clareS

I thought that if the car was registered in the UK you had to have UK-based insurance, except as a temporary measure (up to 3 months?). We had to take out an overseas insurance based in the UK, which cost about £700 (I'm sure this has already been discussed at length before!). We had French insurance for a while, then discovered it was illegal on our UK registered car, so changed to the overseas UK type. We are now registered here but have since crashed the car ... The costs of converting were considerable, so probably wise to sell the car in the UK and buy here - we had a skoda and couldn't sell it even in the UK!

P.S Re the export slip on the registration document, I would have just taken this off so I could send it in after the vehicle was registered if I'd realised it was going to be taken away. The trouble is you never quite know if you're going to get there and find there's some crucial piece of paper missing, (and it might take 6 weeks to get hold of that piece of paper), so I wouldn't have thought it would be a good idea to send this in until you know you have the carte grise sorted. In our case, we still have a house in the UK and the car was still registered under this address. I sometimes think though that this causes more problems than it solves, as sitting on the fence can just make things more complicated ...

I think my UK insurance was invalid as the car was no longer registered in the Uk, (or maybe it was as I hadn't sent in the export slip!) I'll send all the documents in to the DVLA and hope that is ok. The reason we didn't do all those things before leaving the UK was that we weren't sure whether we would be staying or not, we wanted to see how everything went before burning our bridges in case we were back again in 3 months. It cost us a fortune because we had to change the headlights (500 Euros), immatriculation 281 E, controle technique another 70 E. We also had to get a certificate of conformity (quite straightforward, from UK Skoda, cost about £50), and a certificate from the tax office in Dijon to say we didn't need to pay VAT, we still had the sale document from when we bought the car. I think as someone has said, we should have changed to French insurance first under our UK registration, then we could have just called to give the new registration details. I didn't think of that. Let's just hope the car isn't completely written off now! Although at least then we'd have to get a car with the steering wheel on the right side - there's always a silver lining somewhere!

After months of gathering bits of paper to get the car registered here, and a week of hell last week changing the headlights, doing the controle technique and getting to the prefecture to finally do the registration (total cost 900 euros), I was very shocked to come away with a carte grise within 10 minutes, leaving me with an invalid british car insurance based on our UK registration documents (taken away from me before I had time to rip off the bit you're supposed to send in when you export the vehicle). I drove home very nervously and sorted out the insurance (at 4.30 on Friday afternoon), only to crash the car next morning. At least I didn't crash it on friday with very dodgy insurance. I'm not sure what you are supposed to do in this situation - reorganise your insurance from a mobile outside the prefecture?? We're waiting to hear if the car can be repaired or not ...

Yes I know. I do know about the vignettes, I just forgot, as so often the pharmacist does it for you, and I just stuck the feuille de soins in a pile of dusty papers till I had time to deal with it. I can live with the loss of 20 Euros, it's just frustrating!

Deby it does sound as if your niece is quite advanced for her age, I don't think either of mine were doing that sort of thing at 6 when they were in England! I agree about the creative writing comment though - I've found it a bit disappointing that so much of what they do is learning by heart, no room for any creativity. In England they did probjects on the Vikings/Egyptians etc. and made models, wrote stories, thought about their way of life, all sorts of interesting stuff which they don't seem to have time for here. My children have sometimes spent most of the morning doing Maths, or conjugation. My daughter once spent nearly a whole day doing a 6-page test in conjugation!!! However, as we arrived here last September it has also been quite good for my children (7 and 9) as they haven't really been up to creative writing anyway, and learning all the rules of the language very explicitly as they do here has been great for their French. They can do the creative stuff at home once they have grasped the basics. My son had really scruffy work when we arrived, though he was very good in school generally. Now his book is really well kept and neat, and his handwriting is really improving, which I think is a good thing even if the emphasis on handwriting is a bit over the top. The lack of differentiation does worry me here though, and must be a problem if you have gifted children, unless you live somewhere where there is a big choice of schools (not the case here). My son is doing very well in school, as he did in England, and I get the impression he just has to sit and draw when he finishes the work ahead of the others. I suspect he might start to get very bored once French no longer poses an added challenge. I'm not sure what the future holds once they get to college ...   Clare    

