Everyone who has moved recently will remember that moving is not just about packing up and putting things in a lorry. It is also about administration. There are lots of things to remember: Electricity company, Internet, Phone, Gas, HMRC for the benefits, Bank… On the other side, we must also set up everything on the other side. The fact that we are moving abroad makes things more challenging.
It has at times been frustrating. When I tried to sort out insurance for example. Each time I tried to have a quote on the web, I could get to a certain point, and got stuck because they wated also my present address and phone number. These being british, of course the site didn’t accept them. Then, when I tried to phone, most numbers were special numbers which I couldn’t call from abroad. And when I could get through, I was welcomed by a machine.
I did get to speak to a couple of people, but either the system had crashed, or the advisers were too busy. So at the end, I got a quote from someone based in Guingamp, the representative of AXA, and I went for them because they were the first human beings I got to speak to, no machine, and I got a quote pretty quickly.
Same to sort out the electricity, it took me ages to find a nuber I could phone from abroad. Internet could take time to sort out as I don’t have the phone number of the previous tenant.
But to be honest it hasn’t been as bad as I expected. Most things have gone smoothly. There are still more things to do, but we’ll get there. I am expecting some problems nce we arrive, as France is renown for its bureaucracy. But it’s ok, we’ll manage.