Contents of article "Check list before leaving"

 Check it out before you move
 Selling or renting your property before moving
 Who to contact

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Check it out before you move

Selling or renting your property before moving

If you are selling your property in your present country, make sure you put it on the market well in advance or terminate any rental contract you might have. If you are keeping your property to rent out, you must inform:
 your local tax office (you may be expected to pay tax on rental received despite living abroad)
 your mortage company if you have a mortgage on the property
 your insurance company (if you are intending to insure your car abroad you will need a letter to prove that you have terminated your insurance policy in GB)
For further help and advice on renting out your property when going abroad, contact:
Centre for Non-Residents,
Non-resident Landlord Scheme,
Fitzroy House
Castle Meadow Road
PO Box 46
Nottingham NG2 1BD
Tel +44 (0) 151 472 6208/6209

You can also phone or fax the Centre for Non Residents Helpline in Newcastle on:
tel: +44 (0) 845 915 4811
fax: +44 (0) 845 915 7800
(UK calls and faxes will be charged at local rates except for some mobile phones.)
You can get more information by contacting the Inland Revenue
For rental purposes, do consider a property management agency. Although they take a percentage of your rent, you’ll have peace of mind as you can hardly be expected to ’pop round’ to sort out any problems which may arise.
If you are leaving your property empty, do check that you have ample security arrangements, alarm, security lights, arrangements with neighbours to make regular checks etc. It is also worthwhile informing your local police station that the property will be empty.

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Apply well in advance for form E106 - this will give you reciprocal medical cover for up to 2 years (see section Medical Care in France) but at the end of that period you will need to take out a private insurance if you have not been working. To apply for this form, contact your DSS overseas branch.
DSS -Overseas Branch
EU Office
Longbenton
Newcastle upon Tyne NE98 1YX
Tel: 0191 213 5000

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There is a wide choice of international removal firms. They will give you estimates for moving the contents of your property based on either information provided by you on the size of your home or by visiting your property. If you wish to leave furniture, etc in storage, many of these removal firms will also provide storage space.

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Who to contact

Make sure that you send a forwarding address to all agencies who might need to contact you when abroad, particularly your local tax office who will send you the necessary forms to fill in to apply for possible tax rebates, exemptions etc.
Contact your local council to find out where you stand concerning Council Tax (you may be elligible for a refund).
Arrange to have your mail forwarded by asking for a re-direction form at a Post Office. For further details and cost go to www.royalmail.com
Notify gas, electricity, telephone, TV licence and other service providers for meter readings and final bills. Make sure you give them a forwarding adress to send bills or refunds.
Inform your bank or building society and leave a forwarding address in order to continue to receive statements etc.
If you have children of school age, notify the school/local Education Authority. Check out everything you need to know about the ’Education Nationale’ in France, its school programs and expectations. Find out what you can about the schools in the area to which you are moving.
Decide what to do with your car. If you are keeping it and taking it to France, you need to bear in mind the following.
Driving a right hand drive car on the right can cause all kinds of problems. (Sorry for stating the obvious!)
It is really not difficult to find a reasonably priced [second hand car in France and will save you a great deal of time and money in the long run, as well as having a resale value, unlike a right hand drive vehicle.
Very few English insurance companies will insure for permanent or even temporary relocation abroad. You will have to reregister an English car, a procedure which can be quite costly and lengthy (3 - 6 weeks or more). However, many French insurance companies will insure you whilst they are waiting for confirmation of your new registration document (carte grise).

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