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Sunday Driver

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  1. [quote user="AnOther"]The proper 'procedure' for exporting a car from UK for instance is to surrender the V5 in exchange for a certificate of permanent export but every single one of us who have successfully registered cars with the V5, the vast majority I would suggest, is testament the real world value of that. No, the proper 'procedure' for exporting a car from the UK is to complete the notification of export slip, send it off to the DVLA and retain the rest of the V5C for registration in France. Every single one of us who has successfully registered their car with the V5C have simply followed the 'real world' correct procedure. If you take a French registered car back to the UK there is 'procedure' and form for that but in the real world you can simply drive it there and present yourself at a DVLA office the next and register it with nothing more than the carte grise, a C of C perhaps, an MOT, and a cheque book. The lack of the French forms will in no way hamper or impede that. No you can't.  If the car is less than ten years old, then in the 'real world' you are required to provide the UK Vehicle Certification Agency with evidence that the vehicle has been modified to comply with UK Construction and Use regulations so that you can obtain the necessary Mutual Recognition Certificate that the DVLA require before they will register the vehicle. As you appear to demonstrate little understanding of the UK procedures, your comments about Spanish procedures are likely to be far less reliable than that of Nomoss....[8-)] [/quote]
  2. Having lived here in Deux Sèvres for almost eight years, the time has come for us to move on for a new adventure. First step was to put the house up for sale so a couple of weeks ago, I organised all the diagnostics and briefed our notaire.  Rather than instruct an immo in the first instance, I thought I'd chance my arm and try an advert on trusty leBonCoin.  Within five days, we had three viewings and a sale.  Compromis signed at the notaire's office two days later and we move out in three weeks time.  All our neighbours and friends are astounded that we managed to sell the house so quickly - got to be a record! We got an excellent price for the house and land and our total selling costs were 15€ for the leBonCoin ad and 500€ for the diagnostics.  No immo involved in the sale, therefore no agent's fees for the buyers to pay so they're chuffed as well. Our déchetterie is now on red alert for all the hoarded junk lurking in the sous-sol and my mate at the local motorbike shop has offered to bring his van around to help me shift it.  Once that's done, there's just the utilities to cancel then we're on the road.........  
  3. Quels sont les documents à avoir sur soi quand on conduit?    
  4. HSD If your Jag was built after 1998, then it qualifies for an EU certificate of conformity which you can obtain from Jaguar UK, if not free of charge then probably cheaper than through Jaguar France. Contact number for Jaguar Owner Support is 0845 303 2303    
  5. Go to YouTube Type in Bricolage Help yourself to loads of bricolage videos.    
  6. I've spent the last few weeks chasing up Bernard my friendly local menuisier for a devis for the replacement of my roof facia chevrons (which I reckoned would set me back a couple of thousand euros) and I eventually managed to pin him down this afternoon.  He was very apologetic about the delay and asked his office manager to sort it out for me whilst we sat down for a coffee and a general chat.  When the office manager came back in and handed me the envelope containing the devis, Bernard said "Don't worry, it's not dix mille euros".  I joked "I hope you mean it's only deux mille euros" to which he replied "We've done better than that - have a look".  Ripped open the envelope - 1,200€.  He even gave me a very expensive looking hi-tech company pen to sign it and keep as a souvenir.... Having got that lot nicely sorted out, it was off to my Mercedes garage to ask them to investigate a noisy squeek which has developed on the front suspension.  Turns out it's a ball joint which (as you might guess) is an integral part of the complete steering arm - which is going to cost me 480€ to replace. At that point, Ivan the service manager wandered in to say hello, glanced over the receptionist's shoulder at the quote and said "Hang on, I think we can get that down a bit for you, give me five minutes".  True enough, five minutes later, the reception printer churned out a fresh devis - with 100€ knocked off the price.... I love French customer service......[:D]    
  7. [quote user="powerdesal"]BAF, Interesting, that's two opposing responses. ''Caravan insurance in France is relatively cheap. Fully comp insurance is around the 200€ mark''..................????????????????????????? We were quoted approx Euro 675 for fully comp caravan insurance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would really really appreciate further info on where I can get fully comp cheaper.[/quote] Steve To answer your question, I'm insured with MAAF for both my car and my Eriba caravan. The car insurance includes third party cover for caravans/trailers under 750kg so it covers my 500kg motorbike trailer.  The Eriba has a PTAC of 1100kg so it requires its own separate insurance cover. MAAF caravan/trailer insurance offers a range of guarantees from simple third party up to tous risques. My caravan cover is tous risques which includes responsibilité civil, vol (including where a buyer gives me a dud cheque), incendie/explosion, tempete/ouragan, catastrophes naturelles, tiers collision and brise de glace.  Guaranteed loss value 10,000€, franchise 200€ Personal contents cover (option) up to 382€, franchise 76€ Annual premium 145€ TTC. Hope this helps.    
