Well, apologies if I got the names wrong. But your advice was not possible to follow as my local office didn’t take phone calls on this issue. I had to write to CPAM which I did in late November 2019, who sent me a form, which I filled in, sending it back with S1 and other documents required. I received notification of my Carte Vitale a few days ago. So about 2 and a half months. Not bad I thought.
Brenda…yes, you did get the name wrong = apology accepted.
CPAM will give appointments for face-to-face meetings, but you do have to phone to make the appointment. They will not discuss issues over the phone as a general rule.
If the issue involved Carte Vitale - I am surprised that you were not able to make an appointment. I agree that form-filling can be a nightmare, which is why it needs to be fully explained at a personal meeting. Your French would have been sufficient in that situation, I’m sure.
anyway, you are sorted now, so that is good.
I wonder if it differs region by region? I never made an appointment nor did I phone up. I wrote a short letter to the local CPAM, they sent me a form. I sent off my S1 with the documents and the form and I didn’t speak to a single person. I received the notification just over two months later.
Brenda Crowther
The point is Brenda (or Helena), this is a community website, not a “pay for professional advice” site. Thus any ‘advice’ you receive will be individual’s opinions, thoughts and experiences. And some of the ‘team’ such as @Stella and @vero go out of their way to help people out.
I personally found your complaints about the ‘advice from the site’ bordering on the rude and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to the team members (and potentially others) if they felt the same.
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My response was conditioned by the bullying I received from one member. I didn’t see you making much of that? What about an apology on behalf of the site for that?
On reflection, Catherine, I understand that this is a site which doesn’t offer professional service and I didn’t expect to find that. And of course I said in my first email that I didn’t mind mistakes. I really felt I had made that clear. Then I must say, what was it that I expected to find on this site? I expected to find the way to the door of the problem so that I might open it myself and do the work. But I did have a bad experience, and it was truly not very nice, and even the moderator (at least I thought it was a moderator) told this man to stop it, as I did. This man behaved as if he knew everything! I expect my responses are totally coloured by this and I understand that there are helpful people here. Whilst I am sorry that I may have spread these feelings out onto others, please be aware that I did have a rotten experience, and these things happen. And this time, it happened to me.
Hi. I have had/am having a fairly onerous time registering with Urssaf. ( Urssaf Limousin is taking over from La Maison des Artistes). I won’t bore you with more details but it now turns out I need to get my social security number from Ameli/CPAM. None of this saga was helped by the fact that in my ignorance I got the social security number and the fiscal tax number mixed up,thinking they were one and the same. So as far as an idiots guide is concerned I am now aware of three numbers: my Siret, Fiscal number and social security number. If I am missing any others do let me know! I would I think be further ahead if I had known from the get go 
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Mmmm… …
these numbers are easily confused… you are not the first…
Err you were actually unpleasant to me. I gave you honest advice based on the facts. If that was not what you wanted to hear I am sorry, but that’s life.
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Now, now now Dusty Dan! That won’t do! You pasted some lines of my website onto this site, and it had, on the very page you used, a note saying that the content and images could only be reproduced with permission from the site owner, that is, me! That is, the material was copyrighted. Now that really was discourteous, though at the time I guess it was impulsive. You need to apologise for that, whether you feel sorry or not.
You gave me advice that I didn’t ask for, and you were like a little terrier that wouldn’t let go. I told you to back off and someone on the site did the same.
Please don’t play the innocent!
Of course I was unpleasant to you for using that in such a way - where’s your backbone!
If you put stuff on the internet, expect it to be shared.
If you are not happy with that, keep a diary and use carrier pigeons.
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You know Catherine, sometimes there is nothing wrong with a bit of conflict and you apologising for me is a bit Christ-like. I admit to being blunt at times, this may be what you mean by bordering on rude - but it is not rude really - sometimes things need saying as they are. We shouldn’t be smoothing things out like this but getting to the bottom of what is happening. I keep telling you, I did not ask for advice on tax! I was already paying for it with Cabinet Henderson!!
