What needs to be done?

[Keni]

I am sure this has been covered on other parts of the Forum and I apologise for asking these stupid questions in advance. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

As we might be actually getting nearer to making the move! I am trying to put together everything that will need to be done and registered, once we get over to France. I know that Sunday Driver has the earlier piece relating to registering, but as it was writting in 2007, is it still totally relevant? Also with the E106, who do we take it to and with what?

With the car, what must we do to register it in France?

Again, there must be many things throughout the forum, but is there anywhere a compact list that I can just photocopy and tick off?

Who do we notify from the UK, and does anyone have the addresses - such as for health to get the E106 etc? I have followed all the information for many years but it seems often to counteract itself at times, so any help would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

[Sunday Driver]

Important things to do a couple of  months before you leave the UK:

Apply for your E106 to:

Department for Work and Pensions
The Pension Service
International Pension Centre
Tyneview Park
Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE98 1BA

tel: 0191 21 87777
fax: 0191 21 83836
email:[email protected]

Contact your UK tax office and inform them of your impending move.  They will send you a form P85 which you complete, confirming you are leaving the UK.  They'll then send you a form France Individual (tax reclaim form) which you hand in to your new French tax office when you submit your first French tax declaration.

Inform your pensions provider of your proposed new French address and decide whether you want them to pay directly into your French bank.

If you are retaining a UK bank account, let them know you are moving to France.  Most will allow you to retain the account but some won't. As you'll soon be tax resident in France, ask them about their procedure for paying any future savings interest gross.

Contact the UK manufacturer of your car and ask them for an EU certificate of conformity.  They'll need a copy of your V5C registration document.  Do it before you move so it's one less thing to worry about when you get here.

On arrival in France:

Obtain French insurance for your car, then follow the registration instructions in the sticky - it's still up to date.

Send the tear-off export notification slip from your V5C to the DVLA and (if appropriate) the tax disc and ask them for a refund of any unused duty.

Open a French bank account.  You'll need to produce your passports and proof of addresss.

Sort out your various utilities - the seller may help you out, usually he'll have already notified them of the change of ownership and provided his final readings.

Take your E106 round to your local CPAM 'permanence' (your mairie will have their address and opening times) together with passports, birth and marriage certificates, proof of address and a bank RIB for your reimbursements.  They will check the documents for completeness and send them on to the main CPAM office who will process your application and send you an attestation of cover in the post. 

Obtain quotes for a complimentary top-up insurance.

That's your first week sorted........[;-)]

 

 

 

[cooperlola]

S/D  has said it all really (as per), but for further info on the health system etc START HERE

[tinabee]

The only other thing I had on my list was house insurance

[Sunday Driver]

That's for the second week..........provided the house doesn't burn down in the meantime  [:)]

 

 

[chessfou]

[quote]

On arrival in France:

Obtain French insurance for your car[/quote]

This may depend on the UK insurer but we had to do this before arrival in France otherwise we would not have been covered on emerging from the Eurotunnel train.

[Vanman]

Alas, that top-up health insurance is complementary, rather than complimentary ! (a pedant writes)

[tinabee]

And at some point, either during house purchase or afterwards, you should take some inheritance planning measures [:(]

 

[Punch]

A few more items that may help;

1. Get your UK mail redirected directly to your address in France.

2. Check how much validity is left on your passport - It can cost almost double the amount to get it renewed in France via the British Consulate at Paris, and you can apply up to nine months before the expiration of your existing passport, without any loss of that nine months.

3. If you have access to a photocopier, make copies of all important documents at least twice and keep in a safe place.

4. Take lots of handy items such as 3amp and 13 amp fuses, adapators and  such like for the Uk appliances that you take to France. Until you have the time to swap everything over to French plugs, these will come very much in handy !

5. Buy a large filing cabinet - you are going to need it !!!! (They are quite expensive here ).

 

 

[Maricopa]

[quote user="Punch"]4. Take lots of handy items such as 3amp and 13 amp fuses, adapators and  such like for the Uk appliances that you take to France. Until you have the time to swap everything over to French plugs, these will come very much in handy ![/quote]

Better to take a load of 3 or 4 way extension leads and just change one plug instead of many.  Even better if you can do this by buying a few plugs beforehand.

[Keni]

Thanks everyone, all that information is great - we already have the house, it will just need renovating!

Punch - we never thought about the fuses issue, we have just been using adaptors for  the past few years, never thinking that if a fuse goes we would not be able to change it!

Thanks cooperlola - your health stuff is just what we need - hope you are feeling better, don't forget the yoga!

I never realised there also might be a problem regarding the car insurance - will have to look that one up! We tried to ask about car insurance a couple of years ago and it was a catch 22 situation - what car - around say 1.5, buy it and then we can tell you how much, how much then for our existing car?  Bring it into the country and we'll tell you how much. So I gathered that getting information out of our insurer will be a blood from a stone situation.

Anymore information would be really helpful - especially as it is now all in one place - (Ed. please note - maybe an article is in the offing).

[Sunday Driver]

You should not have a problem with getting information about car insurance. 

Your previous experience is not typical.  You can easily obtain estimates/quotes through any high street insurer or even through a price comparison website like www.assurland.com. 

 

[cooperlola]

You could also have a chat with Nick Chubb HERE (English speaking broker, French company).  He will set up car insurance in advance of your arrival and then you can re-register as per S/D's advice, once here.  You could use a company like this for year one (while you're still getting your head round things) and then have the breathing space to shop around for the next time, should you wish to.

[Punch]

Yes as SD says insurance is quite easy to arange. Incidentally, I tried Assurland.com and in the same week I was contacted by several of the main insurers ( MAAF, MMA, AXA ) asking me if I wanted appointments with their agents, so it rather defeated the point of going to them in the first place, as the indicated prices were nothing like the actual quotes I was given !

I would also say that with the case of insurances (house, motor, life, etc) you can often negotiate good discounts by grouping them all with the same insurer. Try your bank also for a quote.

We have private and business insurances with premiums probably totalling over 8000 € per annum and have saved quite a bit over the years by doing this.

Another tip on motor insurance is that you can get reduced premiums if you agree to keep below a certain kilometrage per annum. we saved over 200 euros on one policy by doing this. There are all sorts of add ons and ways of getting premiums reduced.

Don't forget that insurances in France are also continued automatically at the renewal date unless you give notice of cancellation which in some instances must be two months before renewal.

 

 

[pachapapa]

The Assurance companies with national exposure and expensive TV advertising like *** should be avoided. A local Mutuelle Assurance based in your area that has NO TV advertising and restricts it's operation to areas of france with low risks may be more to your convenience; it should be remembered that Niort is an important Insurance Centre and will give better quotes than Paris based operations. When you have done the "comparateur" with 41 participating companies then give the following a "wang" http://www.mutpoitiers.fr/internetMdpa/commun/agencesDept.jsp?dpt=87&act=1  even better phone or pop in to your local branch in Haute Vienne you may be pleasantly surprised. I was when I visited Josianne in Parthenay.

[Keni]

Thanks again peeps - so much to learn/do - oh for a bullet list to work through - I know eventually something will get missed, but to try and write a complete list looks like it's gonna take time!