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martin

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Everything posted by martin

  1. My wife wants to travel by Ryanair from Bergerac to Stansted, some time in January or February (flexible). From there she will have to make her way to East Yorkshire, but neither train nor bus times fit in with the flight times. If anyone has or is planning a trip and is hiring a car from Stansted, do you want to share costs?
  2. Many thanks for the responses.
  3. I want to find a supplier of Conservatories in kit form for DIY (anywhere in France) I would appreciate hearing any recommendations from anyone who has put one up recently.
  4. It's not an easy one is it? I have taken on the advice given. Thanks Anton Redman II for your PM - will likely take you up on that. Quillan - your link is spot on thanks. And Théière, you're absolutely right. However, I can't run to a surveyor for every house we look at, but once I can get a rough idea of renovation costs and it doesn't put me off, then I will certainly hire a surveyor before committing myself or making an offer.
  5. It's irrelevant to post on this forum what work, structual or otherwise needs doing. I am not asking any forum members for estimates. All I wanted was to be put in touch with someone of experience who could visit this or any other house I may be interested in buying and give me an guesstimate to the nearest 20,000 euros or so, so that I would have a rough idea of costs. I am not a builder, electrician, plumber plasterer or any other type of tradesman. I have absolutely no idea of renovation costs. I am not short of money, but all the same I would like to base any offer on restoration costs.
  6. No, Polly not a wind up. 1.The reason why a surveyor or architecht would not be appropriate is because whereas they can assess what's wrong and what needs doing, they don't estimate the costs themselves. 2.I am not asking anybody on this forum to give any valid cost of restoration. I want to hire an expert to look around the house and give me an idea and I am asking if anyone on this forum knows of such a person. Certainly Anton Redman II (above) has contributed a valuable idea for me to pursue. On another forum, I have been put in touch with a contractor who has considerable experience in renovation costs. My posting is hardly humerous or outrageous so why would you think it to be a wind-up? This is a serious matter for me and your attempt to put me down is out of order.
  7. After several years and four house moves, we are once again looking to buy. We have found a lovely but run-down Girondine house, in need of fosse, rewiring, new windows, plumbing, heating, some structual work and so on. Of course, before we can make a calculated offer, we need to have an idea of costs. It would be impractical to get different artisans round (the house is occupied) for estimates, so I was wondering if there is an expert who, for a fee, could give at least a rough idea of restoration costs. I could ask an architect or surveyor, but I don't think that they would be appropriate.
  8. I believe the reason for asking is to secure the agent's interests. It is not unknown for a "frontman" to sign the bon visite, view and of course locate the property, for his mate to subsequently turn up as a private viewer to avoid the agent's comission. This can apply to the spouse also who could otherwise (if not linked) go on to buy in sole name.
  9. My wife has recently learnt that her appeal will be heard before an Independant Tribunal. Because she appealed against the decision to terminate her dla back in 2003 and of course lost, the DWP say that they cannot overturn the decision of a higher authority. So hopefully the Independant Tribunal will be able to overturn the decision. I'd be most interested to know of anyone else on this forum who is in a similar position so that we can share and pool our experiences.
  10. [quote user="Tony F Dordogne"] What date did you send to them and what date did you receive a reply please? We need detail to pass on to our other liaison MP (not Roger Gale this time) who is helping fast track complaints.  It doesn't have to be quoted personally, just he needs some specific detail. [/quote] I sent an email to the Expo Team 30 May asking for a progress report. Received an automated response/acknowledgement the same day, but had to wait until 26 June for the reply which I posted on the forum.
  11. Following an email I sent end of May on behalf of my wife, I have just received this reply.... Unfortunately we are still not in a position to make a decision on your case due to the complexities involved.   The decision to remove entitlement to DLA was confirmed by an appeal Tribunal .The Secretary of State is not able to look again at Decisions made by Tribunals and we are investigating how this affects your request for re-instatement. At least this is not an absolute rejection, but notice no indication of timescale is given.  I believe that if we hadn't have appealed back in 2002 then the claim for reinstatement would have been rejected straight away, but as we did appeal we are now in this perverse situation. It really would be good PR if the DWP not only replied more promptly, but gave some explanation - in this case, why isn't the S of S able to review decisions and what other options are open, like who can look again at decisions made by tribunals. I do understand that bureaucracy is a slow creature and that legal issues are complicated, but I really would appreciate a fuller explanation and some idea of how much longer we must wait.........maybe we'll reach the two year mark since the EU ruling!
