Moulin85

When they sought advice they were told that their legal uk residence was the address at which they are ‘registered’ for the purposes of Taxation & Welfare, where they appeared on the electoral role and that they used on all official documentation such as driving licence, car registration etc.

We know a couple who are doing this very ‘Try before you Buy’ thing at the moment in Spain. To ensure there UK Resident status is not effected they have made there daughters house there legal uk residence until they reach a decision.

Having done a lot of Small Bore pistol shooting in the past I’m thinking of getting an air pistol to shoot some targets in the barn but also keep the rodents down. I don’t like using poison due to the other animals around and the snakes just don’t seem to be on top of things! My question is what calibre? The .22 pistols I’ve found have been smooth bored so not as accurate as the .177’s which are rifled, better for the targets but will they have enough stopping power?

Yes people this one will run & run!   To the letter of the law those who say the car should be registered in France, then the UK, then France, then the UK, then France, then the UK, then France………………… are right. But in reality if the car is legal in the UK i.e. Tax, Mot, Insurance and the insurance company are aware of the situation and prepared to extend cover, (please ensure you have this in writing,) then there won’t be a problem! The only time anyone is going to question how long you have been in either country is if you have an accident and the insurance company refuse to pay out. With the correct cover this can’t happen. I know the law on both sides of the Channel can be an ass, but in the remote circumstance that you did end up in court the key questions would be Practicality and Intention to De-Fraud. Clearly in this situation it is impractical to continually keep re-registering and as the car is fully legal in the UK and you have amended the insurance to cover extended stays in France there is no fraudulent intent. This is quite different from those Brits who drive around on UK plates to avoid a CT and paying out for insurance.    

Vehicle emissions are measured as an average per mile using an international standard formula and while mpg obviously has a direct bearing, how the engine uses the fuel is the main factor. The figures I have just found in Autocar give the Q7 4.2 V8 petrol as 326g/km CO2, 294g/km for the V8 diesel. This is half the figure I read somewhere recently for the 1971 1100cc Ford Escort!   At the end of the day there are so few Q7’s, Aston Martin’s or Ferrari’s etc that getting rid of them wont make a nats difference to the environment but they are the soft political target to make people feel they are doing something. Try suggesting, as we did last year, that the office staff should wear a thicker top rather than turn the heating up and see what reaction you get!

I agree with some of what is being said. I’m a sports car nut so except for freedom of choice I see little justification for vehicles like the Q7, but I’m willing to bet that it puts out fewer pollutants per mile than an SU carburetted MGB or the majority of other cars of that era.

I am no expert on this stuff but we use ethanol at work and it destroys most types of rubber fairly quickly. From what I have read in the English motoring press most modern engines are ok at 10% ethanol, Ford say 15% for there units, but anything above that and the entire fuel system has to be specifically designed to use the stuff. To meet EEC directives on average CO2 all UK petrol will be 10% ethanol soon, other European countries will be forced to follow as emission regulations get tighter.

Most people don’t realise the volume of information today’s governments know about then make the old communist regimes appear pure armatures! There is no doubt the tax office know if a person should declare residency but the question is will they follow it up? The simple answer is ‘if it’s worth there while’. If you are an aged relative staying with a family on average income paying minimal tax, chances are you are worth very little to the government so there is no real incentive to go after you. If on the other hand your hosts contribute a reasonable amount to the exchequer there is every probability you are worth something and the government will want there share!

Some French friends of ours have recently ‘won’ a 5year legal battle with a builder. They bought a house that was advertised and sold as a New Build. 6 months down the line a full structural survey revealed several serious faults and some major breaches of Building Regulations. When they contacted the builder he informed them that no insurance had been taken out as part of the property was built on an existing slab therefore it was a Refurbishment and not a New Build, which also meant the Building Regulations in question, did not apply! Fortunately the courts did not agree and after 2 years of hearings and appeals, with every judgment in there favour, the court offered them either full restitution or the property rebuilt to the appropriate standards. As the rebuild would mean them moving out for at least 6 months and there was another property for sale close by they decided to leave. At this point the builder’s legal team went into appeal overdrive and far from being over and finished they managed to drag the case out for another 3 years! The case is now finally over, no more appeals, that’s it. Our friends have won, but have not come out on top! They are to receive full re-imbursement of all monies paid, plus interest at Bank rate and all costs This is the deal they agreed to 3 years ago, Bank interest rather than ‘current market value’ to get out and get on with there lives. However those extra 3 years delay mean property prices in our area have risen by over 40% since they first bought, which is well above Bank interest rate. As all the delays were on the part of the builder who had never won a round of the case, they applied for, and won, additional compensation. However in the builder’s final appeal he claimed this was unjust as our friends had lived there ‘rent free’ for 5 years and this had also prevented him from making good the property and re-selling it! Unbelievably the appeal court accepted this argument and reversed the earlier decision which means that rather than spending the rest of there retirement in a new, well insulated, low maintenance home, our friends are now forced to look at old rundown properties in need of renovation. The builder on the other hand is laughing, the same rise in property value means he has already covered most of his costs and by the time the remedial work is done and the house resold he is very likely to still turn a profit on the whole thing!  

