If you have sufficient but not too much income. Any sort of pension is very useful.
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Hi Paul… Taxe Fonciere is payable by all property owners… unless
Personnes âgées ou invalides
Sont exonérées de taxe foncière 2018 pour leur résidence principale les personnes suivantes :
- les titulaires de l’allocation supplémentaire d’invalidité sans aucune condition de ressources ;
- les titulaires de l’Aspa (allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées, anciennement minimum vieillesse) sans aucune condition de ressources ;
- les titulaires de l’allocation aux adultes handicapés sous condition de ressources ;
- Les personnes âgées de plus de 75 ans sous condition de ressources.
I know of folk more or less on what we would call the breadline who have still had to pay TF…
I think what I am really trying to say is… think of the figure you will need and double it. If you do not have enough to do that… buy a smaller/cheaper to run home to leave more money in the kitty…
In theory yes and something I am still personally working through…
In theory I was wholly entitled to apply 3 months after arriving in 2016 but I left it a while…I’m very much for taking responsibility for my own health so it wasn’t on my list of priorities…still isn’t…,but I still don’t have my Carte Vitale…x 
I hope you are taking care of your own health by having health insurance then. Having health insurance is a basic requirement of residency and at the moment in particular it’s very important to have all the boxes ticked.
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Isn’t there also an exonération based on income or have I misunderstood this info:
OK, I’m genuinely interested in this because it is something I haven’t been able to get my head around or find a simple explanation for.
Am I right in that:
If I come over as a UK retiree I can (currently and, as far as we know, post Brexit) get an S1 which means I’m entitled to healthcare/CV and the cost is reimbursed by the NHS.
If I come over and get a job which pays enough I presumably pay whatever cotisations are due and get healthcare - I might need to pay for mutuelle cover to top this up as not all costs are covered by PUMA.
As an aside the mutuelle fees were what I was mainly thinking of when I said that health insurance would easily take you over 832€ if other outgoings are in the 650-700€ range as I’ve seen figures up to around a couple of hundred euro per month for cover.
If I come over before the age of 67 (so no S1) but with enough retirement/investment income I’ll presumably need to pay cotisations as well.
But there is a narrow band between the minimum income and the income level at which you start paying cotisations (I believe this is 9,654€) - if you fall below that but above the minimum what happens? Does being an EU national or not make a difference. Sounds like Helen is in this band.
It’s a bit academic as I’m unlikely to be able to afford to quit work until I reach official retirement age so should get an S1 at that point but it depends a bit on how badly the government buggers up the country with Brexit.
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I’m aware of that David but I’m currently at an impasse…I’ve applied…gave them everything but the kitchen sink…probably more… and still waiting…I’m hoisting my sails and girding my loins to go back again in the new year…x 
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Hi Paul… if you have SI or whatever cover… yes, you will need a top-up insurance.
I did give an extract of who “might” be exonerated TFoncière…
those in receipt of invalidity pension/Aspa finanancial aid to top-up low income …/ Handicap-payment… that sort of stuff…
and over 75’s with very low income…
I’ve sent you a pm.
Thanks, that clears that one up.
Yes, the page I linked gave the same categories but I read it as “… OR persons whose taxable income does not exceed a certain ceiling (see table below)” - but the French is a bit complex and I admit I can’t quite work out whether that clause stands on its own or is related to those cohabiting with someone in receipt of Aspa.
How long ago did you apply? We have this to do in March after we will have been resident in France for 3 months. I have just today paid for a years health cover and hope I will get my carte vitale within 9 months.
As a rule of thumb… there is very little financial aid for those who are not French Nationals… even for those immigrants who are employed, but fall on hard times. Yes, there will be someone chiming in with “.oh, I have had some help”… but in the main, folk are expected to be able to pay their way.
