Hello, back at the end of 2008 I could no longer afford the mortgage on my french and spanish properties, I spoke to the bank but they did not want to help, I ended up handing the keys to both banks. In March 2010 I had a few emails from the french bank asking if the local agent could market the house as they had a buyer, this was all agreed and I didn't hear anything till January 2013 when a uk debt company asked me for full payment. They sent me a full breakdown of costs and they had added 40000 euros in interest late payment fees, court costs etc. I told them I didn't have the money or the assets to pay and that they should refer it back to the bank as they were irresponsible lending me the money when I hadn't sold the spanish property, Forward to Jan 2014 the same uk debt company start chasing again, but I gave them the same answer as above. Today nearly 3 years later they have sent me a letter to my home address stating they want full payment in 7 days or they will recover the money. I never knew that they had opened proceedings against me, but I was made aware that the french start repossession after 90 day, but the bank and the uk debt company are saying the house is still in my name. They also sent me a contract to sign saying the house could be sold for €40,000 when I translated the document the house could have sold for €90,000 ????? they said it was a clerical error. Original debt €117,000 Euros. Total to date is €180,000 Euros . Any advice would be very welcome.

Hi, I have a question about last wills and testaments. I am a dual French/British citizen married to a British citizen and we have lived in the UK for almost 20 years. We own a house in the UK (as joint tenants). We want to write a will that will say to whom we want our respective share of the house to go to once we are both dead. We have no children and won't be having any. In my case, I want my share to go to my husband but I want to make sure that when he dies, if I'm already dead, my share goes to my siblings in France, who are French citizens, and not to my husband's family or new partner for example. Could someone please help me and let me know how I can make sure that his happens? Are there specific types of wills for UK people who want to leave their assets to someone in Europe? I have received very conflicting advice from some solicitors. Thank you very much in advance! Sonia G

Why take any dispute to the Ombudsman , is it worth the trouble? For the 3 time of trying to post this reply but worth reading:- Rights of Entry (Gas and Electricity Boards) Act 1954, The Gas Safety (Rights of Entry) Regulations 1996 In a genuine dispute there are no rights of entry(i.e magistrates warrant issued), however I would also caution health and safety matters if its a gas leak. if electricity meter dispute The Electricity Act 1989, The Utilities Act 2000 Note schedule 7 of 1989 act and schedule 5 of 2000 Act, an electric meter cannot be removed until a dispute is resolved. I did provide links to laws but the post is not going through. Hope this helps you and others. Mike

Hi guys. The other night I had the misfortune to have bailiffs from Marston's attend my property. I was asleep on the sofa my partner went outside to see what the noise was as we live on a partly industrial site and we have locked gates to the shared access. My partner came in frantic and woke me up to tell me that men who identified themselves as Law Enforcement Officers were here to see me.. I went out to greet them and instructed my partner to lock the door behind me. Stupidly neither of us had the good sense to video any of this because if we did then the following events may not have happened. I asked them what their business was they said they were there to exercise a warrant for unpaid fines. I replied that this was fine and I offered myself for arrest as they had led us to believe that they were Court Bailiffs and not Private Bailiffs. Whilst I was talking to them, one of them said they had the power to force entry yet never showed me any warrant.. .whilst I was being distracted by one Bailiff the other opened my rear gate and the next thing I hear is my partner screaming that the other Bailiff is forcing the French Doors open. Anyone that knows French doors will know that unless you have very thick bolts top and bottom that they are fairly easy for a 14 stone thug to push open regardless of how good your Chubb lock is on the handle assembly. Unfortunately I just have 2 little bolt locks at the bottom of the doors and they are only attached by half inch screws. I immediately rang 999 and asked for Police to report a case of breaking and entering.. .but once I told the operator that they were Bailiffs she said there was nothing they could do??? is that the case? All you need to burgle a house is a uniform and a bundle of lies. Now that they are both in the house they start just going through our things saying that they would be taking everything unless they received full payment of £700. To try and settle with them I offered them either of 2 cars, a 1 ounce gold chain or my Rolex watch left to me by my Grandfather.. .and they refused each of them and instead began to dismantle my computer and the 7 year old plasma TV I use as a monitor for it. My partner and I at this stage were terrified as the Police had turned their back on us, the Bailiffs didn't really seem to want to take goods.. .more like create a sense of fear, disruption and panic in our house. I told them I would happily surrender what I owned. ..gold chain, Rolex watch and 2 cars but as it was my partner's rented (furnished) house and not a joint tenancy nearly everything else belonged to either my landlord or my partner and I offered receipts to prove. They then said that they would be taking everything anyway and we could use the receipts that I had just offered to show them to claim what they had taken by applying to the Court. Then we get to the what they really want. .I said I had just given up my job through illness before Christmas and we simply didn't have that kind of money but I could get £300. They said "You must know someone who will lend it to you" and my partner then rang her Mum who paid it on her Credit Card. Now what this fine related to was a car I sold over a year ago to a car dismantler who was supposed to have applied for a new logbook informing the DVLA he was the new keeper but clearly he didn't. Now because the vehicle was neither SORN nor taxed apparently the DVLA can now 'do' you for no insurance. Now here is my guilt...I foolishly ignored their letters thinking that eventually the DVLA would be updated eventually. I then exacerbated things by ignoring the Court letters too. In my defence I suffer from PTSD and other mental health issues not to mention physical ongoing Pancreatic problems so I know it's bad but I do bury my head in the sand and hope everything will all go away. Not the actions of a perfectly mentally sound individual. Now what I have done so far to try and remedy the situation is send the DVLA a copy of the bill of sale for the car.. .and naturally they say it's not their problem now. ..so my next step is to deal with the Court. I also reported it this morning to the Police as a crime and let me tell you that is no easy task as the operator this time said she would pass it along to their crime team who would get back to me within a few days....no crime number or reference of any kind. I fully intend to help my partner's mother instigate a chargeback on her Credit Card although it seems to be ill advised on this site. ..as this payment was obtained solely under duress. Any advice or imput would be gratefully received. Thanks so much in advance

