Here are a few tips on some of the admin work that needs to be carried out when you move to France.
You will need to advise the Department of Works and Pensions that you are moving and obtain an S1 form from them. This is necessary to get your Health Insurance and coverage in France.
Makes lots of photocopies of your Passport, Birth certificate and driving license. You will find that you will need to produce these for most things.
Then when in France go to your local C.P.A.M (Casisse Premarie d’Assurance Maladie ) In our case it was Poitiers. Taking your S1 form with you to get your Carte Vitale which is necessary
to get treatment in France.
You will want to get a bank account set-up. We approached the manager of our local bank who spoke excellent English and could not have been more helpful in opening bank accounts and arranging for our pensions to be transferred.
Also insure that your new property in France is adequately insured. I am sure that your Notaire will advise you of this and will point you in the right direction.
As far as bills and taxes were concerned. We found a local English lady who’s job it was to help expats with all our bills, letters and tax forms as we really did not understand them. She charged an amount for each transaction and I would certainly recommend asking around to see if you can find someone similar. It removed all the stress having someone to talk to and help with difficult
paperwork.
Then of course you will need to learn French. We joined a group of expats in the village to have twice weekly lessons. Not only were we learning French but we made some lasting friendships. In ten years since moving to France our French has improved considerably enabling us to talk to and join in with village activities and celebrations.