At the end of the day Ian only you know your lifestyle and can make the decision.   In the uk we live in a town and can go 3 or 4 weeks without using the car, but in France a vehicle of some kind is essential. Except for an excellent MarchéU that we cycle to all other shops are 20km away. And its not just collection, it’s also disposal as our commune will only take away domestic refuse that is not recyclable, ie no glass, plastic, paper, cardboard etc. All this has to be taken to the local Déchetterie.   If as you suggest you may use a rented car 3 or 4 days a month then the economics of giving up your own car must be marginal, add in the advantage of being able to go where you want when you want without having to work around public transport and it’s a close call.  

There is a large multi junction roundabout near our uk place and about 10 years ago, for reasons best known to themselves, the local authority planted a forest of traffic lights around it. The result? Instant chaos every rust hour. The lights are now breaking down with increasing frequency and every time they do all the congestion disappears!

As the previous posts have said, the secret is the availability of good wood. In our area wood is readily available but it’s the lighter faster growing varieties, locating good quality material that will keep the fire in overnight or when we go out is becoming more difficult, and more expensive, every year.       

No experience of www.blackcircles.com in France but I have used them in the UK and found them very good, particularly on high performance and other non mainstream tyres.   Moulin 85

Hi there SD, you must be a politician!   Let me put you straight on your last post, what I actually said was: ‘I work with several hundred eastern Europeans many of who are driving cars still registered ‘at home’ but have not taken them been back there for several years, so how can there paperwork be up to date?   This is somewhat different to: ‘illegality of several hundred work colleague cars’   Like the British in France the vast majority of eastern Europeans are driving perfectly legal locally registered vehicles, but there is a hard core who are not. These people rely on the fact that the local police don’t speak, much less read, there language so are generally reluctant to pull them over unless they have committed a serious offence. Unlike the majority of British ex-pats who have property and ties in the community most eastern European labour is transient. We’ve had a couple of instances where people have been involved in accidents then just disappeared!  

I stand totally corrected, SD and allanb are both correct.   My policy document has never been updated by my insurance company but on checking my daughter’s new policy, with the same company, the Third Party time limit has been removed. Interestingly the free 7day full cover extension, provided they were notified of dates, has also gone!

Hi SD,   In the 21st Century people will move around Europe more and more for work, we see this already, this may mean relocating every few months or maybe every couple of years, and it is essential the EU legislature keep ahead of this trend. It is totally impractical to re-register a vehicle every time you change country.   You are correct when you say ‘existing EU regulations already make it compulsory for insurers to provide unrestricted pan European third party cover’ but this is only the level of cover and in most cases it is only valid for 90days! After that some policies will cover you for an additional period by one off special arrangement but most don’t want to know at all. What I am saying is this level of cover should be for the duration of the policy, if companies want to time limit add-ons, such as comprehensive cover, that’s fine.   Regarding ex eastern block registered vehicles I base this on personal experience. I work with several hundred eastern Europeans many of who are driving cars still registered ‘at home’ but have not taken them been back there for several years, so how can there paperwork be up to date? A quick glance at general condition is a fair indicator of roadworthiness and if you bring the subject up they suddenly don’t speak the language! Even those who do keep there cars legal ‘at home’ appear to have no idea if there are any restrictions on there use abroad.

Surly in this day and age the EU should be able to agree on a common registration system for all vehicles. It’s not rocket science to agree common standards for the CT and the basic ‘Third Party’ part of your insurance, which would give unrestricted cover all across the EU. It’s not only illegal UK ‘ex-pat’ vehicles that are un-road worthy and un-insured but also the majority of those registered in ex eastern block countries that have been flooding Western Europe for the last couple of years!

I read an interesting fact recently:   17% of all Drink Drive prosecutions take place the morning after!   This really got me thinking; how many times after a hard day have we relaxed late in the evening over a barbeque and a couple of bottles of wine, then got up early and driven to the builders merchants!

Many thanks Sunday Driver that’s just what I wanted to know.   I’d been hoping to build a new Westfield kit car but have given up on that idea after discovering that only factory built examples can be registered in France, and they’re well out of my price range. The alternative I’ve now been considering is to rebuild an accident damaged factory car, if I could find such a beast. However the fact the job must be completed within a year, less any time already elapsed, has I thing probably scuppered that idea. Trying to spend that much time in the barn with the house still to finish would probably end in divorce!

Can anyone give me any information about buying an accident damaged vehicle in France please? I am particularly interested in weather the French authorities operate a similar system to the DVLA where damaged vehicles are graded and only certain types can be repaired and returned to the road.

My understanding regarding the UK now is that to retain an existing plate all the major mechanical components, Engine, Gearbox & Axle must come from the same vehicle. If you ‘mix n match’ it’s either a Q or a new plate if you pay the tax.   My contacts idea of ‘rebuilding’ an accident damaged vehicle was to Clone it. Buy a damaged vehicle identical to the one you had just built, transfer all the ID marks and then pass yours off as that damaged car rebuilt.

I contacted Westfield recently about building and registering one of there cars in France and received a prompt reply from the French distributors. They said it was absolutely impossible to register a new self build Westfield in France, only factory built cars could get the correct paperwork to be accepted! I asked weather it was possible to use what I am told is known as the Belgium method, ie bring the car to the UK for SVA and registration then import it as second hand. They replied that theoretically this may be possible but they would not guarantee anything!   Another contact, who I stress has nothing to do with Westfield, has recommended buying a legitimate accident damaged vehicle and ‘rebuilding’ it as the most reliable method! Anyone for Mint Sauce?