ChilliPip

My husband and I both English, both permanent residents in France, and expecting our first baby in May. When the baby is born, will he / she be automatically French or English? If English, do we have to register the birth with the British consulate? If French, can we apply for English nationality? etc etc Any info or advice gratefully received. Thanks

I think I may have just answered my own question. I have just looked again at the "Avis d'échéance principale" they sent me and saw some small print at the bottom of the page which said:    "En application de l'article L113-15-1 due Code des Assurances, vous pouvez mettre fin au contrat à son échéance anniversaire dans un délai de 20 jours à compter de la date d'envoi du présent avis d'échéance." Can I take this to mean that the notice period for cancellation is 20 days from the date of the renewal letter? Many thanks

Another matter on which I could do with some advice... We have a French registered car which we bought last February and insured through Direct Assurance. As always, we did not think about the annual renewal until yesterday when we received a letter from them informing us of the new premium due to kick in 01/02/06. Although we have been rewarded for making no claims and have had the "Coefficient de Réduction Majoration (CRM)"  increased the annual increase in the premium is so much that I am determined to find better insurance elsewhere. I have in mind that I recently read somewhere that the law on renewal of policies in France was changing regarding the notice period. Is this so? If so, what will the new law be and when will it start? And finally, having missed the 2 month notice period (which would presumably have been 01/11/05 in this case), does that mean I cannot give notice to cancel the policy until November 2006? Many thanks

Thanks for your reply. I am, however, not prepared to waste anymore of my time or money with the DRIRE, and so just want to know whether the Certificat de Conformité is still required. If not, great. If so, its back to England with the car.

I have tried repeatedly to reregister my LPG converted Range Rover in France, but have failed each time with the DRIRE. - Although the UK installers insist that the LPG installation is EEC approved, the DRIRE insist that I have nearly 2000 euros worth of work done on the LPG installation before they will issue the Certificat de Conformité. As the car does not appear to be worth this amount of money,  I shall probably have to return it to England to sell it there. However, a friend of mine has recently heard that since 1 July 2005, Certificat de Conformités are no longer required. Apparently, if the car passes its Controle Technique, it is judged to conform. Can anyone confirm whether this is true please?