I've just had a feuille de soins sent back as I had forgotten to stick down the vignette and have now thrown away the box! Damn! That's 75 % of 20 Euros down the drain. I have an E101 but was told I couldn't have a carte vitale as the certificate is for a limited period of time. Has anyone had an E101 renewed for a second year? Or did I hear they've abolished it now, in which case what do we get instead? Mine runs out in August - yet another thing to wrap my head round ...   Clare

Thanks very much for the details. I'll pass on any useful information we get!   Clare

Somebody mentioned that they had a UK accountant who dealt with French taxation matters etc. but I can't find the message any more! If anybody has personal experience of a good accountant who could advise us on whether we need to move our business to France/how it will affect our situation please could we have their details? I'm reluctant to go to those who advertise their services in ex-pat publications without a recommendation for obvious reasons! My experience with a French accountant was not particularly positive. Thanks very much Clare

What's an SCI?

Thanks very much for the advice, it tallies with bits and pieces I've read elsewhere, but it's good to have it confirmed so concisely! I think at some stage before long we'll have to bite the bullet. There is a useful document (pdf) on the French tax website which details in English what the basic guidelines are on various areas of taxation, residency etc., in case any one else needs similar information. http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portal/deploiement/p1/fichedescriptive_1006/fichedescriptive_1006.pdf Thanks

Can anyone recommend an accountant, preferably in the Dijon/Beaune area, preferably who knows something about taxation of non-residents or at least can advise on residency status. Went to see one this morning who didn't seem to have a clue or be prepared to find relevant information.

I got a toilet duck, not sure what make, which was specially for fosses septiques and seems quite powerful. I just found it in the supermarket. I use Eparcyl too, which is supposed to help things rot! Otherwise I don't worry too much. I think the tank needs emptying regularly (after a couple of years or something?) but haven't got to that yet.

We are in a similar situation to Franchesco. We have been living here since August and working for our own limited company which is based in the UK, though we are the only employees. We have a house in the UK still and work entirely for UK clients. We went to see an accountant here in France this morning, as we would like to think about buying property here (we are currently renting). He was not much use, started off by saying it was fine to go on paying tax in Uk, as we are entirely UK-based (just happen to live here), then suddenly changed his tune and said he thought if we want to buy a house we should move the company to france and set up a SARL, or the French tax authorities might catch up with us. We don't really want to set up a French company as we have a uk accountant and are happy with the set-up we have. If we have to set up a SARL then we will, but I'd like to know why and what the regulations are that make this necessary (rather than just because we are told 'it would be a good idea' ...). It's very difficult to get any information. Our UK accountant and the inland revenue say that we can remain ordinarily resident in the UK for up to 3 years and pay tax in the UK. However, that's not much use if the French authorities think otherwise .... our E106 certificate will run out in August ... I'll have a look at that website someone mentioned. Any other tips gratefully received!

We seem to have sorted it out now by getting a very expensive 'overseas' insurance from a UK insurer, which will enable us to renew our UK tax before it runs out at the end of this month. At least that way we will have time to consider what we are doing long term, we will probably buy a French car if we are staying beyond a year and sell this one, but at least until then we are in a legal position. As it is registered at our UK address we shouldn't have any problems with not registering in France - we are officially still resident in UK All very complicated, and someone will probably give me another reason why we are actually still illegal (no, please don't)!

We are self-employed, but as we still have a UK home and are a limited company, our business is based in UK and we are officially employees based abroad, so pay UK tax and national insurance (working for companies in UK anyway). If we decide to stay over 12 months (increasingly unlikely reading messages in this forum!!) we'll have to look at becoming Frenchified. Feel a bit nervous about how regular this all is, but am assured it is! Anyone know otherwise? (no, don't tell me .....)

Phew, that's good news, one problem less!   Thanks very much!

After recent car problems I am now questioning all information received!! Our maire told us we no longer need a carte de sejour, he was going to check with the prefecture and we have heard no more!! Anybody else know anything about this? Have they been abolished now, or are we once again illegal?

