Daft Doctor
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Posts posted by Daft Doctor
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Thanks again Gardener, all very logical. How old were your children when they started french school? Any other tips to help the settling in process?
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Hi, I have to pay 12 euros TVA to the impots through my french leaseback activities. I am going to send a cheque with my TVA return (Form 3517-S). Do I make it out to Tresor Public, and do I cross it with any inscription? Advice gratefully received.
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Thanks Gardener, those are both important issues which I hadn't considered. April it shall be then!
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Hi, I have a little dilemna, and while I know there isn't a right answer for every school and every circumstance, I thought you kind people out there might have a view based on knowledge and experience of the French school system.We are emigrating to France next year. We could go in April, but for a few reasons I won't bore you with, July may be more practical. If we go in April, my 9 year old would join CM1 for the summer term, then join CM2 for the full year, then (as long as he doesn't redouble CM2) go on to college. If we go in July, he would start in CM2 so would miss a term of French primary school education, but would finish off his school year in the UK.I wondered if anyone has a view of how important from an educational and language point of view to my son this summer term in CM1 might be, as opposed to the benefits of starting a new school year afresh in CM2? He will be getting private face to face tuition in French for at least 6 months before we go, but obviously language will be a major challenge.I know the obvious answer is the earlier he starts the better, but I don't know how the school curriculum is organised and whether joining for the last term would be extra difficult. As I said a July move has other practical benefits for us but how soon and how easily my son settles in to his new life is of course vitally important. I'm just trying to guage the pro's and con's of each option. Thanks in advance
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Its interesting that in the UK budget statement which I perused on HM Treasury's website last week, the OBRs central economic forecast gave a predicted £/euro exchange rate of 1.16 for years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, then 1.15 for 2015-16. Nothing resembling £1.20 but nothing resembling parity either. As usual isn't it just the case that que sera sera and nobody really has a clue?
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And I feel I made mine
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What some people don't always understand is that sadly not every symptom has a diagnosis and it is a fact that just because an illness is not terminal doesn't mean it is curable. There is also a big difference between 'no identifiable cause' and hypochondriasis and the OP may well fall into the former category. It is easy for sufferers of such symptoms to criticise the (often many) GPs and specialists involved in their care as incompetent or uncaring, when in fact they are simply reflecting the current state of our medical knowledge and expertise. Without wanting to sound harsh, I have a feeling that the situation for the OP would be the same wherever in the world he went for care, and he would carry on spending either his own or tax payers money in the meantime.
I agree that the NHS isn't perfect but in general serves the truly ill extremely well, and I echo the supportive comments given above. As for private treatment, don't be fooled into thinking that you will get superior care just because you (or an insurer) is paying for it. The amount of appraisal and quality monitoring in private practice is almost non-existant, vastly different from the hoops we GPs and NHS specialists have to jump through just to keep practicing. In private medicine you are just as likely to hand your money over to a retired NHS specialist who hasn't picked up a book for years, just in it to supplement his pension and his grandchildren's private school fees. Tread carefully!
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Anyway, it looks as though my initial estimate of £5k per year will not be far off, probably more like £6k+ once our 9 year old is added in. As an aside though, surely it puts you in a stronger position if you can show that you have bought the most comprehensive policy available on the market, albeit it is no guarantee it would satisfy the authorities?
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What I really cannot understand about all this is why, when the French government has set out its requirements for private health insurance for early retiring 'inactifs' quite clearly as per the links in Coops post, does no insurance company simply look at that and create a policy (at whatever cost to the client) which fits those requirements. I realise that the requirements may be exacting and that may be why companies are reluctant to make any guarantees in that respect, but they would probably clear up the market if they simply said 'our opinion is that this policy meets the requirements of Article L321-1 of the French Legal Code regarding private health insurance requirements for residents in France who do not qualify for entry into the French health system'.
Are there no forum members with big-wig insurance connections who can point this out?
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Thanks, that doesn't sound too bad. My OH is early 40's and I am early 50's and we both have clean past medical histories (at present). I had a ball park figure of £5k per annum in my head for us and our 9 year old, so it might turn out to be a little less.
