Pulling the Threads Togther (April 2018)
With the completion date now quickly approaching, and with Fridays and weekends the only time available for me to talk to people (for reasons I'll not go into), yesterday was spent sorting out various bureaucratic aspects such as banking, insurance, utilities, the boiler, etc.
It was a stressful and frustrating day.
I know French bureaucracy has a bad reputation but, to be honest, it wasn't that which caused the stress and frustration. It was the sheer volume of things I needed to get sorted, the limited time I had (some individuals or businesses that were likely to be available on the Friday were less likely to be available over the weekend), and the fact that French (which regular readers will know I don't (yet) speak) would be a significant feature of the day's work.
So, what were the tasks, and how did I get on?
Insurance
We need proof of insurance before we can complete the act de vente and so securing insurance was a priority and the first task of the day. I'd used three comparison sites, two French (Empruntis.com and Assurland.com) and one British (Quotezone.com), none of which gave an immediate quote but which, instead, had a number of providers email quotes to you. I didn't have the exact information required but I was only after illustrative quotes at this point and so guesstimated where necessary.
We received five quotes ranging from £109 to €507 (c. £420) - quite a spread. I also received a quote from Britline (our bank). Had they been competitive we would probably have gone with them for the sake of simplicity - but they came on at €498.
I had arranged for Britline to call me to discuss the quote - as I had noticed that they had a range of policy types and the quote was for one of the premium ones. Mégane was punctual as usual. We checked the (now) exact information I had against that which I had originally provided and also looked at the options for reducing the cost. We got the price down, but not by much and not by enough.
So, back taking a proper look at the other quotes and starting with the cheapest from MyInsurance. This looked to cover what we needed and so I called them up. Long story short, the premium was still £109 after we'd corrected a few points and so the policy was purchased.
Banking
A stack full of contracts had arrived, in the post, from Britline for signing. Only once signed and returned would we get our chequebook and debit card - and we need the former for the act de vente to allow us to pay the notaire our pro-rata portion of the taxe foncierre (cash wouldn't be accepted). So, this was another priority task for the day.
Despite Britline being aimed at Brits, the (Credit Agricole - parent bank) contracts were in French and only one had an English translation with it. And they were hard copies so, to get them into Google Translate, I needed to scan them. And Google Translate could only cope with one page at a time - and the translated output was far from ideal. Scanning, translating and reading, page by page, was a painful process and the poor translations meant I still only had a rough idea of what I was signing. But sign I did and, to be frank, about halfway through I gave up on the translating and just signed the remainder of the documents - trying to convince myself that it wasn't too risky as CA were a reputable bank.
Boiler
The property has an oil-fired boiler with a large oil tank in the cellar. During the week the immobilier had confirmed the tank was empty. Not only am I going to need to try and start a boiler I'm totally unfamiliar with, I'm going to need to start a system that probably has air in it 😠.
The immobilier had kindly taken photos of the boiler so I knew the make and model. With my daughter's help I was able to find two manuals online - neither were 'user manuals' but one looked as if it might be a little help. Then I had what I think is a great idea. I'll get someone in to service the boiler. It will almost certainly need a service and the engineer can get it working and show me how to operate it. So, the next but one challenge will be to find someone to do that - the immediate next challenge is to get some fuel. The immobilier told me there is a supplier almost literally across the street from me - so I have asked my daughter to call him and see if he does supply oil, whether he can initially supply just enough to allow us to get the boiler up an running, and to see if he can recommend someone to service it (oh, and recommend someone to sweep the chimneys too). - watch this space.
Utilities
With the boiler progressed as far as I could for now, I next turned my attention to the provision of electricity and water. We needed both ASAP after signing the act de vente as we were planning in living in the house for a week immediately after signing.
The immoblier had helped here to by providing the names of the previous suppliers.
EDF was (perhaps unsurprisingly) the supplier of electricity and a bit of research showed they had a number (free in France) for English speakers. I called it. The message "an agent will be with your shortly" repeated for 20 minutes. I gave up. I was calling from the UK on a mobile so it was costing me (as it happens a later check showed it had only cost 60p - but who knows how much longer I would have needed to wait - there was no "You are in position x" type message).
I could find neither an English speaking line or even a website for the water supplier - though I did find a site for their parent company 'Suez'. I've dropped them a message on their contact form asking if they can explain the procedure I'll need to follow.
This morning, I tried the EDF number again. I was again on hold, but not for too long. The lady I spoke to asked me for a French phone number. "I don't have one nor do I expect to have one for several weeks" I explained. "We need one" she told me. This was for the engineer to make contact if, for example, he had problems finding the property. Oh dear. What now? She suggested I give her the immobiler's number and I was just searching for that when she advised me that electricity is still connected to the property and so all I need to do is call, with the meter reading, on the day we take possession to setup the contract. I hadn't appreciated it would be so simple - a real relief after the stress and frustration of yesterday.
