Discussions

Can anyone help us.    Out of the blue we received a letter from a French insurance company saying that we had been involved in an accident in a city we have never visited - in a car we have never owned or registered.    We have now received four letters, and have replied to all of them saying that we have a second home in France, but have never been involved in an accident, never been to the city mentioned, never owned a French registered car.    The correspondence is just going back and forth and they are taking no notice of anything we say - what do you recommend we do?

Hi, can anyone advise please which conpanies offer beauty therapy insurance for waxing, Pedicures, massage (incl Indian head) and eyebrow tinting please ? Kind regards 

We have a contract with EDF for the production of energy through solar panels. The date we need to read the Linky meter and submit the readings for our invoice is in 2 days. I noticed last week that the figures haven't changed for months despite the hot weather so assume the meter is not working. For the last week I have spent countless hours on the phone trying to get an engineer out but no-one wants to take responsibility. OA-solaires say it's not their problem and referred me to EDF/Enerdis. I have rung 8 different numbers but no-one can help, they keep telling me to ring Enerdis Customer Services, which i've done on numerous occasions. I have emailed their customer services department twice, no response. Our normal revenue from the panels is 2000 euros pa so I'm very worried that this year we'll be getting almost nothing as oa-solaires will only accept the current reading. Has anyone experienced similar problems? Many thanks for any advice.

I translated a copy of my birth certificate and sent it to the RSI for my carte vital, who have informed me that it needs to be translated by a 'traducteur assermente'. Has anybody had to do this and if so, can you recommend somebody please? This has been going on for over a year and now I'm getting bored of it! Thanks

does any one know if bank charges have been suspended during the crisis

Has anyone had a letter from the tax people with a penalty  as I understand it as I have paid these taxes in a different way.It seems to be a penalty of 300 euro for EACH - as I received two letters- identical, but confusing as I am unsure what i have done wrong as I have always paid on time.Incidentally, these taxes are now similar to the tax on our UK home which is worth quite a bit more.We are trying to sell the French house- but no takers so far - and such tax does make it even more urgent!Can anyone help please? 

Having bought things from Cdiscount's website I regularly receive all sorts of e-mail shots.Today's is quite interesting as it offers the chance to sign up with them as an electricity supplier, I attach the webpage below.Out of interest, has anyone signed up with them? If so, how did it go? It seems that they do all the legwork re. cancelling your existing contract with your existing supplier (i.e. EDF) rather like Uswitch in the UK.Certainly a 15% reduction in electricity bills could be quite interesting! Here's the webpage:https://www.cdiscount.com/cdiscountenergie?refer=2017_ldiff_ldiff_cible_1101w44_ldiff%20n1_inactifs_SEMIGENERIQUE_011117&cm_mmc=FID-_-MASSIF-_-LDIFF1-_-SEMI_GENERIQUE_email%20ldiff_cible_171101w44%20ldiff%20n1_inactifs_SEMIGENERIQUE_011117_13813211230_sansConditions&cid=email&clid=0000000FSN4K

Is there an ombudsman for insurance in France

Trying to cancel insurances and close bank account, after 3 months no success. Does anyone have an English speaking contact number for the area?

I have been trying to pay my bill online on the budget.gouv.fr site, but I keep getting a message saying I need to have my debut card verified, As i'm not back until February I can't do this, I've never had this before, (5th year) is it usual?

Gathering Awareness of Nasty insurance brokersI had dealings with an insurance agent in Parthenay over a number of years. It was ok for a while, but then turned nasty. Imagen my horror agent attempted to collect money for a policy which I had cancelled, perfectly legitimately (and in accordance with statutory EU insurance laws). They demanded I pay a sum of money, which eventually they actually couldn't offer any justification for. They had pursued it including using a bailiff to try to harass & pressure me into paying. The bailiff wrote a letter demanding the amount be paid in full within 8 days. However, the letter that arrived - over two weeks later - was postmarked 8 days after the date the letter was written. For a while I thought I was dealing with Damian from The Omen movie, until I put the ball right back in their 'Chairman-Mau' Court.Outside of the subliminal messages, the blunt truth here is whatever insurance company you choose, do not be fooled because the broker has English-speaking staff who may fool you by coming across as laid-back and friendly. Be vigilant in reading and understanding what you agree to, and sign for. Preferably use an independent financial adviser or solicitor to check everything within the (mandatory) cooling-off period. It's money well spent in the long term.Sadly, I only ever made 1 claim over several years of dealing with them, for some storm damage to my roof. Guess what? They squirmed out of paying out. I should have terminated them then...

Hi all, I am Paul.  Would be good to hear from any expats who've recently purchased in the Poitou-Charente region and whether they financed it via Local or British brokers.  I am over from 11th August until 20th.  Be good to hear people's experience, as I am in research mode and may be buying property soon.Cheers Paul

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help please. I would like the help of a good competent divorce solicitor who speaks English. I live in the Bressuire area. Many thanks

HayWe are in the process of buying a property in Charente (Brossac area) and looking for an English speaking tax accountant to get some advice on our situation and in general the french tax system ( it seems complicated)  Would really appreciate any recommendations. Much appreciated! Thanks! 

Hi there - I'm new to France and as a self employed person working on her basic French I'm finding it really hard to find time to navigate the tax system here in order to get set up properly and pay tax. I work from home and identify with the eligibility of 'Micro-entrepreneur' but that's about as far as I've gotten with my tepid investigations so far- I'm anxious to get set up properly so I can pay my dues, is this something I could manage on my own or does anybody have a tax management service they could recommend? I'm based in Sauze-Vaussais and would really appreciate any tips or advice you might have regarding this subject.Thank you in advance!

New Micro-Entrepreneur seeking recommendations for Liability and Complementary Health Insurance broker/agent please, Charroux area 86250.

Hi,A few years ago I agreed to have my name put on a friend's French property to register it as a SCI with SIRET number. Could my name be removed later without her telling me?

Moved back to the UK recently after 14 years in France, so now paying UK tax. However, one final French return to do and its the year that they change the bloody system. Couldn't they have waited another year? Anyway, is anyone else in the same boat as I'm getting very confused about form 2041E and my very small, hardly worth the hassle, French pension and surely I don't have to declare my UK bank accounts now I'm back in Blighty on what is my final French return?