  12. I eliminated all the pipe work after some excavation.  I then thoroughly examined the liner, bet there were no visible cuts, so I (correctly) concluded that there must be a liner leak at the skimmer as there was no other possibility.  Even though I couldn't find exactly where the water was escaping, I cut the surrounding liner out and fitted a new section.  Now not a drop seeps out. I am so surprised at how much water I was losing; if I hadn't have isolated this leak myself, I would not have believed such a rapid loss possible.
  13. Sorted! I certainly underestimated this problem.  Seems that water can leak through a fairly small cut and be wicked away through the concrete tank at an  alarming rate  In my case at 40 litres an hour.
  14. I have a small sunken pool (4m dia) which is basically a round concrete tank with a liner.  For some while I have been losing about 1m3 of water each day so quite obviously there is a leak;  I have thoroughly checked the plumbing and the skimmer but they are sound. I can only conclude that water is seeping out through a cut in the liner, but even so at the rate of 1m3 a day seems an awful lot, particularly as it would then have to permeate through the concrete tank. Does anyone have an idea what loss to expect through a small cut to the liner?    Any calculated guesses would be appreciated.
  15. The year 2005 keeps cropping up - how significant is this date? In my (wife's) case we moved here in 2003 so would any reinstatement (never mind back payments) already be ruled out?  If so, then so be it, but I wish the DWP would make this clear. Any informed opinions would be welcome.      
  16. Not sure if I've missed something in this topic, but where does 2005 come into this? In my wife's case, her DLA was terminated end of 2003 on coming to France.  She appealed against the decision and of course lost.  Since the EU judgement we have been in regular contact with the DWP even having just filled in their new form (with the dreaded question 16), but no mention has been made of 2005. So, has this been a waste of time in our case and for anyone asking reinstatement from prior to 2005? Rather confused - anybody able to explain please.
  17. Not having received a form, I can only speculate, but could the wording "You must have spent at least 26 weeks out of the last 52 weeks in the UK at the date on which your entitlement to benefit can be established..." refer to the date you werte last entitled to DLA,  i.e.  your last day of residency in the UK?  Incidentally I first wrote to the Exportability Team claiming reinstatement (on behalf of my wife) on the 5 November 2007, just a couple of weeks after the ruling.  So if claimants are being dealt with in order according to Jonathan Shaw..... People who have written to us since the judgement will have their cases considered in the order of the date they contacted us. The exportability team within the Pensions, Disability and Carers Service will be working to clear these cases as soon as possible. I assume we will receive the form very soon.      
  18. Further to my last, translators charge what they want, so shop around.  I can certainly recommend the one I used, who I found after many quotes from others.
  19. Hi Cooperlola - I really will be happy to give you a few pointers and dispel so much misinformation going around.  As long as you meet the basic criteria the procedure isn't difficult, but expect to go many months without hearing a thing.  Of course one needs to speak French, but only at general conversation level (like me).  Feel free to email me whenever you want.   Hi Chessfou - The cost is zero in admin charges, but you will need to fork out on official translation fees.  In our case as a family of four, total cost was about 450 euro.  This involved translating four birth certificates, also a previous marriage certificate and divorce papers.  If you don't have these certificates, they are easy enough to get hold of, but at a cost of about £25 each.
  20. Well, fourteen months on, we as a British family (of four) have been granted French Nationality (Naturalisation par Decret).  There are a number of reasons for wanting this status, in particular we want to ensure that when our two children are of age, there will be no barriers to employment opportunities. Since applying, I have asked around for other Brits' experiences of the procedure but have been most surprised to learn that nobody I know of has gone for it. Well, at last we are now legally and officially "French", while also retaining full rights as British Nationals.  It really is a no-lose situation, so why don't more people apply? I would be happy to pass on any info or advice on the procedure involved, based on my experiences.  