And, if the electric is still connected, I guess the chances are that the water is too. So hopefully that will also simply require a call and a meter reading - though probably not with the luxury of a French speaker on the other end of the line.
It was a stressful and frustrating day.
I know French bureaucracy has a bad reputation but, to be honest, it wasn't that which caused the stress and frustration. It was the sheer volume of things I needed to get sorted, the limited time I had (some individuals or businesses that were likely to be available on the Friday were less likely to be available over the weekend), and the fact that French (which regular readers will know I don't (yet) speak) would be a significant feature of the day's work.
So, what were the tasks, and how did I get on?
Insurance
We need proof of insurance before we can complete the act de vente and so securing insurance was a priority and the first task of the day. I'd used three comparison sites, two French (Empruntis.com and Assurland.com) and one British (Quotezone.com), none of which gave an immediate quote but which, instead, had a number of providers email quotes to you. I didn't have the exact information required but I was only after illustrative quotes at this point and so guesstimated where necessary.
We received five quotes ranging from £109 to €507 (c. £420) - quite a spread. I also received a quote from Britline (our bank). Had they been competitive we would probably have gone with them for the sake of simplicity - but they came on at €498.
I had arranged for Britline to call me to discuss the quote - as I had noticed that they had a range of policy types and the quote was for one of the premium ones. Mégane was punctual as usual. We checked the (now) exact information I had against that which I had originally provided and also looked at the options for reducing the cost. We got the price down, but not by much and not by enough.
So, back taking a proper look at the other quotes and starting with the cheapest from MyInsurance. This looked to cover what we needed and so I called them up. Long story short, the premium was still £109 after we'd corrected a few points and so the policy was purchased.
Banking
A stack full of contracts had arrived, in the post, from Britline for signing. Only once signed and returned would we get our chequebook and debit card - and we need the former for the act de vente to allow us to pay the notaire our pro-rata portion of the taxe foncierre (cash wouldn't be accepted). So, this was another priority task for the day.
Despite Britline being aimed at Brits, the (Credit Agricole - parent bank) contracts were in French and only one had an English translation with it. And they were hard copies so, to get them into Google Translate, I needed to scan them. And Google Translate could only cope with one page at a time - and the translated output was far from ideal. Scanning, translating and reading, page by page, was a painful process and the poor translations meant I still only had a rough idea of what I was signing. But sign I did and, to be frank, about halfway through I gave up on the translating and just signed the remainder of the documents - trying to convince myself that it wasn't too risky as CA were a reputable bank.
Boiler
The property has an oil-fired boiler with a large oil tank in the cellar. During the week the immobilier had confirmed the tank was empty. Not only am I going to need to try and start a boiler I'm totally unfamiliar with, I'm going to need to start a system that probably has air in it 😠.
The immobilier had kindly taken photos of the boiler so I knew the make and model. With my daughter's help I was able to find two manuals online - neither were 'user manuals' but one looked as if it might be a little help. Then I had what I think is a great idea. I'll get someone in to service the boiler. It will almost certainly need a service and the engineer can get it working and show me how to operate it. So, the next but one challenge will be to find someone to do that - the immediate next challenge is to get some fuel. The immobilier told me there is a supplier almost literally across the street from me - so I have asked my daughter to call him and see if he does supply oil, whether he can initially supply just enough to allow us to get the boiler up an running, and to see if he can recommend someone to service it (oh, and recommend someone to sweep the chimneys too). - watch this space.
Utilities
With the boiler progressed as far as I could for now, I next turned my attention to the provision of electricity and water. We needed both ASAP after signing the act de vente as we were planning in living in the house for a week immediately after signing.
The immoblier had helped here to by providing the names of the previous suppliers.
EDF was (perhaps unsurprisingly) the supplier of electricity and a bit of research showed they had a number (free in France) for English speakers. I called it. The message "an agent will be with your shortly" repeated for 20 minutes. I gave up. I was calling from the UK on a mobile so it was costing me (as it happens a later check showed it had only cost 60p - but who knows how much longer I would have needed to wait - there was no "You are in position x" type message).
I could find neither an English speaking line or even a website for the water supplier - though I did find a site for their parent company 'Suez'. I've dropped them a message on their contact form asking if they can explain the procedure I'll need to follow.
This morning, I tried the EDF number again. I was again on hold, but not for too long. The lady I spoke to asked me for a French phone number. "I don't have one nor do I expect to have one for several weeks" I explained. "We need one" she told me. This was for the engineer to make contact if, for example, he had problems finding the property. Oh dear. What now? She suggested I give her the immobiler's number and I was just searching for that when she advised me that electricity is still connected to the property and so all I need to do is call, with the meter reading, on the day we take possession to setup the contract. I hadn't appreciated it would be so simple - a real relief after the stress and frustration of yesterday.
And, if the electric is still connected, I guess the chances are that the water is too. So hopefully that will also simply require a call and a meter reading - though probably not with the luxury of a French speaker on the other end of the line.
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