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Questions for those who have lived in France, especially those who have rented!

Me again, with more year abroad questions! :biggrin:

Are the contracts for most flats in France fixed at 12 months? How do you get your deposit back if you've already left the country before your contract has finished? (for example if it ends in August but you come back to the UK once the academic year is over)
What papers exactly do you usually need to show a landlord?
As well as paying a deposit, do you have to give any months rent in advance usually? How should one pay for this – do all French bank accounts usually come with a cheque book? I am worrying about this because I'd like to get a bank account sorted asap once I've arrived in France but surely I would need proof of address to do that, which I won't have until I've finalized where I'm living exactly which I can't do without having my bank account and the money to pay for any deposits/months rent in advance... urgh, I hope that made some sense! Also, I imagine it will take a few days for your bank account details to be sorted.

I understand that you can get some money to help contribute towards your rent in France, CAF I think it’s called? What exactly do you need to do to obtain this and how much is it usually worth?

This is slightly unrelated to accommodation stuff but does travel insurance cover most health issues usually or do you need to get separate health insurance? Your luggage and personal property would all be covered under travel insurance, right? Any insurance companies that anyone would recommend?

Reply 1

oxymoronic

19

fireit

This is slightly unrelated to accommodation stuff but does travel insurance cover most health issues usually or do you need to get separate health insurance? Your luggage and personal property would all be covered under travel insurance, right? Any insurance companies that anyone would recommend?

I can't help you with the renting in France part but I can help you with this...

Basically, I am assuming here that you're an EU citizen? If you are, get yourself an EU health card (which you should have anyway if you've stepped out of the UK over the last few years) and then you're eligible for the exact same health benefits as the French and you won't be asked to pay anything extra.

However... this is where it can become expensive:

For general insurance, you can get either study abroad insurance or general travel insurance. Study abroad insurance is generally more expensive and covers you for say, 3 trips back to the UK within a period of a year. Travel insurance is just regular insurance and the problem with it is that your trip has to start in the UK and usually has a maximum lenght of 30 days which is no good for years abroad. However you can get a couple of providers who will allow you to add an extension onto a multi trip travel insurance which might work out cheaper.

For example, I'm with the AA and I paid £65 in total for a 1 year multi trip policy for within the EU. It is normally about £30 but I paid extra to get it extended to trips of up to 90 days in length. I worked out that I was returning to the UK enough times (christmas, my birthday in March, and then when I finally come back in June) that I'd only be away from the UK for just less than 90 days each time. If you can get away with doing this I'd advise it as it works out cheaper than the £100+ that the companies want for study abroad insurance. My friend also did this, and they haven't come home at all the entire year, they just booked random flights with ryanair when they were 1 pence each to show that they "came back" to the UK and then their 90 days started again. I just had to say that I wasn't planning on doing any volunteer work whilst I was away, I didn't have to sign anything to say I wasn't living in the country or anything like that.

If you can do it this way I'd reccommend it as its cheaper and then you're also covered for travelling around whilst you're on exchange, and then you've already got insurance for your travels post erasmus. I'm going to so many EU countries this summer to visit my friends that it is just handy to have it sorted already. Then with the travel insurance you're covered for any extra health things such as if you died/got injured/needed airlifting/anything else which might happen, which you're not covered for with the EU health card as it is supposed to be part of your travel insurance.

Study abroad insurance wise - several of my friends are with Endsleigh. They were reccomended to us by uni.

Reply 2

Joanna May

15

It depends whether you go to a landlord directly or find a room in someone's apartment. Subletting a room is usually the easiest option because that way everything's been sorted and you make your arrangements with the person who lives there. My friend lived in an apartment with a French lady who rented out loads of rooms, and she just signed a private agreement that she was staying for four months, and gave a month's rent in cash to her.

www.appartager.fr are brilliant for people who only want short term contracts. Have a look around there. A lot of ERASMUS students post on there nearer the start of term looking for extra flatmates, as do French students who are leaving their current flatshare to do their own ERASMUS placements.

EDIT: As for CAF, I'm not sure quite how you claim it. It's such a hassle to sort out, I probably wouldn't bother really. I lived in France for four months, and only got all the paperwork sorted about three months in, because it was so ridiculous. Maybe the ERASMUS office at your university will be able to help you, although be prepared for a headache.

Reply 3

fireit

OP

Thanks oxymoronic for the insurance info! Very helpful. :smile:

Joanna May

It depends whether you go to a landlord directly or find a room in someone's apartment. Subletting a room is usually the easiest option because that way everything's been sorted and you make your arrangements with the person who lives there. My friend lived in an apartment with a French lady who rented out loads of rooms, and she just signed a private agreement that she was staying for four months, and gave a month's rent in cash to her.

www.appartager.fr are brilliant for people who only want short term contracts. Have a look around there. A lot of ERASMUS students post on there nearer the start of term looking for extra flatmates, as do French students who are leaving their current flatshare to do their own ERASMUS placements.