Not sure if you intend to use the 5 year residency rule to access the system later on in France, but if you haven't done so already it might be worth checking that just taking the core plan would satisfy the French government that you have adequate health insurance cover to make the residency 'legal'. Can't see why not, but it would be an important point for us to clarify when the time comes. Thanks again.
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Hi idun, I think your comments are entirely in keeping with the sentiments I have expressed. I have also taken note of your comments and experience re French TV and as said earlier in the thread will certainly use it as a learning tool.
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Hi, do you mind me asking what sort of premiums they were quoting and for what ages? Its likely we will need 3 or more years of full health insurance at the back end of our (hopefully) 5 years of residency before we can get access to the French health system, so any current info would be useful. Thanks
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Powerdesal, what I meant by my comments was that contrary to idun's concerns regarding our desire to have the ability to watch our favourite TV progs as and when we feel like it, we are not going to France with the intention of walling ourselves off in a little English castle and to expect the French to accept that we can't string a few words of French together, that we shouldn't have to and that we don't want to. Its each to his own of course, but an opinion widely expressed at least on this forum that English immigrants in France do better if they make an effort to learn the language and take an interest in the community and country they have chosen to be their home. I merely meant that we too would want to embrace that concept if possible.
As for friends and neighbours, I couldn't agree more that no-one should feel obliged to be more than courteous with anyone, let alone be in and out of each others houses all the time and poking their noses into each others business just to try to make the 'right impression'. I have spent all of my professional life putting on an act of being interested in everyone and their problems (whether I like them or not and whether I am indeed interested or not), and I don't want to have that in retirement! I will make the aquaintances and (hopefully - eventually) friends that I want in my own time and in a natural manner. I don't give a stuff if they're French or English (or any other nationality for that matter), it matters only that I like them. And yes, we have a son to think about and he will make friends and they will have parents who we may talk to at the school gates and get to know and so on, so we do indeed need to try to make an effort.
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Yes, good idea tinabee! If and when we sell our house we will be moving into rented accommodation pending our move over the channel. At that point we could just say we are moving into our student house (Sky don't know who lives there) and ask Sky to transfer our account (includes multiroom and a second Sky+ box already) to that property, incorporating the broadband package already on the student house. The students can have the second Sky+ box and will in the process be upgraded for free to our better TV package. As our own Sky+ HD and Sky+ boxes have both been connected for more than a year and as no new equipment or subscription they quite possibly wouldn't insist on landline connection. Definitely worth consideration.
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Thanks very much for the info. Sky's website still states that new boxes must be connected to a fixed landline for 12 months, but I have heard that policing it is almost impossible and I also concur that not everyone will want a fixed line or have a line extended just to plug a box in. It might be worth simply calling their bluff on that one and upgrade my student house package just before we head out. Any further insight or direct experiences on the Sky thing most appreciated.
idun, for what its worth and although I appreciate your right to an opinion, our intention as a family is to integrate as fully as possible into french life, culture and language. For my wife, my 9 year old and myself however there will be lots of challenges, setbacks and frustrations to overcome. In those difficult times, when it would be easy to become morose, homesick and despondent, perhaps being able to relax and watch a favourite programme or two in English (including Newcastle United - though perhaps not so relaxing) in the privacy of our own home is something that will help lift spirits and I certainly will not feel guilty about it. We will also put french news (particularly useful as it is usually repeated in a loop of stories and the presenters should speak without much of an accent) and other french TV channels (and radio) on regularly to help us all with learning the language, something which we have already started and consider a priority before and after we arrive in France. No doubt over time as we gain the necessary language skills we will appreciate more and more french TV and its nuiances and feel less inclined to watch Sky, but I don't see what's wrong with having as wide a choice as possible, at least at the outset.