I’m interested to read Gwenhyfars messages about diary free and cantine. My daughter doesn’t have dairy products either, she used to get a lot of stomach ache and nausea, and dairy products seemed to affect her more than most things. I’ve found it’s been great here having her home for lunch – both children get a break from speaking French and all that that entails, and they get a good hot meal to see them through the afternoon. In the UK they had packed lunches which my daughter never finished because she eats very slowly and just didn’t have enough time, when she was off wheat as well as dairy a lot of the boys were very rude and upset her. She seems to be really growing now she’s getting fed well, and she’s eating much more generally.   In our school here very few children stay in the cantine, most come home and the school bus brings them and takes them back at lunch. Schools obviously vary a lot.   Eating out is tricky though as cooking is often in butter, though salads are good, (my daughter likes them too) and I have found people in restaurants to be quite sympathetic if I asked for variations on the children’s menus. People can vary though – I tried asking in a patisserie the other day, which was a bit foolish!! (I thought maybe the baba au rhum might be dairy-free, but it was more trouble than it was worth)!   It can be a bit scary the violent reactions you get here if you inadvertently tread on a sensitive area – especially at school.

I still haven't found anything to indicate that we are not in a legal position. We had no idea we wouldn't be able to renew our tax (the DVLA web site said that you can renew your tax from abroad and that you can keep your registration in UK for up to 12 months - no mention of the fact that you can't renew your tax with a French insurance policy), we still have our house in UK, so the car is registered under that address (I haven't read anything anywhere to indicate there is a problem with this either). If we stay longer we will get rid of the UK car and buy a French one, so we don't really want to go through all the hassle of reregistering - by the time all the paperwork is done we'll probably want to sell it anyway, but we do want to be legal when we go back to the UK in four weeks! We have come to the conclusion we will have to try again to get UK based insurance to tide us over. Anybody else done this? Sounds as if it will cost a fortune!  

I’d be interested to share any experiences of French school - we have children 7 and 9, at state primary school in a small village (in France). We moved here in August, so they were launched pretty quickly into school. The first couple of weeks were a nightmare, which we were sort of prepared for, but it was still a bit of a shock. I felt that the teachers thought we were completely ridiculous to have dumped our non-French speaking children on them (though I had taught them a lot of French at home it was all as nothing once they were sitting in a French classroom faced with the real, non-stop, full-speed stuff). We were told that they would have to go to a special school for immigrants in Dijon (30 minutes away), then later that day that in fact they could say, the said school was already full (phew!). My son’s teacher told me he was just being ‘malin’ (clever or sly), he could really understand what she was saying but just pretended not to!!!   As you can imagine, it was quite difficult and upsetting, but then, I thought, maybe we had been completely ridiculous to come and dump our children here!   The children are getting on very well now, and the school has actually been very helpful – they have arranged lessons for them after school 3 days a week (which means they finish at 6 and then have at least an hour’s homework to do, but I am very grateful!). I think the teachers have come to terms with them, and both teachers are very nice in fact, one has been particularly kind and helpful, the other is ok but can be a bit odd. I think at first they were reeling under the shock!   The children are pretty happy generally, though my 9 year old has got to the stage where she is missing being able to have a proper conversation, having got over the euphoria of being the most popular and famous girl in the school. Their French is improving day by day, they have coped well with learning 42 line poems by heart, strange things like autodictees and the vast amount of homework and long hours at school,  but speaking is still a struggle, and I think they would still rather be back in England … Only time will tell whether we’ll be staying or not. I’d be interested to hear any other experiences, good or bad.

We have come to France with our British car (staying for 12-18 months) and were under the impression (DVLA website advice!) that we could continue registering it in the UK and could retax it from abroad. We now find we can't retax it as we have French insurance (we couldn't get insurance in UK to drive in France for more than 3 weeks), so it looks as it we have to get it immatriculated here (which looks tricky) then God knows what when we go back. We're going back to UK for Christmas in the car, so will probably be illegal then as I don't suppose the immatriculation will be done by then. Does anyone know of any better alternatives (besides dump the car in the driveway and buy a French one?) Panic- strickenlyly: