White Christmas

Picture Courtesy of BurgundyPropertyManagement.com

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Expat Healthcare Pull In France

Sécurité Sociale have confirmed the reports that regards healthcare for retired expats in France there will be major changes.

In short all inactive EU citizens already accessing CMU healthcare coverage will continue to do so until 31 March 2008 after which they will be required to have their own personal medical insurance, unless their inactive status changes in the meantime.

All inactive EU citizens under retirement age (ie those already resident in France and those planning to move in future) who are not entitled to healthcare reimbursement (through the E106 or E109 forms), will be required to have their own personal medical insurance until they reach UK retirement age (and therefore qualify for entitlement to the E121 form), or until they qualify as a French resident (which is after 5 years of regular, uninterrupted residence).

People already over retirement age who are holders of an E121 which is registered with the French authorities will remain unaffected.

For more information and to join in the discussion at Burgundy Pulse click here

Thanks to Steve & Coral for providing the latest updates.

Bank Cards - I'ts Not Like The UK

Thanks to Julie for this great piece of information about your French bank cards.

If you are thinking about setting up a direct debit and handing over your card details for a regular payment (like an ISP) then hear this word of caution. Canceling a credit card regular payment is difficult, Julies personal experience was to her ongoing attempts to cancel her contract with Tiscali. They didn't reply to her letters, even though they've all been sent registered or phone calls. Eventually the only way she stopped them taking the payments was to cancel her card and get another one.

If you want to pay a regular bill then you need to set up a 'prelevement' this form of money agreement will give you the power to cancel easily with your bank.

The BP Kittens Get Rehomed

Thanks to the members on BurgundyPulse.com 4 abandoned kittens in burgundy are on the road to finding a new home.

Two of our members Dave & Dogginut own a property management company and the renters of one of their gites rescued 4 kittens from a box beside a dustbin! As the clients were on holiday they could not look after the kittens long term. With just 2 weeks to find a home for the kittens their outcome wasn't looking good.

Thanks to the Fiona the kitties have had a reprieve. Fiona found a Dutch lady who will take all four kittens for rehoming in Holland. The reason they won't go to a shelter in France is like the UK they are inundadted with kittens and cats and these cuties would have probably been put to sleep.

Well done Dave, Jess and Fiona for giving those kittens a chance. You have big hearts .

Why not visit our pet section on the forum, http://burgundypulse.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=23

Is that all we miss?

On Burgundypulse.com we posed the question what do you miss from the UK.

It seems Fish & Chips is the one thing brits in burgundy would love to have. A good cup of tea was also on the list, with PG tips ranking as the favourite tea of choice. Baked beans were also on the list, which is a personal favorite.

It seems the more time people spend living abroad the less people miss about the UK.

Writing A French Cheque

Writing a cheque in France is very different to the UK. This week for the BurgundyPulse.com forum threw up some great advice..

So how do you write a french cheque?

Line 1 is the amount in words that you want to pay including the word euro.

Line 3 (usually with an 'a') is the name of the person you want to send it to

The box with the € means you need to write in the number

Fait a - You should write the place that you are writing out the cheque i.e. Paris

Le - Is where the date goes

Under the Le is a square blanc space, this is where you sign.

Here is an example:



Top Tip
Apparently when you write a French cheque, the date of the cheque is when the value is taken from your account. So make sure you have the funds from that date available otherwise your cheque could bounce.

Click here to join the forum

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BP Team