  8. DEKRA are a controle technique outfit.  I think you're confusing them with DREAL.....[;-)]    
  9. We're all familiar with the typical telesales call where they instantly launch into a sales script in high speed French jabber leaving you little opportunity to interject with a 'No thanks, I'm not interested in double glazing/solar panels/taking part in a survey to win a free kitchen'.  Well, this morning, I had a call from one of the sales girls at my bank and as soon as we'd got the introductions out of the way, she mentioned that she knew a 'leetle beet of eengleesh' and would I mind if she had a go at continuing the call in English. As I wasn't busy and she sounded keen, I said OK. Now, I rarely come across French people who want to speak to me in English and when I do, I find myself having to consciously adjust from automatically thinking and speaking in French.  In the case of my brave bank girl, she did struggle a bit, so I was also having to formulate my replies into simple English so as to help her understand what I was saying.  After a while, I found myself lapsing into French which, on reflection, might have seemed a bit impolite.  Is it just me or has anyone else experienced this?    
  10. There's a freeware program called DVDFlick that will convert avi files to DVD format and burn them to disk.  Simple to use, although it does take a long time to run through the process. http://www.dvdflick.net/    
  11. [quote user="AnOther"]I bow to your experience Andy although I was really referring to validity for shopping which is probably more relevant to most rather than air travel. I also remain skeptical that the average supermarket in France would accept a UK driving licence bearing it's UK address as a valid form of ID when paying by French cheque or credit card. That said I can't actually recall in my 5 years here ever once having had to show any ID when out  shopping [/quote] When a supermarket asks for ID, all they want is proof that you are who you say you are.  A French driving licence is a valid form of ID and a UK photocard driving licence serves the same purpose. The address shown on a driving licence has nothing to do with identity (it doesn't even have to be up to date) therefore it's of no interest to the supermarket....[;-)]    
  12. Driving licence categories are standardised throughout the EU. If you exchange your UK licence for a French one, all your existing categories are transferrable to the new licence.  Some categories, eg C1 (trucks up to 7.5 tonnes) require a medical in order to be transferred, but if you no longer drive those types of vehicle, you can simply tell the prefecture and they'll omit them therefore no necessity for a medical. If your nephew has a 'standard' UK licence, ie category B, then that covers him for driving cars and vans up to 3500kg. If you already have the 'E' category for towing large trailers, then you don't have to take a test in France. If you do not have any categories that require a periodic medical, then you don't require one when you reach 70 - either in France or in the UK......    
  13. I think the misconception that breakdown cover is a charged for extra with French insurance which only gets your broken down car dumped at the nearest garage has been well and truly clarified.....[;-)]    
  14. Here's another example of French insurance breakdown cover...... My insurer (MAAF) includes a comprehensive worldwide assistance package as part of their standard toutes risques motor policy. - Recovery of broken down vehicle to nearest garage.  Transport of occupants to home or to hotel.  Return transport to garage to collect car once repaired. - Up to five days hotel accommodation for all the vehicle occupants at up to 50€ per person per day. - In the case of injury or illness, payment of medical fees, repatriation costs (including the body in the event of death) - Provision of a driver to get the vehicle and occupants back home in the event the owner is incapacitated and no-one else can drive. - Repatration of damaged write-off vehicle from abroad if judged to be economically repairable in France. All included in the standard policy at no extra charge.   Compare this with what the AA have to offer: National Recovery Option (Relay):  You, you car and passengers transported to the destination of your choice if it can't be repaired at the roadside. Applies to UK only. Onward Travel Option:  Hire car for up to three days, or overnight hotel stay or return home by public transport. European cover not included but available at extra cost. Total cost of these options - £101 per year......[;-)]    
  15. Your notaire has referred the sale to SAFER which is a non-profit making organisation charged with ensuring the ongoing viablility of local agriculture. If there is a local farmer who would benefit from owning the land you are looking to buy, then SAFER have the right of pre-emption giving them first dibs on the land which they will then offer to the farmer.  Not all referrals result in a pre-emption and your notaire can have the SAFER decision expressed by payment of a small fee. http://www.safer.fr/ Edit:  Snap.....[:)]    
