idea...but then I don't really want to send my original driving license in the post, and it says in the blurb they gave us that they have to see the original. Rob