sidneyworm

We have a house in France and in a few years hope to live there from March to September, returning to England for the Winter. We are starting to look into what you need to do and wonder if anyone can help. We can see that house insurance in England is invalid if you leave your house unoccupied for 30 days or more - which companies offer longer than this - say 6 months? We also note that it says you have to switch off the electricity at the meter and drain off all your water systems. We don't want to do this as we will have things in the freezer etc. Can you avoid this? What happens with your post - we can't rely upon anyone to keep posting it to us as it would be too expensive - what remedies are there that anyone is aware of please? Also I need medication (Warfarin) and I cannot get this prescribed for more than 2 months at a time. How do I get this in France - is it possible? I know if I live there for less than 183 days in a 12 month period I'm not a resident and so not entitled to register with a GP. this appears to be a stumbling block. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Chatter Static

Welcome to the Forum No clue as to what folk do about their insurance but you can get mail redirection in both countries by the respective national postal companies and it is not that expensive.

It would be no issue visiting a doctor adhoc and getting a prescription for "Warfarin" or any other medication but you will pay for the doctors visit and the medication out of your own pocket as you won't be becoming a permanent resident here so would not qualify for French health care par say. I would suggest you need some form of private insurance and your ehic card as trips to the hospital can get expensive if not covered.

cyrian

Hi
Welcome to the Forum.
Where is your house in France?
Warfarin is a very cheap drug - a lot less than the English prescription charge.
You don't need to register with a GP in France if you are not claiming against the French system or a mutuelle insurance.
You make an appointment with a GP and pay them ~ €22 for the consultation. You can take the prescription to the pharmacy and pay them for the warfarin.
Alternatively, you can ask your UK pharmacy to re-order your UK prescription at the due time and get them to post the tablets to you. You would have to cover their costs for this but they would continue to benefit from your prescriptions.
If your current pharmacy won't do this then shop around.
You need to shop around for UK holiday home insurance for your UK property.
In France, 2nd homes are common and as long as you follow their conditions then it shouldn't be a problem.
A friend of mine stays in Spain for a maximum of 60 days to comply with his insurers conditions in the UK
Good luck

cyrian

The cost price paid to the UK pharmacy for warfarin is:

Warfarin 1mg 28 tablets 89p
Warfarin 3mg 28 tablets 93p
Warfarin 5mg 28tablets 98p

sidneyworm

Thanks for your replies. My house is in Linzeux - about 30 minutes from Arras, Nord pas de Calais.

I'll have an internet search for UK Holiday home insurance although would need more than 60 days but presumably someone out there offers this. Someone suggested a house sitter, which come free apparently ..... but surely they would be using gas/electric etc in your absence so you may be left with large bills on your return!

Chatter Static

Google'ing "Vacant Property Insurance" kicks back loads of results there is after all a surprising number of empty homes in the UK.

Your UK home is not a holiday home as it remains your primary abode of residence for health and tax purposes your French house is though.

capricorn2013

Re house sitters: you normally agree that they will pay any outgoings unless you require them to perform any duties for you. There are several websites that specialise in this and it is usual to seek several references.

You may also want to look at car insurance and mot. I also spend 6 months in France and most UK insurers only include 3 months european travel - managed to change mine to Nationwide when it came up for renewal which includes 6 months. If your car needs an mot during summer you will either need to get it done early before you go or travel back to UK to get it done at garage near ferry port.

Insurance - I have a mobile home and my 2nd home insurance at the local agents in France worked out half the price that I was quoted by UK insurers, so local is sometimes best and it was nice to meet the agent face to face.
Caroline

sidneyworm

Thats great and very helpful thank you. Luckily my car insurance is November and MOT October so thats a worry I won't have!

sidneyworm

Does anyone have any suggestions with the mail question please? how do you get your UK mail to France easily! Thanks

Chatter Static

Royal Mail Redirection which I mentioned in the second post..

https://www.royalmail.com/personal/r...il/redirection

grannybunz

Redirection no problem - as per above post.

We found French insurance for what was our holiday home cheaper than UK ones - we had a really bad experience with Saga.

If you need to you can also have UK calls diverted to your French landline - good for security.

EuroTrash

I wouldn't leave stuff in the freezer unattended for 6 months and then come back and eat it. Quite apart from the waste of money, how do you know if there's been a power cut and your meat has started to thaw out and then refrozen?



Empty it, switch it off, clean it out and leave the door open to prevent black mould forming. Then turn the electricity off when you go.

Chatter Static

Simple solution put two ice cubes in a sealed round bottomed tupperware container if the cubes are not in it when you get back ....... Bazinga toss it all in the bin

sidneyworm

brilliant idea!

EuroTrash

Well blimey, what a good idea

I'd still FEEL pretty sick if I had to chuck it all out after paying the leccy bill to keep it for 6 months - some freezers can be quite high on consumption - but much better than actually BEING sick.