EDIT: As for CAF, I'm not sure quite how you claim it. It's such a hassle to sort out, I probably wouldn't bother really. I lived in France for four months, and only got all the paperwork sorted about three months in, because it was so ridiculous. Maybe the ERASMUS office at your university will be able to help you, although be prepared for a headache.

Yes, I was thinking of just finding a room in an appartment through a website like that. Can you then sort out a lot of the stuff with the people already living there?

I'm going to be in France for the whole year so I really think that the CAF will be useful, it won't matter too much if it takes some time for it to come through.

Reply 4

wes

10

fireit

Me again, with more year abroad questions! :biggrin:

Are the contracts for most flats in France fixed at 12 months? How do you get your deposit back if you've already left the country before your contract has finished? (for example if it ends in August but you come back to the UK once the academic year is over)

That'd depend on your landlord really. My current landlord (well, a cabinet de gestion returns it by cheque a couple of months after the termination of the contract (that's legally as late as they can leave it, though I have a vague recollection that this might have changed under the new laws last year). My previous landlord did it by bank transfer (so make sure you leave your French account open in this case :p:

i've also known of landlords who do it in cash. On that occasion they did it on the day the person left the flat. That place was rather dodgy though and I'm not sure they were en règle so to speak.

What papers exactly do you usually need to show a landlord?

This can really vary according to the landlord. French landlords are very fussy (because it's so hard to eject someone from the flat in France compared to the UK). If you get student finance, get a justificatif (even if all you can get is from the year before), proof of parents earnings, passport, carte de séjour (if you need one, you don't if you're British), RIB (bank details), etc., perhaps proof of being a student (they like to know your professional status). Basically everything they can get...

As well as paying a deposit, do you have to give any months rent in advance usually? How should one pay for this – do all French bank accounts usually come with a cheque book?

I've had to pay a month in advance on both my flats so far. On the first one it was done by credit card (this is pretty unusual though. Otherwise you can sort out a eurocheque or something I guess, it'll depend on the landlord. If you have a French bank account it's much easier. They should give you a chequebook, but it might take two weeks to order it, so watch out if you don't have one already. After that rent may be by prélèvement automatique (direct debit), cheque, or cash, I guess.

I am worrying about this because I'd like to get a bank account sorted asap once I've arrived in France but surely I would need proof of address to do that, which I won't have until I've finalized where I'm living exactly which I can't do without having my bank account and the money to pay for any deposits/months rent in advance... urgh, I hope that made some sense! Also, I imagine it will take a few days for your bank account details to be sorted.

The good news is that generally you'll get your bank account details on the spot when you sign up. You will need proof of address (you can ask the potential landlord for help with this... :wink:

) what you won't have straight away is carte bleue or a chequebook. (à ce propos, you are entitled to a chequebook. I did have one bank say no to me (I solved the problem by switching to a different branch of the same bank :rolleyes). Don't let yourself get fobbed off by them...

I understand that you can get some money to help contribute towards your rent in France, CAF I think it’s called? What exactly do you need to do to obtain this and how much is it usually worth?

You need to fill in some forms from the CAF to claim APL (you can possibly do it online, otherwise find out where your office is at caf.fr. There's also a simulator to calculate how much you can get, I think). For info, in a flat at about 650€/month I got about 200, in a flat paying 440€/month I get 110€...

This is slightly unrelated to accommodation stuff but does travel insurance cover most health issues usually or do you need to get separate health insurance? Your luggage and personal property would all be covered under travel insurance, right? Any insurance companies that anyone would recommend?

Firstly, make sure you get an EHIC card in the UK, which entitles you to the standard French state health insurance. It doesn't cover 100% though unless you have a chronic illness. You can get complementary cover from a mutuelle (the LMDE is a good bet as a student). I'm not sure if you need a French social security number for that though...

Reply 5

fireit

OP

Thank you so much for all that information wes! So I could, for example, use traveler's cheques to pay for a deposit if I haven't got my cheque book yet? Or I could set up a one off transfer through my french bank account?

I plan to maybe go see a few places in one/two days asap after I arrive and then to go and get my bank account sorted once I have an idea of where I'd actually like to live so I can get some form of proof of address.

Reply 6

wes

10

fireit

Thank you so much for all that information wes! So I could, for example, use traveler's cheques to pay for a deposit if I haven't got my cheque book yet? Or I could set up a one off transfer through my french bank account?

I plan to maybe go see a few places in one/two days asap after I arrive and then to go and get my bank account sorted once I have an idea of where I'd actually like to live so I can get some form of proof of address.

Travellers cheques ?! Noone takes those... Seriously, don't inflict them on yourself, it'll be a right pain trying to find somewhere to change them.

At worst, ask if you can a) make a bank transfer, or b) get a bank cheque (where you go into the bank and ask them to make you a cheque. It costs about 8€ though IIRC).

