Back to Basics

[runningdog]

Hi - I'm sure that this will bore the established Englisg dwellers in France to bits but, based on the following information, would one of you compile a list of what I must / should do prior to the move.

• We are about three weeks into the buying and selling.  We have sold our place in UK and agreed a purchase price for a house in the Vendee near Challans.  All is with solicitor / notaire now and we have not signed intitial contracts as yet.
• I am retired [post 65] and my wife is not, does not work and we have no plans for her to do so in France.
• Our income from my State Pension and a small private one is around €1,600 per month.
• Initially we intend keeping our r/h/d Peugeot until we are well settled.
• Broadband and Satellite TV are high on our list.
• We have an English 'agent' acting on our behalf in the Vendee

What I would like some kind person to do is to give me a to do list based upon their own experience.  For example; when do i have to change my car insurance, do I need to set up a French bank account now, health care - [have stents - on medication - got tee shirt].  I'm sure that everything is littered around the forum but i find finding the basics difficult.  Please bear with me.

[Pads]

 

Hello and welcome

Cant help you with cars or health as I havnt had to deal with them yet , but you will need a bank account , i have given you two web sites one for HSBC who are in france, and very helpful, We choose the societe generale as they were in the town where we wanted our bank to be (although HSBC have now opened one too!!) and out of the ones we visited they were the most helpful.

You will want to set up your utility bill payments and some where to have your uk money sent quite quickly so I would get on this this ASAP. Other people have said on the forums about different things you will need to open a bank account but we found all we needed was our passports and the details of the house we were buying from the estate agents.

Good luck with your new life [:)]

 

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/mortgages/buying-home-abroad

 

http://www.particuliers.societegenerale.fr/

[Bob T]

To stay legal, you will have to start the importation process for your car when you arrive. It should not take too long to get it on French plates. If you then intend to sell it you will either end up selling it for peanuts here, or re-impoting it to the UK to sell it there.

I would say that if you don't intend to keep it long you would be better selling it before you move, rather than bringing it with you and driving it illegally for any period on UK plates.

[plod]

You don't actually say when you are going to move. Are you going to be permanent French residents? If so, you will need to go to the CPAM in your nearest town to arrange to join the French Health system and then you ought to arrange a "top-up" policy (usually with an organisation called a "Mutuelle"). As you are retired you will be covered and your wife will be covered by you, as it were.

[AnOther]

Ditto Pads re car & health but one thing I would say is that if you find the right agent they will normally be willing to help you with stuff like setting up utilities etc. ours did and we were very thankful for it. As Bob says though, get the car done promptly, strictly speaking you have one month from becoming resident do this. If it's a French made car anyway it should be a doddle.

Regarding broadband, if a potential purchase has an existing phone you can check on http://www.degrouptest.com/ what is available.

If it doesn't have a phone be very careful about assuming that you will get what neighbours do because it can turn out quite the reverse. If there are any nearby businesses check out their numbers on the web site. Again not a guarantee but an indication.

If you are within say a couple of miles of a decent size villiage you SHOULD be OK but further out in the sticks it's not uncommon to be on 512 max or even stuck with dialup. If BB is truly important to you do your homework thouroughly as a mistake in this department could sour the whole enjoyment of your house.

Sat TV, if you already have it in UK no problem, just leave your DD in place at the bank and bring your kit with you but you'll probably be better off with a new, slightly bigger dish. Most important rule - if you ever have occasion to call Sky DO NOT tell them you are in France !

Bank account, get referrals from others or go to a local bank, preferrably one where some English is spoken if your French is still at the embryonic stage. All we needed was Passports proof of French address, and some money of course!. The requirements can vary from bank to bank and branch to branch though so when dealing with anything like this in France it pays to make copious copies of absolutely everything and take them everywhere and NEVER EVER hand over originals if you can possibly avoid it.

Another tip, before you leave UK open an account with the Nationwide as they give the best rates for cash withdrawls from ATM's and without fees or charges. Worth doing even if you have no obvious need for it at present, you never know, once you are non UK resident it's too late.

Everything you need to know is here somewhere but I'm sure others will pop up with tips.

Good luck !

[runningdog]

Thanks for that, I shall have to get moving and find out which banks are in the local village!

[runningdog]

Many thanks.  We're taking the car mainly because I feel it better to get my wife driving on the wrong side of the road without being in the wrong side of the car as well.  It has very little value here in the UK either but is a good workhorse, utterly reliable, and I like it - actually this may be because of my perverse nature.

[runningdog]

Don't know when we shall be moving but are hoping for end September - early October.  Yes, we are cutting all ties with UK - my ultimate adventure!  The last sentance was heartening news.

[runningdog]

Yes, I am sure that our agent will do a lot; I just find it difficult to sit still in limboland when I feel that I should be 'doing'.

This house has two phones and broadband at present but assume that that will terminate on present owners departure.  My French is in the 'embryonic' stages and, while there fouind it difficult to make meaningful conversation with present owners and now they are the other side of France house hunting.

No, don't have Satelite tv in UK, we have freeview built into television but feel that we shall need satelite to get some English programmes.

Will take your tip about Nationwide.  Many thanks.

[oakbri]

Hi

For broadband try www.free.fr. The broadband coverage is good and for 29.99 euros a month you get broadband and free landline telephone calls to a huge amount of countries.

