lorna

I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread for my question. Hopefully it is ok to tag onto this one.[:)] I have an appointment for an MRI scan which needs to be done prior to going into hospital for some investigation. The appointment is immediately after Easter. Today I received a letter plus two enclosures from the hospital's radiology department. The two enclosures I think constitute prescriptions, one is for a blood test and one is for a syringe prefilled with dotarem. This is my first MRI/hospital visit here and I hadn't realised there would be pre-requisites. Having googled a few things I realise that the dotarem is a contrasting agent which helps with the scan analysis and the blood test is to check kidney function as there is a higher risk of side-effects from the dotarem for people with kidney problems. The blood test has to be done within three weeks of the appointment and as I am going to be away in the UK for two weeks preceeding the test I'm not sure if I can get this done in time which might mean rearranging everything.[:(] My question though is about the dotarem. Does anyone know if this is something which can be kept at home prior to an appointment? The doctor has specified a specific 'code CIP'  number for the dotarem. I don't know if that will make it harder to obtain. No doubt we can check this out at a local pharmacy but I wondered if anyone on the forum has had experience of this.

Thanks RH, Yes, I have a CEAM card and I know that will  cover me for emergency treatment which is the main thing but I don't think it covers everything. I'll have a look at your link to see if there is more information.

Has anyone managed to get insurance which covers an existing condition? I am travelling to the UK soon and would prefer to get insurance which covers most eventualities.

Thanks Odile. Will update when the time comes. May well be asking questions about French hospitals before then. [:)]

Thanks Sweets, at least a stay in a French hospital should force me to improve my French![:)]

Well, it wasn't too bad after all. The doctor was charming and didn't mind my lack of French - I did apologise. He understood most of my English and his spoken English wasn't too bad although he was a bit uncertain of it. I did have a longish note in googlish French which I had prepared. He decided that my case was complicated - I knew that - and has suggested I go into the hospital for a few days for tests. So, after Easter I will have a scan and then a short stay. Apparently I will be in the care of the head of the department who speaks very good English. This is all a lot more than I was ever offered in the UK under the NHS.

Hi Sweets,  thanks for the good wishes.[:)].  It will be our first trip to the local hospital so it could all be a bit traumatic and end in tears - not sure whether for me or my OH who has to help me get around. I had to look up roturle and couldn't find it - but quotidienne suggested rotule and the penny dropped.[:)]

The new form which I completed only had 13 questions and didn't have a number so this is either different or they have 'enhanced' the version which I had. The date thing is very confusing[8-)]. I moved in June 2007 and have not spent more than 2 weeks in the UK since.

Merci beaucoup Clair.[:)]  I knew you would come to the rescue.[:D]

I am writing a note for a visit to a consultant tomorrow. It is my first visit and I don't know if he speaks English.  My French is poor and I am using google translate to construct the note. Sometimes I can adjust the English to give what looks like a better French translation but sometimes I'm not sure. I am trying to write: I cannot climb steps or stairs because my left leg hurts if I try to put weight on it. google translate is giving me: Je ne peux pas monter des escaliers ou parce que ma jambe gauche fait mal si je tente de mettre le poids sur celle-ci. It doesn't look right but I'm not sure how to fix it. Help please.[:)]

This post is being written to provide some information for anyone who receives the new form (mentioned in previous posts) from the DWP for completion. I hope it doesn't add to the confusion.[:)] One of the questions on the form reads ' Are you going to be living in the same household with a member of your family (a spouse, civil partner, parent on whom you are dependent)? If the answer is no, do not answer any more questions.' I wondered what type of dependency they were referring to. I assumed it would be either financial or for care and as my answer would be different depending on which it was, I emailed the exportability team with a query. This was the response: Dear ........... (name removed) Thank yu for your e mail.The "dependency " section only relates to the "parent" category, and will normally mean financial dependence(usually in the case of a minor, which would be the normal situation) or less often in the case of an adult dependent on their parents, who would usually not have worked DLA/AA Exportability Team How one was supposed to know that this related to parent/child dependency I don't know but after receiving this response I just answered 'no' to the question. Edit: sorry about the changing fonts etc - not intentional.

Sorry, posted at the same time. Didn't realise you were a new claimant Benjamin.

Yes, Tony has a good point. I think a lot must hinge on their intepretation of 'the date on which your entitlement to benefit can be established'. I have been resident in France from 28/6/7 and my benefit has been reinstated.

Tina, how disheartening just when thing seemed to be picking up. That really is a strange response to your enquiries. I can see that I can count myself lucky to have had my claim resolved so painlessly. I hope things improve soon.

Hi Tina, Yes, I wondered if they had swapped it for some reason but I am under 65 so wouldn't be eligible  for AA. Also I only qualify for the lowest care component (would have had higher mobility[:(]) so the amounts are not compatible. At present I suspect it is just a simple mistake. I am not querying the award and am very happy with the result I have had from the DWP exportability team, I just hope this isn't going to turn into something more complicated than it is. I just want the Pension service to reissue the payment letter mentioning the correct benefit. If I don't hear from them in the next few days I will try writing.