. I have a debt of €15k from a credit card from a French bank. I retired and came home to the UK intending to service the debt. Unfortunately, there was a marital break up and I can't pay more than about €50 per month. I have been contacted by email by a Hussier to contact ASAP. Should I reply and try to negotiate a low payment or ignore the mail - they don't have my address as yet.

French honorary consul in Turkey suspended over selling rubber dinghies to migrants http://www.france24.com/en/20150912-french-honorary-consul-turkey-selling-boats-migrants-francoise-olcay

HI all, Looking for some advice on a French mortgage debt please. I moved to France a number of years ok to work with my uncle and his property renovation business. My uncle wanted my cousin to get on the property ladder (he was 11 at the time) and he had some money to put down as a deposit on a mortgage. I had no money to my name as the business was struggling and I wasn’t paid for a number of months. We managed to secure a mortgage on a property owned by my uncles firm the date was around may 2007 . I never paid the mortgage as I had little control over my finances due to non payment from the business. Funds were put into my account for the mortgage every month. I left France in roughly 2008 and shortly after I was chased for mortgage arrears via email. I passed this onto my uncle who said it would be sorted. One thing to point out is I never had keys for the property!! About a month back I was pursued by an international debt collector for the sum of £32,000. The property was purchased for 68,000 Euros. Apparently the property was repossessed and I am being pursued for the outstanding debt. To confirm, the bank have made no contact with myself about the mortgage arrears or about the repossession of the property. The debt collector has told me that the French bank did not have any details for me. However, he has forwarded me the European enforcement order dated 28 July 2014 and it clearly has my UK address on it. So, where do I stand? I am being chased continually by them and there next action will be registering the EEO in the uk courts? To be clear I have no assets what so ever. They have asked for a breakdown of my income and out goings and I have been honest with them and there is no spare income to pay the debt. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

The French Government wishes to award the Legion d’Honneur to all surviving veterans of D-Day. The MOD website contains the following information https://www.gov.uk/government/news/d-day-veterans-award-of-the-legion-dhonneur – for the MOD news story https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/d-day-70-application-form-for-award-of-the-legion-dhonneur – for details about how to apply. Once you have opened this link, follow the below instructions: If you double click on where it says Administration Form for the D-Day 70 award of the Legion D’Honneur, a Word document is automatically download. Complete the form remembering to save it and a copy should then either be e-mailed to [email protected] or posted to the following address: Personnel and Training - Defence Services Secretary - Commemorations Floor 6 Zone C Ministry of Defence Main Building LONDON SW1A 2HB