As for satellite, there are several companies offering Sky TV. As Sky cannot offer Sky to you in Europe the companies act as middlemen providing Sky with a UK address. You have to pay them a commission but I don't know how much it is. As was stated in a previous post, if Sky find out you are in France they will cut you off. However I read an article recently which said what percentage of Sky's business was to overseas customers and it was considerable so I am sure Sky don't try too hard to weed out the people breaking the rules.

[Ron Avery]

You will not be able to get any healthcare cover without getting an E 121 form from the UK pensions service BEFORE you leave the UK.  Rather than go into details, do a search on E121 and look at the Health section FAQs, all the answers to your questions are there.

[suein56]

[quote user="runningdog"] We're taking the car mainly because I feel it better to get my wife driving on the wrong side of the road without being in the wrong side of the car as well.  It has very little value here in the UK either but is a good workhorse, utterly reliable, and I like it [/quote]

I reregistered onto French plates my ancient ex UK RHD Citroen Saxo as I love it so and find, perhaps because I am also perverse, that I prefer it to a LHD equivalent even after 2 years living here. My car has practically no value anywhere being 11 years old but I really cannot conceive of parting with it and find no problem at all driving it here in France, even with overtaking; though I must admit to overtaking cautiously, but I did that in the UK anyway before coming here.

So, if you love your car then keep it, being French you should have little problem registering it here.

Sue

[Rob Roy]

[quote user="spg"]

[quote user="runningdog"] We're taking the car mainly because I feel it better to get my wife driving on the wrong side of the road without being in the wrong side of the car as well.  It has very little value here in the UK either but is a good workhorse, utterly reliable, and I like it [/quote]

I reregistered onto French plates my ancient ex UK RHD Citroen Saxo as I love it so and find, perhaps because I am also perverse, that I prefer it to a LHD equivalent even after 2 years living here. My car has practically no value anywhere being 11 years old but I really cannot conceive of parting with it and find no problem at all driving it here in France, even with overtaking; though I must admit to overtaking cautiously, but I did that in the UK anyway before coming here.

So, if you love your car then keep it, being French you should have little problem registering it here.

Sue

[/quote]

Horses for courses, but I found it difficult to use a RHD car over here, overtaking in particular being very difficult. You can get such good deals on new cars here I don't think it is worth all the hassle of  bringing a RHD.

[AnOther]

[quote user="runningdog"]I just find it difficult to sit still in limboland when I feel that I should be 'doing'.[/quote]I know the feeling, it's frustrating wanting to get stuck in so to speak but not being able to.

[quote user="runningdog"]This house has two phones and broadband at present but assume that that will terminate on present owners departure.[/quote]Yes and sounds like you're sorted there but do still check, some people's definition of broadband is anything other than dialup! If you know the number(s) what does the web site say ?

[quote user="runningdog"]No, don't have Satelite tv in UK, we have freeview built into television but feel that we shall need satelite to get some English programmes.[/quote]If you're only interested in a few basic channels then the kit you can buy in French supermarkets for very little money, as little as €35 - €50, will pick up some BBC channels and a few others. not totally sure which, have a look in the French Sat TV/Internt sections. Alternatively you could buy a cheap secondhand Sky box in UK which will give you BBC1 & 2 plus ITV or, with a viewing card, (£20 one off fee), you will get CH's 4&5 too.

 

[runningdog]

Im sure that you are probably right about the car but one of the anomalies of human nature is that we seem not to learn from other's experience - we seem bound to make our own mistakes.  Our present car is a 405 diesel estate, we have a largish dog and a folding camper [subtley different from a trailer tent] and hope to explore France frequently while in residence; hence we would need a car of similar size / capacity.  My preferences are for Peugeot / Citroen as they have - in my opinion - the best diesel engines.  another thing is that modern cars while being efficient are extremely complex - I still like the simple models of 10 years ago with little to go wrong.

[runningdog]

Thanks - will do that!

[runningdog]

Thanks for that.  I shall have to find out which banks are in the local village [St Christophe du Ligneron].  I'm with Lloyds at present but it looks as though other UK banks have more of a presence in France.

[runningdog]

All of that is handy to know - I shall look into getting a dish and digbox before leaving.

[Polremy]

Off the main subject slightly. This is for Rob Roy: please can you give me pointers for getting a good deal on a new car here in France! I was under the impression that you just had to pay the standard price. This has been the experience of friends. However, paying the full price for anything really goes against the grain for me so any suggestions would be really welcome. we are thinking of a new Twingo in the near future.

[fussy]

hello just to say I have sent you an e-mail

[fussy]

me again the mail is for runningdog sorry to mis-lead

[Bob T]

I wanted a new Hyundai Tucson 140 bhp diesel last August. I found that the French list price was 29,500 euros. After putting the make of the car into a French search engine and trawling the various sites, I found a couple of dealers around who were offering the car for 24,500 euros, a saving of 5,000. I ended up going down to Cahors and buying at  that price.

The dealer was similar to the car supermarkets that you see in the UK, not franchised, but sold loads of different makes.

I have the full guarantee and was supplied with a car exactly as the Hyundai dealer would have supplied it. So it can be done.

[runningdog]

Where do you get the £20.00 card?

[runningdog]

That's very interesting!  My interests in cars, having spent my entire life involved with that sort of thing, starts and finishes with getting from A to B with as little hassle as possible.

[runningdog]

Just to say that I have responded to your email.