And now I have had a letter informing me that a payment has been made to my bank account. There is one minor hiccup.[:(]. The letter states that the payment is for Attendance Allowance which is of course wrong. My award letter came from the DWP in Blackpool, the payment letter has come from the Pension Service in Newcastle. I'm not sure how much the error matters as I believe the amount paid is correct. However I thought it better to be safe and have phoned the number given. After going through the now standard id rigmarole (husbands make sure you know the date of your wedding including year [:)]), the very helpful advisor told me I had the wrong department and is going to ask the right department (I'm not sure who that will be) to ring me back. I think this error has occurred because I asked for the payment to be made with my pension - it seemed the easiest way - and these are two different departments. Somewhere along the way the DLA has been transformed into AA.

[quote user="lorna"] The letter says that I am entitled from 28/6/7 which I am assuming means that I will get it backdated. I hadn't received anything last time I checked my bank account. I'll let you know when I do. The letter didn't say anything about when payments would start again. [/quote] I have just checked my bank account and an anonymous credit has appeared dated yesterday. The amount is very close to what I had calculated would be my backdated care component. [:D]

[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"] Well done Lorna. Gardian, I think the reason they could deal with Lorna so quickly is that she would still have been live on the computer.  The period between her move and her new claim was under 14 months so they had all her information available. It's only the people who had a lapse of 14 months between ending their last claim and their new claim that now seem to be caught in the log-jam. There are some interesting updates on the campaign site, which can be accessed through the Facebook site mentioned above. [/quote] Thanks Tony.  Yes as you say I just got my claim in within the 14 months so maybe that has enabled them to sort me out quickly. I delayed over returning the forms (had a query over one question and then procrastinated) otherwise I might have had a result even faster.

[quote user="Gardian"] Lorna ............ Just to clarify: Do you remember roughly when you returned the forms you mention to DWP? Have they said that you will receive 20 or so months worth of backdated DLA? All the above sounds good: pleasing news & more than promising for all thus affected. [/quote] Hi Gardian, The forms were posted back just before Christmas so probably arrived at the DWP a bit after. The letter I have from them is dated 22nd January so they were pretty quick. We lost ADSL for over a week after one of the storms so I was a bit late posting on the forum. The letter says that I am entitled from 28/6/7 which I am assuming means that I will get it backdated. I hadn't received anything last time I checked my bank account. I'll let you know when I do. The letter didn't say anything about when payments would start again.  

A result for me! I have had a letter from the DWP telling me that I am now entitled to the care component of the DLA. The entitlement is from 28/6/7 which is the date of our move to France. I wrote to them last July after reading through this thread. My request was followed by an acknowledgment and then a couple of forms to complete. Thank-you to all those who provided information here. I don't know whether the benefit would have been reinstated without actually claiming for it. Best wishes to all those who are still pursuing their claims. I hope they are resolved satisfactorily.

Forgive my non-technical reply. There has been good discussion of the various heating methods which you would find by doing a search. Under floor heating can be driven by various methods including geo-thermal, boiler or heat-pump. You need a big garden or a field for geo-thermal. Pipes are laid underground to take the heat from the ground. Our heat pump is outside and looks like an air-conditioning unit. There is another part indoors about the size of a hot-water cylinder. Last year was our first winter here and we discovered we had a partially working ch system. We have under-floor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs (the radiators didn't work). The system was driven by an oldish gas boiler. It was very expensive despite not working very well. During the summer we had a heat pump installed and a new gas boiler and lots of insulation round the visible pipes which passed through a very cold garage. The heat pump part cost 17,000 euros including installation. The heat pump's effectiveness decreases as the outside temperature reduces and at minus a lot may not provide the amount of heat required. MOH checked temperature statistics going back quite a way and decided we would keep a boiler which can supplement the heat pump if it gets very cold. I have read opinions that under-floor heating is the best method. It needs to be done when the house is built so you can do it with a new build. We expect our heat-pump to be a lot cheaper but it will take a good few years to recoup the cost.

Merci!

Temperature due to drop at the weekend. We might get some snow although more likely to the east of us, Alps way. Our department is in Rhône-Alps. I had another look at the thread and I think I've got it now.[:)]

Thanks SD. Also very helpful. Now we have a good idea of what to expect. [:)]

Thanks Ron, that is very helpful. Yes, the tiers payant card was sent from the mutuelle. I think it is something to do with simplifying/expediting payments or reimbursements. I wasn't sure if we handed over money at the pharmacy and then got reimbursed or if showing the various cards meant we didn't have to pay ourselves. I have no idea how much the various medecines might cost. We don't keep a lot of money in our current account and move money over from the savings account when we need to. The French seem to be very efficient with their banking. MOH paid for our heat pump installation with a cheque and the money was taken from our account the same day!