Can anyone give us some good advice? We have paid two solicitors over the last few years and it's got us no where. And we are now unsure if we need a French solicitor to see us through the bailiff stage. Our failed leaseback meant we had an unfinished property. We have never been able to pay the E30,000 to finish the property and after about 18 months had to stop paying the mortgage. We tried to negotiate with the bank but to no avail. Now it's gone to bailiffs. We have had the first letter from the bailiffs. The debt is 140,000 Euros. We had to sell our UK property in connection to this disaster, so we now have no significant assets. I have drafted a letter with two options: 1) trying to offer a payment scheme and 2) offer of them taking our unfinished apartment which wont be worth much but will be something - maybe 40,000E. Have I done the right thing? I haven't yet sent it... We are reluctant to go bankrupt but this has been hanging over us for three years now. Should we just stick it out a little longer and hope the bailiffs will liaise with us? Might they just turn up and try take our possessions? If it goes to court in France - do we need to attend or must we take on a solicitor in France? Is this all worth it? Should we just go bankrupt? Has anyone been through this and come our the other side? We just want to move on with our lives, yet also we dont want to have to bankrupt. Just can't see a way out... Please help! Thank you so much in advance for any advice.

Hi, So this is my story... 2 years ago, I lived in France. When leaving, it seemed very difficult to close the bank account, lots of hoops to jump through. I couldn't close my bank account until I had proof that I had cancelled my direct debits. Because of this, I couldn't close the bank account until the day I left as I was renting a house, and they would only give me the paperwork when I left, which obviously had to be the day I was leaving the place as it was a small village. As sods law has it, I did everything that was asked, and after a very stressful morning, I walked into the bank with all the necessary paperwork, and they told me they couldn't do anything as they'd had a power cut. So I left them all the paperwork and they said they'd process it when the power comes back on. Fast forward 2 years, and I got an email from my aunt, who lives in that village, asking if I want to close my bank account and to send a letter if I wish to do so. I did this. She came back to me saying the bank account is 813 euros in the red...I left it with about 100 euros in it, but they've been charging me for having the bank account open apparently when I wasn't aware. I'm in an absolute state of panic as I don't have the money, and they say the charges will keep going up. Is there any way to negotiate with them? To haggle per say to make it more affordable? Please, please help. Thanks everyone for any advice, although I'm pretty sure it's not going to be good!

Sorry for the long title but can anyone offer any help or advice? My partner who is french has been living in Uk since 1999 following a messy divorce. Pension (child support) for his two children now mid 20's was agreed through the courts and he paid plus extra as a gesture of good will until he was made redundant in 2009 when he informed her of situation. 6 months later when he found new employment his youngest was by then in work and so independent. Never heard any more from ex wife until now!.. A month ago a court summons turns up from france with a court date in france later this year regarding the pension not being paid. He has contacted his ex to try and sort out without going to court as he know's he owes her 6 months payment although she is asking for 12 months. The most concerning thing and reason for my post is she is also saying she wants £2000 euros for a private school she put one of their children in in 2005 which he did not agree to and she never applied to have the pension increased for this amount, can she claim this from him? Also she is saying he owes her 5500 euros for debt dating back to 1999 and before, that is outstanding.( I think she has paid it but claiming back from him) He does not know what this debt is and has paid over and above for years as mentioned above to cover any outstanding bills. Can she claim this from him? I have been reading about "Statute Barred" on other posts and wondered if this would apply between individuals? In total she is asking for 10,000 euros, he is not in a position to pay anything like this and I am worried about court costs also. We worked it out to be about 1000euros owed? The most frustrating thing is he is an excellent father always maintained contact with his children and paid to support them, seing them regularly 2/3 x each year despite the distance. On the other hand my ex husband lives 20 miles down the road and hasnt seen our daughter for 15 years and never paid a penny and done everything possible via the CSA to avoid payment!! Not sure what to do here but feeling very frustrated, do we just go to court and fight it out?? Thanks for any advice

Hi everyone sorry for this but i am new to this, I lived in Oz for a couple of years and now live inbetween France and UK,i seprated from my wife in Oz and returned to the Uk so did my ex and i have a dept of $30000 which Credit corp has sent me a email demanding payment, The 2 cards were in my name so the dept is mine,i ran out of work so had to return. I have recieved a couple of emails stating that if i dont sort it out they will pass the it to a overseas agent, what can i do? and most important what can they do. I have assets in Europe which i had before i left uk. i returned back last year so the last payment was a year ago. great site. Thanks

French farce as British expats face a shock £8,000 fine if they do not declare their inheritance trusts to the Paris tax office Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2158326/British-expats-France-face-shock-8-000-fine-declare-inheritance-trusts.html#ixzz1xmmGQ3RJ

Simple question, has anyone had any bad (or good for that matter) experiences with the guarantees you get with folding or patio doors, i.e. 10year manufacturers guarantee etc??