Pauline Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Hi we are moving to France hopefully in October, I am spending most nights on this forum and finding it a great help in our planning, we are trying to be as fully equiped with info as possible. I am strggling with the step by step process of what to do once we arrive at our destination, e.g What, where, how do we register basically an idiots guide as to what we have to do. I would appreciate any tips, advice.Pauline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 It's pretty much the same as any normal house move. Here are some of the key things we did for our move to France.Prior to signing for the house, we opened a bank account with our local CA branch and obtained house/contents insurance.On arrival:Visited the water company (General des Eaux) with a meter reading. Found that the previous owner had already done this for us. Gave them our details and signed a direct debit for the six-monthly payments.Visited the electricity company (SIEDS) with a meter reading and subscribed to the "heures creuses" cheap rate tariff. Signed direct debit for monthly payments (we subsequently reviewed their estimate of our consumption and had the d/d reduced to a more realistic figure).Visited the local France Telecom shop and signed up for our new phone line and Orange broadband connection. Installed Livebox system on PC and laptop - now up and running and on the internet.Visited our local centre medicale and met the CPAM representative (he calls there once a week). Handed over our E106 and the other bits. That was basically it - CMU attestations arrived within two weeks followed by carte vitales. Visited our new doctor and gave him the nomination forms which he signed and sent off to the CPAM for us. Signed up for a top-up medical insurance policy (having obtained comparative quotes online), so now fully covered for medical care and reimbursement of expenses.Obtained new insurance for the car from local branch office (quotes compared, etc), swopped the headlamps and took it for a CT test, obtained a quittus fiscale VAT certificate from our tax office and an attestation of conformity from our local DRIRE, then registered it at our prefecture.So, that was day one taken care of .....[;-)]At some time, you'll receive a copy of the house deeds from the notaire (and probably a small refund cheque for some unused fees). It's also normal practice for you to pay your share of the current year's "rates" (tax fonciere) pro rata'd from the day you took over the house. The previous owner will have paid the bill and the notaire will ask you for a cheque for your contribution. For next year, you'll receive the property tax bills (habitation and fonciere) in autumn 2008.Quite straightforward - no formal "registering" to do. Once you get the keys, you are now officially resident in France. That also means you'll start paying tax here, so if you arrive in October, you'll submit your first income tax declaration in April 2008 (you declare your income from the day you arrived, ie XX October to 31 December 2007) and you'll get your first tax bill in September 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbles Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Sunday Driver has it spot on, the only thing I would add is when you open your bank account get extra copies of you RIB as any direct debit you set up they will want one of these ( its no use just giving them your account details )and you'll only have a couple in you cheque book, Bon Chance[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Good point by Babs. With CA, if you have their internet banking option, you can download your RIB and print out as many copies as you need. I expect it's the same with other banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sclarke2208 Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 This has to be one of the best replies (Sunday Driver) I have come across so thanks from somebody else who is making the move (on her own) in September this year. Everything you always wanted to ask but never had the time............... Many thanks [:D] roseysan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Excellent guide which I shall print off and put with my other "escape from Cornwall " papers[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Just watch out for the car insurance renewal. It reads like SD did this AFTER arriving in France. For us that would have been illegal (because our UK insurance - proper insurer, arranged through American Express - ceased to cover us the moment we left the UK; some are more flexible). So, check with your insurer direct in good time.We flew over for a few days a couple of times prior to our departure to put things like this (and phone, internet, electricity) in place.The car insurance was a bit tricky because the UK insurers would only issue paperwork (you know, things like how many years no claims) AFTER the insurance was terminated and then ONLY to a UK address. Fortunately, we had by this point built up a decent relationship (several visits and 3-4 months or so) with our French bank and they were prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that we got our French insurance through OK, which was rather important since we were driving down to our new home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Another good point by Chessfou to add on. We actually sold our old house, put our stuff in storage, then left the UK in our motorhome towing our motorbike with Mrs Sunday following in her little Corsa (with walkie talkies to make sure no-one got lost!).We hadn't found a house at that time - we were just "on the road" and looking for a home. The camper and car were insured with Saga which gave us 365 day cover abroad and as we weren't actually living abroad at that time (just visiting...), Saga confirmed our cover would remain in place until we found a house here. We found our house within two weeks and sorted the French insurance out after signing the compromis de vente.MAAF gave us an immediate certificate and allowed us the full bonus on the understanding we would let them have the Saga NCB letters once we received them. No problems there and excellent service thereafter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babbles Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Internet banking is a good option, which leads to getting your computer and internet link organised (which we haven't done yet[:(]) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliveau Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Re car insurance:Saga include unlimited European cover, so there's no need to bust a gut to change over to the French registration/insurance.Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Saga's unlimited European cover is only available to UK policyholders, so the moment you become resident in France, they will cancel your cover. Regarding registration of your vehicle, you have to do this within one month of your arrival in France, otherwise you can't legally continue to drive it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauline Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 Thank you so much for all your replies and for your good advice Sunday Driver, I have added it to the front page of my 'Moving to France notebook' and I know I will refer to it regularly. Your all so helpful.Pauline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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