Update: Number change for France Telecom’s English language helpline
A COUPLE of comments have been left on a story from the archive about contacting the English language helpline from France Telecom.
For quite some time people have been struggling to get through, although others have been successful, but it has now received some additional support staff.
HAVE you checked if your holiday home is insured should guests from the UK cause damage, or worse the building comes up in smoke?
That is the question being asked by Boris on his France This Way site after going through the process of renewing the insurance on the gites he has.
A casual remark about feeling safe in the knowledge that he is covered should anything nasty happen to the property, was soon brought to a halt when he was told that the insurance of guests covered the building not the cover he had just bought.
THE French inheritance tax system will now treat same-sex couples who are in a civil partnership from outside France on an equal footing.
Amendments have been passed that mean should one partner die, the other does not face a tax bill of 60 per cent, bringing France in line with the UK who already recognise the French equivalent of its own civil partnership, the pacte civil de solidarité (PACS).
Here lawyer Guillaume Barlet, of Bank House Investment Management Limited, offers some thoughts on the recent changes.
PROFITABILITY, availability, security and taxation are all elements to take into account when looking for a savings product, write Guillaume Barlet and Tristan Freer.
When investing, it is important to consider both your personal objectives and any external constraints.
With the fall of sterling, British nationals have started to look at possibilities to invest money in other currencies and in particular in euros.
In some cases, financial products in euros are available in the UK.
Update June 2022
I AM afraid that the online service for reporting an error no longer seems to be working, the old website has now been taken over by another completely different company.
I have not been able to find an online service from Orange that replaces the previous one and can only recommend that you call them on 09 69 36 39 00
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THE English language error reporting service from France Telecom has been mentioned a couple of times in comments on the site, so I thought I’d highlight it in an article.
Website deleted – enables you to report a fault on your telephone landline and could come in handy if you can access the internet via your computer, a mobile phone or a friend’s web access.
The website stresses that the service is for problems with the line, if an engineer is sent and it is decided that your telephone equipment was at fault you face being charged a call-out fee.
INEQUALITIES in the French inheritance tax system towards same-sex couples from outside France could soon be brought to an end.
At present the French system does not recognise couples who have registered under civil partnership arrangements in their own countries, so on the death of one the surviving partner is treated as a third party and will be charged inheritance tax.
But amendments have passed through the Senate that would recognise non-French civil partnerships, and it is hoped that its passage through the Assemblée Générale will run smoothly.
A RECENT article published in Le Figaro described how a simple administrative discrepancy during a property purchase procedure could result in the sale of allegedly the most expensive villa in the world falling through, writes Guillaume Barlet.
Mikhaïl Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire, agreed to purchase the luxurious property named Leopolda in Cap Ferret for the modest price of €390 million.
THE seven day cooling off period that allows the buyer of a French property to withdraw from a sale contract of a residential property can prove very helpful.
Here Guillaume Barlet offers some advice on how it works and the options available if living overseas.
Enforcement of the decree of December 19, 2008 regarding the cooling-off period granted to a non-professional buyer was awaited since the National Pledge for Housing Act of July 13, 2006 (engagement national pour le logement or ENL) in order to set the practicalities of the notice and of the handover of the contract to the buyer.
THERE is a very interesting, and in-depth, piece by Jon Doust on his blog about installing a Godin stove and solar water heating in his home in the Vendée.
The opportunity to make these change to your home is sure to appeal to many, especially as the price of oil and gas may rise in the near future and people have an increased awareness of their carbon footprint.
IF you have ever wondered about the small, stone built huts you find dotted across the French countryside, especially in the south, then take a look over pierreseche.com.
The site is an treasure trove of information on les cabanes, some of which is available in English, but just clicking through some of the photographs is great fun.
You can also brush up on your architectural vocab and dive in further into what is really a website built from the ground up and set to last.