  21. On the 13 Aug last year, I posted a topic "Naturalisation par decret". So far everything seems to have gone through okay, but it could still be a few months before we receive a decision. To clarify a couple of issues raised: The exam/interview is a fairly informal chat, in our case covering such matters as hobbies, basic knowledge of French geography and politics, reasons for wanting nationality.  We were spoken to separately on a one to one basis. Yes, we each had to obtain a certificate from New Scotland Yard to say we had no convictions.  (This had to be officially translated) As far as the Gironde is concerned, the application form has to be stamped at the outset by the sous-prefecture and delivered in person at the Prefecture at least three months after this date. Applicants then have to submit their forms at The Prefecture for 8.30am on a Thursday morning.  On our first attempt, we arrived exactly at 8.30 to join a queue outside of over seventy people; as we shuffled nearer the door, an official then came out to inform us that they couldn't process any more that day and to try again next week. So, the following Thursday we arrived at 4.00am to join a queue of about twenty people (camping chairs, blankets and thermos flasks).   As the morning progressed, more and more applicants arrived, then when the doors opened at 8.30am the first few - including us, were allowed in and given a numbered ticket.  As before, the majority of applicants were then turned away. Once inside we waited a couple of hours for our number to be called, then after going through all the documents we had to wait some more.  During this time, we saw a couple of applicants turned away because there was something missing or wrong with their forms (no crossings-out or tippex is permitted).  We got away just after 3.00pm It was obvious that the department dealing with this issue was very overworked, but very thorough in checking through each and every document.  Despite this being a long and tiring day I found that the staff who I dealt with were pleasant and polite. Following submission of our dossiers, there was some subsequent correspondence and an interview (90mins) with the police which seemed to go well. As I write, our dossiers have moved on from the prefecture to The Ministy, who have up to mid April to make a decision.    
  22. After several weeks, I have at last received a reply to the e-mail which I sent to The Exportability Team.  Nothing new really, but I suppose that confirmation that nothing is new suggests that this matter is still current.    Must say that I am rather surprised that the potential claimants are in the thousands! This is the relevant extract of the reply ................. Unfortunately the situation regarding claims from abroad has not changed. We are still awaiting further guidance on these claims from our legal advisors. No decisions will be made before the end of this year. We are hoping to start in the early part of the new year. We hold your details on our database this is because your previous details are no longer on the main system as due to the Data Protection Act they are destroyed after 14 months.   I sorry that this is not the answer you required but we have thousands of claims like yours from people who were in receipt of benefit before they moved away. When we receive further guidance everyone will be contacted and each case will be looked at in its own write. However I have issued your with a new claim pack so that when we do reconsider your case we will have some of the information we require.
  23. About a year on since the European Court ruling, like all of you, I have been trying to get some idea when the issue of back payments and eligibility for EU residents will be announced.  I appreciate that the DWP have to look into many aspects and evaluate their findings, but a year?  Seems a ridiculously long time. I have written two letters since June, but have not received even an acknowledgment; from somewhere in my files I found the following email address  [email protected] to which I sent a request for even an approximate timescale, but guess what..........no reply. I have tried telephoning but only get to speak to someone on the "Help" Desk who is no better informed than I am. As I have taken the time, trouble and expense trying to make contact with The Exportability Team, I really do expect the courtesy of a reply.  Can anyone tell me who I should write to by way of complaint; it certainly won't be any point in writing to The Exportability Team.    
  24. Thank-you all very much for your advice, I will follow your guidelines and print out the above postings to keep for future reference. Russethouse - thanks for directing me to the FAQs; I did check them out before I posted, but my particular query wasn't covered in enough detail; maybe they could be "upgraded" with this detailed info. Incidentally because of my error, I received a French tax demand for 730 euro, so I presume this is what I would be paying here rather than the 2,335 pounds I have to pay in the UK.  The official argument for taxing govt pensions in UK is that for the 30 years (in my case) I was paying my contributions, they were tax free so now it's pay-back time.  I wonder if anyone in the EU has ever tried to change this  ruling through the courts?  
  25. I receive a UK local government pension which is taxed in the UK. - my sole source of income. I filled in the tax forms which were sent to me but I subsequently received a demand to pay tax here in France.  I tried to sort the problem out on the telephone, but only got through to a lady on the Help Desk who said that it was my fault because I had omitted to state on the form 2047 that I was taxed in the UK.   Anyway, they have now sent me a fresh form 2047 so I have another chance. I'm sure this is all very straighforward to most people in my position, but I can't work out where on the form I state how much tax I paid and that it was deducted in The UK. I'd be very grateful for some help on this one.    
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