We didn’t have a mutuelle for many years as we were in pretty normal health, and the only significant issue was covered by an ALD. So same as you, it seemed a luxury.
However, to me it’s also about what your expectations are. It may be that sometime soon I will need a complicated heart operation, and if this happens I want to be able to go for the most specialised expert in the field no matter what the cost. So we now have a mutuelle…
It’s all down to personal circumstances and a large helping of luck! Our mutuelle gives me a handy running total of what’s been paid out and for the last four years we have been ‘in profit’ - this definitely was not the case previously.
All mutuelles are not equal and it is absolutely essential that you find a policy that is tailored to your personal circumstances. Which is why I always recommend @fabien - he’s saved us a fortune in the last few years and given me 100% peace of mind - which is something you can’t put a price on.
Please could you explain. Your right to paid health care expired. Does that mean that initially on becoming resident in France we would still be entitled to UK health care or health care in France paid for by the UK?
Hi Teresa
In days gone by…some UK folk had 1 or 2 years cover supplied via the S1 form (prior to retirement)…depending on their NHI payments during the previous 2 (?) years in UK… that was the old system and is (I believe) no longer in existence… 
I don’t know if the scheme is still in existence or not, but we were told that depending upon when you moved here (January was the best date) you could get up to 2 1/2 years cover from the UK. We had to get some French paperwork from the UK at the time, which was obtained with a phone call to the relevant department.
" Early retirees
You can no longer apply for a residual S1 (formerly residual E106), which previously provided temporary healthcare to early retirees moving to other EEA countries."
https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/moving-abroad/planning-your-healthcare/
As a matter of interest, would Admin be prepared to say if Survive France receives any financial reward from Fabien with regard to the amount of SF subscribers?
Yes, SF receives a commission for referrals that become customers.
You can read James’ reply… and make of it what you will. The fact that so many of us recommend @fabien is because he has helped us to save money and ensure the best product… nothing to do with commissions… 
(my own witticisms and advice… are given absolutely freely… 
)
My OH was in Finance & Insurance in the UK for many years…we thought we “knew it all”… Our first Mutuelle here was the “bees knees”… but as time went by, we had no idea how to tweak things…
We needed someone with expertise in this country’s little ways. Fabien has guided us through the minefield and we have ended up better off… (and, before anyone asks… yes, we did discuss with other Advisors/Assurers)
'Nuff said.
Thank you for the honest reply.
Paul
My question was posed, as I posed one on another now defunct site several years ago. My question then was ‘Does the line between recommending someone and receiving a commission for it become blurred depending upon the amount of commission received?’ I asked it because I was aware of several people offering commission for referrals. The downside to that is the commission paid has to come from somewhere and that is going to be the customer buying the service. It’s just something that I’m not comfortable with.
I can’t be certain in that being the case.
You are correct in that any commission paid has to come from somewhere but not necessarily at the expense of the end customer… it can just as easily be a contribution from the standard commission that would have been paid in any event.
I doubt very much that @fabien adds his commission to your bill. The insurance industry doesn’t work that way AFAIK.
But, that aside, if the insured gets a better deal than he would otherwise have had, isn’t that just win-win?
Here’s a more comprehensive answer
Is it possible to pin a link to Amazon (.co.uk .fr .de) etc to make it easier to do so?
That’s a good idea, I’ll give it some thought.
Hi, let’s jump in the “commission issue” wagon 
I’ll try to remain on the line of the full disclosure, basically we are giving a cut of the commission on the first year only so that the advise isn’t biased. To be even more honest, brokers are usually paid 10% of the premium (on the net premium thought, which is usually roughly 10% less than the premium you’re actually paying). As per legal requirements we are not paying referral fees from the 2nd year and beyond so we actually “take the hit” on the first year by not keeping the full commission (sharing it with SFN in that case) and then we get the normal commission on the following years. It’s important to understand that the commission is always there, whatever you go to a local agent, online, through a broker or even direct with the company it’s still there and the only thing that changes is the one who claims it
Whatever the origin of the referral, I try to advise as honestly as possible and some here might (hopefully) confirm that I’m actually a terrible sale agent, as I’m mostly pitching for the lowest end offers that seems the more relevant to me in most cases rather than the higher end alternatives.
To put that simply, loyalty is what’s keeping us afloat nowadays, not one shot deals 
I have literally just put my pen down from writing cheques from @james ‘s latest hospital stay.
62.91 - lab fees
104.26 to the clinic
All of this will be refunded by the mutuelle. If we didn’t have one I’d have got 70% of the 62.91 .
I would also have had to pay the 74.60 in ‘excess’ pharmacy charges, plus four visits to the GP leaving me out of pocket to the tune of 227.73.
This is way more than our monthly premium and doesn’t include both him and I going to the kine (for other things) and taking our son to the doctors.
Personally I think unless you are both incredibly healthy and very lucky, not having a top up policy is quite mad!
I would also appreciate a link to Amazon as I do use their services from time to time and would be happy for SFN to benefit therefrom under this arrangement.
Just wish to say thank you to both Jim and Fabien for clarifying the commission issue and for Fabien’s approach to assisting clients. I turned to Fabien after joining this site and have found him to be excellent with providing me with better and more cost-effective policies for a mutuelle and rental insurance. He and his Associate provide great customer service and I trust their practices --a unique concept and lesson for business services in France ; )
So thank you to SFN and Fabien both from an American expat here!