I suggest : find your landlord and discuss this with them. Sort out how you're going to pay your deposit and rent in advance, even if it's by IBAN transfer ; otherwise it's a bit tricky...see if they can wait a few days to receive it. Anyway, they can provide you with a copy of your bail, which is sufficient documentation.

Reply 7

yellowwdaisy

1

they definitely ask you for a ridiculous amount of rent in advance- someone probably mentioned that already

Reply 8

wes

10

yellowwdaisy

they definitely ask you for a ridiculous amount of rent in advance- someone probably mentioned that already

They can only ask for one month in advance, and one month's worth of rent (charges hormises) as a deposit.

Reply 9

fireit

OP

wes

Travellers cheques ?! Noone takes those... Seriously, don't inflict them on yourself, it'll be a right pain trying to find somewhere to change them.

At worst, ask if you can a) make a bank transfer, or b) get a bank cheque (where you go into the bank and ask them to make you a cheque. It costs about 8€ though IIRC).

I suggest : find your landlord and discuss this with them. Sort out how you're going to pay your deposit and rent in advance, even if it's by IBAN transfer ; otherwise it's a bit tricky...see if they can wait a few days to receive it. Anyway, they can provide you with a copy of your bail, which is sufficient documentation.

Does bail mean like a lease?
I'll need a few days to transfer enough money to my French account as well. I really think I am going to need at least a couple of weeks to sort out all this stuff before I actually start uni in France... it's so overwhelming just thinking about it all. :o:

Reply 10

wes

10

fireit

Does bail mean like a lease?
I'll need a few days to transfer enough money to my French account as well. I really think I am going to need at least a couple of weeks to sort out all this stuff before I actually start uni in France... it's so overwhelming just thinking about it all. :o:

Yep, a bail is a lease.

I'd recommend opening an account with Nationwide - they let you withdraw 300€/day without charges or commission, which'll cost you lest than IBAN transfers (and is frankly a lot less complicated).

Reply 11

Da Bachtopus

12

wes

For info, in a flat at about 650€/month I got about 200, in a flat paying 440€/month I get 110€..

CAF is amazing! They basically reimburse you about at third of your rent if you can prove you're not earning anything / very much. It's bureaucratic as hell, but you'd be insane not to bother looking into it.

Reply 12

wes

10

Da Bachtopus

CAF is amazing! They basically reimburse you about at third of your rent if you can prove you're not earning anything / very much. It's bureaucratic as hell, but you'd be insane not to bother looking into it.

It's bloody brilliant.

That said, several months of my flatmates money disappeared because they changed her date of birth when she changed département. It said she was born in '64 instead of 86...and then when that was fixed it didn't come because it said she'd been célibataire since 1964 too :rofl:

Their software needs fixing...

Reply 13

Da Bachtopus

12

wes

It's bloody brilliant.

That said, several months of my flatmates money disappeared because they changed her date of birth when she changed département. It said she was born in '64 instead of 86...and then when that was fixed it didn't come because it said she'd been célibataire since 1964 too :rofl:

Their software needs fixing...

The CAF is the the only place I have actually shouted at a middle-aged French lady sitting on the other side of plexiglass. I suppose I at least now know my threshold for bureaucratic ********. I love the fact that in their offices they even have signs saying things like "If everyone's nice and calm, everyone's happy!" and so on, and asking you not to shout at them.

Reply 14

wes

10

Da Bachtopus

The CAF is the the only place I have actually shouted at a middle-aged French lady sitting on the other side of plexiglass. I suppose I at least now know my threshold for bureaucratic ********. I love the fact that in their offices they even have signs saying things like "If everyone's nice and calm, everyone's happy!" and so on, and asking you not to shout at them.

The CAF office I've visited didn't have plexiglass :no:

I've never shouted at one before, but I did have to drag a friend out of the sécu office before she did anything arrestable :p:

Reply 15

Breadster™

13

reviving an old thread isn't my thing but does anyone know what type of documentation the CAF requires of you? (apart from proof of lease/contract) Any tips for sorting this out would be great because if we know we can get at least 100e/mois back off them that sort of adds to our budget. Thanks.

Reply 16

wes

10

Breadster™

reviving an old thread isn't my thing but does anyone know what type of documentation the CAF requires of you? (apart from proof of lease/contract) Any tips for sorting this out would be great because if we know we can get at least 100e/mois back off them that sort of adds to our budget. Thanks.

It depends a little on your département, but surprisingly little. You need the attestation de loyer (filled in by your landlord) details of your own situation (filled in by you). Possibly photocopies of passport and birth cert (It's a very long time since I originally started claiming it.

But like I said, it depends on the area. CAF 92 and CAF 94 didn't ask for more than the above as far as I can remember, but CAF 75 has a nasty habit of requiring a birth certificate (printed recently and translated by a traducteur assermenté, just to be a pain in the arse), from what I've heard.