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Hi, just trying to plot the best way for to 'take' our full sky package with us when we move to France next year (the property we are renting initially has a dish and basic 'card free' sky already). I know that to keep our package going (unofficially) we will need to use a paired HD box and card and maintain our existing subscription from a UK address. I don't unfortunately know of anyone in the UK who hasn't already got sky, so adopting a relative's address may not be an option (I presume Sky would pick up that there were 2 subscriptions for the same household?). I am unsure what else to do. I could upgrade the basic subscription I already have for a house that I let out to students, get a new HD box and card using multiroom and then take the extra box and card to France. What I don't know is whether Sky still insist on having any new equipment plugged into a phone line for a year after installation. I thought I'd read somewhere that this is no longer obligatory, but does anyone know for sure? If not, I could simply get new or existing equipment installed at my let property, promptly remove it and take it to France, problem solved. If it does need connecting to a phone line for a year it will be more tricky. Any insights or other ideas most welcome.
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Hi, just thought I'd pass on some info after my first experience of withdrawing cash with my Halifax Clarity Card. For those who don't already know this is a credit card which doesn't charge cash withdrawal fees and uses market exchange rates with no loading. It does however charge interest on cash withdrawals, and the quoted AER is 12.9% (unless you have a dodgy credit rating).Well, I withdrew 300 euros in Austria in February and the exchage rate used was about 1.19 euros/£ which was about interbank rate on the day. As soon as I got back to the UK I made a direct transfer from Lloyds by BACS to clear the balance. When I got my statement through today, I have only been charged £0.68 interest for the transaction, which equates to approximately 0.25%. With no other charges for the withdrawal it represents fantastic value.Being a credit card you cannot maintain a positive balance, but it seems that if you pay off the withdrawals directly and as soon as possible (instead of waiting til the statement says so or the direct debit kicks in) the interest charged is minimal. Good news!
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Hi Knee gel, the only exception to what you have said is that if the lesion was a specific type of skin cancer known as a Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) it never spreads beyond the local skin and is not therefore life threatening. There is not therefore such a panic about having those lesions treated urgently, even though they are cancerous. Having said that, BCCs usually occur on the face and its much more likely that your friend is indeed risking his life by delaying treatment. Maybe his wife would know specifically what the lesion is, if its a BCC you can relax, if not keep at him!
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Hi, just to let interested parties know that Easyjet released its winter schedule from most UK airports earlier this week. The usual fanfare email hasn't arrived yet, so as the release is more than 2 months earlier than last year, not many will be aware so there is an opportunity to get the cheapest seats for any winter breaks, ski trips in France, etc. Just booked our flights from Newcastle to Geneva for New Years Eve, makes the next exploits on the white stuff seem that much closer!
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Thanks, that is just what I was after
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Hi, we are thinking of renting a furnished house in France for 9 months next year while we settle in after what we hope will be a permanent move. The owners of the property in question are fellow brits who are UK resident, and they wouldn't be using an agent. I assume we will need a french rental agreement valid under french law, but does anyone please know any websites from which suitable templates can be downloaded, or any other source for such documents? Many thanks for any guidance offered.
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No offence meant, but then again I was just referring to my own situation. If it floats your boat at any age to make such a move then do it of course. I merely meant that as a keen skier, climber. cyclist and walker, it is much easier for me to make the most of the opportunity whilst relatively young and (touch wood) fit and healthy.Certainly no ageism intended!
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For what its worth, from a medical standpoint, I don't think coughing in those cicumstances would do any harm but neither would it be likely to do any good.I can understand the notion that by coughing you can increase pressure inside the chest and in theory compress the heart, but the increased pressure is unlikely to be anything near enough to forcibly circulate blood to the lungs and brain. Secondly, the increased pressure would be manifest throughout the chest cavity, not localised to the heart itself, so there would also be increased pressure on the blood vessels as they leave the heart for the brain and lungs. This would neutralise the effects that any pressure on the heart would have in encouraging blood flow away from the heart. Direct cardiac compressions, as performed during cardiac ressuscitation on the other hand provide much greater and more direct pressure on the heart itself, driving blood away to the vital organs. I concur absolutely that ringing 999 and chewing an Aspirin are the best first aid measures if there is no-one there to help.
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Yep, you're right AnO, seems that as long as an account at N&P is open before you leave the UK there is no problem. Thanks for the info.
TVA - Who should I make out the cheque to?
in French Finance
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