  16. Under French law, the only "éventuels défauts" that you would be liable for are those which come to light after the sale and which render the caravan unfit for the use for which it was intended or so diminish such use that, had the buyer been aware of them at the time, he would not have bought the caravan from you or would have paid a lesser price for it.  In other words, serious defects such as damage to the van's structure due to water ingress or a rotten chassis which were not apparent to the buyer at the time of sale. Minor defects such as a broken tap would not fall within the scope of your liability. If you were aware of such a serious defect and failed to disclose it to the buyer, then he has the right to return the caravan and obtain his money back together with damages and interest. If you were not aware of the defect, then you are still liable - unless you stipulate that you not offer a guarantee. To do this, you draw up a simple Contrat de Vente setting out details of the parties, details of the caravan, price, method of payment etc and include a statement of non-guarantee: Monsieur .............(the buyer) déclare avoir examiné en détail cette caravane, avoir constaté qu’elle est en bon état extérieur (pneus, carrosserie, etc.) et intérieur et qu’elle est en bon état de marche. Il renonce à exercer à l’encontre de Monsieur…...... (you the seller) toute action quelle qu’en soit la nature, et même celle qui serait fondée sur un vice caché non connu du vendeur. Print out two copies which you both sign as 'Lu et approuvé'.  The caravan is then 'sold as seen'.......[;-)]    
  17. John is referring to the IT convention (NOEMIE) that top-up insurers sign up to with the caisses. Under the convention, the caisse automatically transmits details of the patient contribution to the top-up insurer who then process their reimbursement without requiring a separate paper based claim from the patient. You can check whether your top-up is a signatory here: List of organisations signed up under a NOEMIE convention (2011)    
  18. As mentioned in my opening post, CSG/CRDS have always been chargeable on foreign pensions where people are 'a la charge d'un régime obligatoire d'assurance maladie' - ie, early retirees paying for their state health insurance through contributions for couverture maladie universelle or through employee contributions.  The only change is that up until now, only CRDS was collected by the tax office but from now on, they will be collecting CSG as well.  People who are registered under an S form and pay nothing towards their state health insurance and those with private health insurance remain exempt from CSG/CRDS altogether, so nothing changes for them. For those who are 'a la charge' and therefore liable to CSG/CRDS, here is how it now works (figures based on a couple): The charging rate which applies to your 2011 income (which you're declaring now) is based on your 2009 revenu fiscal de référence as it appears on your 2010 tax bill. If the RFR was below 15,150€, you are exempt from CSG/CRDS (so you leave the tax form boxes blank). If the RFR was over 15,150€, but your 2010 tax bill was under 61€, you pay 3.8% CSG and 0.5% CRDS (you complete box 8TX and box 8TL) If the RFR was over 15,150€ and your 2010 tax bill was over 61€, you pay 6.6% CSG and 0.5% CRDS (you complete box 8TV and box 8TL) Simple innit....[;-)]    
  19. [quote user="madds"] .......since found out that entries in the service record and indications under the bonnet concerning maintenance work done are not true. I have contacted the previous owners who have confirmed my suspicions. [/quote] Falsifying a vehicle's service record to dishonestly induce a buyer to believe that maintenance work has been carried out is fraud. If you have evidence that your seller is responsible for the falsification, then confront him with it and demand that he takes the car back and refunds your money otherwise you will report the matter to the gendarmerie.  On the other hand, if you'd prefer to keep the car, then you could invite him to pay for the fictitous maintenance work to be 're-done' thereby removing the need to involve the law......    
  20. Véolia Eaux service in Morbihan:  08 11 90 29 02 May not have English speakers available, but if you know enough French to e-mail them about the problem......[;-)]    
  21. "On the body of the certificate de immatriculation I write vendu le followed by date` of sale and my signature. Does the document need to be struck through like we'd cross a cheque?" Yes. Everything else you mention is correct. Finally, if the vehicle is more than four years old, you'll need to provide the buyer with a controle technique certificate dated no earlier than six months ago.     
  22. You could always get this lot to sort things out for you.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic0tJypuIk8    
  23. Your French driving licence doesn't actually expire - only your category C entitlement. The application to renew a category forms part of the medical certificate issued by the examining doctor.  You will need fresh photos.    
  24. That Consulate web page is the one they issued at the time of the 2007 health insurance upheaval when existing CMU'ers were given six months before being kicked out of the system. Everyone can go back to sleep now..........[8-)]    
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