Rachelsummer

Hi, I have just been made redundant and am now claiming job seekers allowance/universal credit. My parents are thinking of moving to France. If I go with them, would I be able to transfer this to France and look for work there or get help whilst I start up a business? And would I be entitled to health cover?
Many Thanks x

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
Presumably, as your parents are only thinking of moving to France, you would all be arriving in 2021 when you're no longer EU citizens? If they are in receipt of UK State Pensions, they shouldn't have any problems, but if they are pre-retired, it's likely you'll all have to apply for Visas before you can come over, one of the conditions of which is to have sufficient regular income in order not to be a burden on the State. In any case you would have to take out private healthcare insurance from Day 1 until you are either salaried or set up a business structure and pay into the System. Your regional CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) can advise on the type of business structure to set up, depending on your line of work, but I don't think you'd get any (financial) help. Some one more in the know will come along to advise....
If you can arrange to be resident in France before 31st December, you'll still be considered EU citizens, which will make life easier, for you and also for your parents if they are pre-retired.
HTH

EuroTrash

I believe that if you are signed on in the UK immediately prior to the move (and you move before the end of transition), you continue receiving benefits from the UK for a set period of time and also your healthcare is covered by the UK for that same period.
Could be 3 months? but google will be your friend.
If you haven't found a job in that time (not easy at present, same as everywhere) I'm afraid you will be on your own, you would have to make your own healthcare arrangements and unfortunately, any period out of work wouldn't help with your residency application when the time comes. Also bear in mind that after the end of transition, as a worker you lose the automatic right to work in France if you're not already working here.
What kind of work are you looking for?

Rachelsummer

The plan is to find a house with an outbuilding that I can set up a cake studio in. I make 3D character and celebration cakes and also can offer children’s decorating courses and to sell Afternoon Teas. (The house will be bought by my parents so there is no mortgage and we will live together). They are in the 70’s and have a basic uk pension. We are hoping that we can get over there by the end of the year but know that’s pushing it.

SanDiegogirl

https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-ab...kers-allowance

You would not be eligible for free health cover........ whereas your parent can continue on the S1 if they move before Dec 31st (sort of grandfathered in) you are not eligible for the S1 scheme.

EuroTrash

It is a workable plan but to be honest the clock is against you.
You would need to have either found a job or got your business up and running before 31 December. Once you have a job or a business your healthcare will be sorted.
If you want to give it a go I think you would need to
Move to France and export your UK benefits.
This would mean signing on at the pole emploi in France, proving that you are actively seeking work and staying in regular contact with your adviser. However, to start your business you would need food hygiene qualifications, and your pole emploi adviser may be able to arrange for you to go on the necessary courses.
In the meanwhile your parents would need to buy a property and take possession.
Then at some point before the end of transition you would need to register your business (which I guess would mean coming off benefits), get the kitchen inspected and approved and start your marketing.
Ideally you would have started recorded at least a small turnover before the end of transition.
On a wing and a prayer with a great deal of luck it just might be possible.
The other thing of course is that you would need good French to cope with all the business side of things, understanding the regulations, attending and passing the food hygiene course and marketing your cakes.
It's a real shame you didn't find an opportunity to start on this sooner, because in the right location I think your business might have done well. There is a market for good cakes.

Novocastrian

Which is almost certainly not possible by now. It would be possible to find a rental quickly enough though and to buy later if they wish.

dmu

The parents, yes, but the OP would need a commercial lease to rent an outbuilding adjoining the rented house. And she would need the landlord's written permission to use his/her address as place of work if she simply worked in a room in the house rented for living purposes.
@rachelsummer. Whereabouts were you thinking of settling? You'd have to research the potential market for your activity and check all the rules and regulations on the food industry (and receiving people in a Salon or for workshops). And because of the complicated rental leases (living and commercial), you may have to wait until your parents buy the ideal property before registering your business.
HTH

Listen Very Carefully

You should note that setting up a business in France is not as easy as the UK and certainly the food business would require you to undergo French hygiene courses have a suitable premises as well getting permissions etc On top of this you need to set up a business structure and start paying your taxes and cotisations The chamber of commerce may be able to help you but to be frank Brexit may put the mokkers on your idea
www.cci.fr

Bobmorane

All depends on your nationality. Also the area where you gonna land etc. The power is the tenant in France, not the landlords. You don’t pay your rent, you can stay for quite a while! As others said, opening a business - even for French - is a rollercoaster!
would need more details~

dmu

You're surely not recommending that the OP's parents rent while looking for property, and then not pay their rent? The tenant-friendly laws would indeed allow them to remain "for quite a while" without paying, but they should be aware of visits from the Bailiff and a Court Procedure (which the landlord would win). Hardly a good start to a new life in France.... And consider the impact on their daughter's professional reputation when the facts are made known....
(Or maybe I'm overreacting and a "wink" smiley is simply missing from the highlighted sentence....)

EuroTrash

Well, the power of French landlords lies in choosing who they let into the property in the first place. Try getting a tenancy from a professional landlord without a CDI or a guarantor of some kind. Without that, rental agencies won't even take you onto their books.

EuroTrash

Oh and welcome to the forum Bobmorane

This being British Expats we tend to assume that most posters are British - it would be useful if they told us this but very often they don't. But I think in this case, seeing as the OP mentions job seekers allowance and universal credit, it's pretty much a cert that she is British. Universal credit is a world leading disaster of a benefits system unique to the UK, as far as I know.

dmu

FWIW, we once had a barrister as a tenant and she stopped paying her rent a couple of months before the Winter Truce started. The procedure the following year dragged on into the following Winter Truce period, involving about 15 months' unpaid rents. In addition, her partner (not named on the lease) was illegally using our address for his business, so we had two counts before the Judge. The latter obviously found for us, but they had both disappeared before the Hearing and we had no means of recuperating the 5-figure unpaid rents (luckily OH could plead before the Court, so no expenses for us except for the Bailiff's interventions).
This might explain why I'm bitter about the above attitude towards landlords....

EuroTrash

I believe most landlords take out insurance against non payment of rent, so in theory it would be the insurer's problem not the landlord's. Insurers have strict conditions on the tenants they will cover, generally they won't cover any tenant who isn't a permanent employee of a well established French company, and I believe that as a last resort the court can make arrangements with the tenant's employer for monthly reimbursements to be deducted from the employee's salary and paid direct to the landlord or the insurer.
But despite all these mechanisms, insurers will always find ways to wriggle out of paying if they can, and if a tenant racks up a lot of debt and then leaves their job and vanishes there's not a lot can be done. I have a lot of sympathy for landlords.