annie

What about speaking to the mairie? Awful situation and obviously awful person. Fingers crossed for you. Annie

You could say the french in the UK are swapping their contributions for ours..but of course we can't say that anymore as the posts were moved and UK now score own goals.  Right or wrong, we have to pay if we choose to move. We all choose (but it's ok to gripe now and again, makes us all feel better doesn't it?) 

[quote user="Boiling a frog"]Maybe someone can answer this question. French gendarmes and Police retire at the age of  55 I believe, French train drivers retire at the age of 52 ,both compulsory. Does the French system give them an E121 if they chose to move to Spain or any other EU country, ?   [/quote] But if they buy or rent a property in the UK to live in on a permanent basis, they qualify as residents.

Oh yes, sounds tickerty to me, especially as I bet your place is lovely and finished! We have a couple of years hard graft. Fancy a building party in 56 in 2010?

Good grief, what a load of hassle!! Perhaps it will be a big fat 'non merci' to FT and direct debits in future. I do unfortunately, pay my tax F and tax H by DD because I did not want to be in a position where they weren't paid, ie cheque lost in the post or postal strike blah blah. Especially whilst still in England. I can only agree about the info and expertise on the forum. I have picked up so much from this. Even when the info is a point of view rather than factual.

Could only thank heaven that it WAS SFR and not FT as that would have been yet another lot of many euros stolen by this disreputable company.  If I were French, I'd petition for this company to be forced to stop using the word "France" in their name. Cricky S17 - Why disreputable? Is there something I should know before deciding which company to use next Spring when I move? (may be this is on another thread - let me know if so. Ta)

We are in 56. Bought as a holiday home originally, which was the main factor on choice of area - proximity to UK. We are happy with area but would have looked further a field had we known we would make it full time. I am a bit of a sunshine freak; we both are, so we may end up moving further south eventually. Not S of F necessarily, but somewhere around west/southwest coast. Sunshine in the summer and rugby in the winter. Perfect!

SD - Thank you for the info - he is staying with us in UK atm and is on a fact finding mission. S17 - Wish he was a Millionaire :) My OH is an only child!!!!!! No, just a regular FIL but he does have a private pension as well as OAP state, so lives quite well. He doesn't like to be short though as he enjoys good wine and good food. It is good news about the tax situation though as it all helps. We want him to come over because he is a widower now and although he has lots of friends, we are his only family. (Anyway, he can help me with my veggie growing and advise on wine! Not that I want him around for selfish reasons or anything!)

Hello Fi We have always had dogs and had the largest male golden retriever the world has ever seen when our daughter was born. We too have always made sure our dogs are aware that we are the leaders, not them and consequently have never had a problem. The retriever was amazing with our daughter. She got knocked over a few times when she was primary school age but there were no problems. If you consider a lab, remember that brown labs, although lovely, are nothing like yellow and are mad and bouncy (probably a bit like your springer in younger days!) I concur with the comment regarding younger and much older dogs together - only found that out recently. Our old flat coat likes a bit of peace away from our other 18 month old dog. Incidently,I was always a bit of a dog snob too, always had larger (mostly gun) dogs. Most recent dog, after much cajoling by OH; Jack Russell. What a fab choice. Little s***. Certainly not a small dog, and good ratter. I don't suggest one for your son necessarily but it changed my idea about Jacks as small (yuk) dogs. Took some training though! Good luck

Thank you, We are very much looking forward to it, and we think my father in law will too. He will take out top up but it may take him a while to research - mind you, I've told him to get on with it because he can quibble somewhat, and, as I have told him, whatever he decides is fine, because I worship the ground that is coming to him! I agree with you, even though I'm a bit of a risk taker with some things, I want peace of mind where our health care is concerned. I know of someone still using EHIC after a number of years in France! V risky.     

Re Father in law.. I was under the impression he would need top up even though he is state retirement age? He will live in his own place (I would strangle him within hours if he lived with us, and vice versa probably) Just a small 2 bed with small garden.

S17 It worked. Better I hope.

I am only at the architect stage atm but it will be renovation not new build. My French is still limited to picking the bones from text so I translated the text you initially referred to, hence didn't look thr rest. Thank you though, I will bookmark and look later.

Under this exemption of tax, does a property classifiy as new build in the same way one would be so classified under renovation, for the purposes of capital gains when sold? ie more than 60% of flooring altered/extended and so on. Or literally, new from ground upwards? Annie

I've just looked at the web site mentioned earlier (swotting up ready for a proposed move in April) Wow, I was aware we would have to pay PHI but along with so called social charges, I'm not sure our money is going to go very far at all! My father in law wants to move over too but he is concerned because he will have to take out PHI to top up his pension (+65) and atm doesn't pay for anything. I thought that it would balance out with what he saves in council tax payments and utilities etc here. Social charges - which sound much higher than I believed, etc possibly change the situation totally.

Oh to be idle and asset-rich? I'll just have to settle for idle. x

Thank you for the postings here. There are some things I hadn't considered. Yes Dexter, I am retired (early) and OH has just less than 12 months to do. I plan to move out in April to get the ball rolling with internet, garden, site clearing etc etc. OH will then come over Sept 2010. Looking at the above we will qualify under E106 for cover as he has paid NI for the term. I suppose registering asap when I get there is the way forward, with cover under OH as a worker in the UK, until Sept. I will just have to hope I can find a top up which isn't going to leave me stoney. ( Can I hear you long term ex pats sniggering here????) I do understand that NHS in UK is based solely on residency not tax payments. As for my friends electing to pay taxes in France? Reading the reponses I can only think they have been mis-informed. They certainly think it will give them basic CMU cover.    

Just been reading the site. Is type 2 diabetes covered under ALD for continued medication? If so, does that mean he wouldn't have to pay for his medication for this?

Thanks for that, very helpful. Should be able to answer all his questions, cantankerous ol sod!

They have us over a proverbial then. I know it is a matter of residency in the UK, not tax but it doesn't sit well. However, having said all that, we still want the life in France and so have to accept the system. I am doing my best to make sure we don't fall foul of the system, pay what we must pay etc. Rather more in depth than I first thought though!!!!!! I know we are entitled to E106 for up to 2 1/2 years and can pay 8% of our household income after 5 years for CMU but what is the 7.1% social charge for and when do we start paying that? Is that just a household tax not connected to CMU? I'm blonde when the need arises.  

We are moving full time next year and my father-in-law wants to join us. He is concerned as to what he will have to pay for regarding health care as he takes medication for a number of ailments. Would anyone be able to clarify his entitlement as a state pensioner please. Is he allowed basic CMU cover if he is a perminant resident in France?    Regards Annie

My OH and I are moving to France next year. We will both have pensions as retired Police officers and know we have to pay into the French system. We choose to come and appreciate what has been said. Equally, I understand why Bob is so frustrated. We will always have to pay tax in the UK on our pensions but will receive nothing in return. Friends have elected to pay the tax on their (private) pensions in France to allow them basic cover under CMU. We would choose to do this but are not allowed and have to continue to pay into a system where we are to recieve nothing in return. Yes, it is our choice to move to France and we want to contribute to the French system. I appreciate some people may think service employees are over paid and the pension scheme is a gift. There are always some who do not deserve their pay, in any organisation. I will however say this, we have worked in the sewers of the land for much of our service, dealing with the stuff of nightmares. My OH in particular (as others I know) deserves every penny of the pension he paid 11% of his wages into every month of his service. For those years we paid into a system and agreeably so. Now we wish to move to a different system, and contribute, as we should, to that system. One must ignore the title of the job and look at the situation.