I will tell you one good and creative thing that has come out of this: I have put together on A4 sheet for people moving into my area (south Burgundy). They get the address of the local CPAM, and a sample letter. Straightforward stuff. My belief is, from the advice given on this site, that although the system remains the same throughout France, that the method differs according to region so I may as well take on my region. I shall leave my name at the local information office for people to contact me. I will try to open the door (not do it for them) so they just know how to initiate things. The same for tax. The question I asked on this website was the link between tax and l’assurance maladie. I got the reply from a lady in the Jura - she said it straight: don’t complicate things, do the CPAM and do the tax.
Of course, you will guess that I don’t know any English people here, which is why I have to go to the local Information centre. I was helped by the French people here very consistently - but they didn’t know connections between England and France.
All the stuff on this site happened about three months ago, ie with Dusty Dan Miller, so I don’t remember the names. On the questions I asked for which I received relevant answers - these were helpful. The tax side-road was not.
[quote=“Helena, post:52, topic:28746”]
You know Brenda, or Helena, Catharine’s name is CathArine. It is quite annoying having people consistently using and misspelling one’s name, don’t you think?
As she is the owner of this site, if she chooses to issue polite apologies to users of it, à propos whatever she wants to, that is rather her business.
I completely agree with you about saying things as they are, so here you are: I think you need to get out more.
And you are still banging on about it. In the immortal words of Frozen, ‘Let it go…’
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Oh dear lady! If you post something about your business on the Internet then post something else on this forum do you really expect people not to comment upon it. Are you saying that it’s alright to lie if that lie is protected by you typing copyright. Backbone? I appear to be the one with that, you are continuing to be evasive as ever.
Let’s just keep it simple; if what you published on your web-site is correct you should be paying part of your tax liability in your country of residence, France. If you lied on your copywritten website then that’s something else. Take me to court, no judge would object to me copying part of your website as an answer to you on a website that you have already posted a link to it.
I think it’s not just your tax that you need sorting out.
I like your wit Caroline! The diary and carrier pigeons - more of this!
OK, it is fair enough to stick copyright disclaimers on a site if there is substantial original work but it is, as has been observed, very difficult to protect material that you have put on the 'net - one problem is that merely viewing your website involves making copies so you are giving implicit permission for copying at that level.
But, more importantly, the Berne convention (to which both France and the UK are signatories) allows certain exceptions - for instance for teaching or for analysis and review. Quoting a few lines from a public web site for purposes of illustration and discussion is well within the “fair use” definitions.
Note that, facts themselves cannot be subject to copyright, so none is attached to information regarding your place of work and, given that information was freely placed on your website, by yourself, no invasion of privacy has taken place either.
Tricky stuff, putting content on the web 
Who’s Caroline?
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I assume it is Brenda/Helena’s little joke, with reference to getting names right.
Don’t be such a drama queen Dan! Of course my website is in the public domain - we all know that. What I didn’t like was that you pasted it onto theTHIS website to show me what I had written, when I wrote the stuff myself! As if I didn’t know! I was speaking of the discourtesy of such an action, not the legality. As if I would take you to court - don’t be ridiculous!
As Catherine Higgins says: “… any ‘advice’ you receive will be individual’s opinions, thoughts and experiences.” Well, I didn’t ask you for advice so I don’t need to be evasive. I wouldn’t do that - I would use someone professional and pay for it. Are you an accountant by any chance? Or does your ‘advice’ come from ‘your experience’ ? I haven’t met anyone who put their tax returns on their website!
Well, I didn’t know that Catharine was the owner of this website and she didn’t say so.
A propos of your comments, three months ago I said I would look for some correct information after the exchange with Dan Miller. So I found it and came back. Also someone asked me about the form that CPAM had given me, and I said I would wait and see what happened and then come back. You don’t need to worry about me letting go. I always come back to things that are unfinished and then go.