I arrived June 2016 as the “U.K.” voted leave and my son turned 21…nothing to do with me as I haven’t voted since the wmd lie…
After 6 months plus here I applied for my Carte Vitale and produced my EH1C which was valid for a year and indeed is still valid for 5 years…she and I agreed that it was temporary and still had 6 month’s validity at my time of application…everything got sent off and then I received a letter asking for documents I didn’t have…S1 included…I’m of the opinion now that they weren’t exactly ready for the new 3 month residency rule…I don’t blame anyone…
I was asked amongst many other documents to produce a document giving up my rights to uk healthcare…I have to admit I am reluctant to do this mid brexit…!
I KNOW I’m entitled to a Carte Vitale here…even though I have no intention of using it bar me being admitted to a&e in an unconscious state…
Eventually I anticipate that this will re-solve…
I was under the impression that if I am a French resident I can only use my EH1C for 3 months.
I assume you’re not old enough for an S1.
I admit I do have some anxiety about getting into the health system but I will see how it goes.
Thanks. Hope you get sorted.
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Which would be what I’d expect - except that, from the current conversation, there seems to be a narrow window where you have enough income to be in the country legally as an inactif and the point at which you start paying for healthcare where it is covered by the State.
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This is true (but see below).
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Helen serious illness can creep up on anyone however careful they are about lifestyle and accidents happen to more people who do not take part in extreme sports than to those who do.
EHICs. It’s hard to believe that something so small and so easy to acquire has created so many myths. A UK issued EHIC card is residency based and is only valid when its holder is abroad in a reciprocal country which means, for a U.K. resident on holiday in Europe, it’s valid for up to three months at a time. If on a random day during your French holiday in your maison secondaire you decide that you’re staying you become a resident and the EHIC card is no longer valid despite what the end date says. The waters have been clouded a bit as several departments, including La Vienne and La Charente, have stated that a U.K. EHIC card can be used to prove health cover for people applying for a CdS if they’ve been in France less than a year. In fact they are mistaken and the mistake has been explained by the fact that the French issued card is valid until its expiry date even if the holder becomes resident in another EU country. The proof of the pudding… as they say, and beware, yes your department might issue a CdS on the strength of your EHIC but the NHS will not pay your bills if you’re a French resident. Anybody who has applied for a CV through PUMA has already told the NHS that they are now a French resident to get the rejection letter that PUMA requires and has received a letter stating clearly that they are no longer covered by them. Beware health care can be very expensive.
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As David has said - the basic rule in the UK is that only UK residents are entitled to NHS care, with certain exceptions. Your EHIC may have an expiry date some way into the future, but the fact is that it automatically becomes invalid as soon as you cease being a UK resident, unless you fall into one of the exception categories. It’s exactly like if you had a bank card with a expiry date in 2020, but if you closed the account that card is no longer valid even though it hasn’t reached its expiry date
EU healthcare coordination system has been carefully designed firstly to ensure that every EU citizen is entitled to healthcare from one EU country and nobody falls through the gaps, but secondly, to ensure that no EU citizen is covered by two EU national health systems simultaneously.
So normally, in order for a new country to take you on, they check first to be sure that you don’t have healthcare somewhere else. Logically, why would France want to take responsibility for your healthcare if it thinks the UK is still responsible for you? If you want a carte vitale you need to phone DWP in Newcastle and ask them to issue a letter confirming you are no longer covered by the UK. Without that, your application for a carte vitale will never get any further.
I doubt the préfecture would issue a carte de séjour on the strength of an EHIC, they are more clued up than the average CPAM fonctionnaire.
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Anna, the two prefectures that I have mentioned have said that they will accept EHIC cards as I wrote above.
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I truly appreciate your comments and concern…I fully expected that it would be 5 years before I could apply but I arrived here as everything changed…and now it’s all in flux…
I arrived here with every intention of being resident from day 1…no ifs no buts and everything I’ve done since has reflected my intention to stay here…
Except…my Carte Vitale…I was quite anticipating being responsible for my own health for the first five years (if not always) but then it was suddenly all about the right to apply after 3 months…I can easily prove the first 3 months residency…and ever since…
Where’s the contradiction …??? If I need a doctor I have the means to pay…If I need to go into hospital then likewise I have the means to pay…,I’m not after anything for nothing…