Dear EF members,

I have news for all. We are moving to Bristol, UK, very excited about that but having a lot of questions. My husband have to be in Bristol on June 7 so we have a lot of stuff to do.

1. I am pregnant, my due date is on July 2. I have a Swiss insurance (Vivao sympany) will it be more expensive or cheaper to give a birth in Bristol?

2. We are planning to buy a car before going to Bristol, where would you recommend to buy a used car, in CH, in Germany or in UK?

3. Do you know any good web sites where we could find an apartment there? Are apartments in Bristol furnished. We browsed an interenet and found some web sites but they were really nice and cheap... do not know believe or not?

4. We are planning to take our stuff (kitchenware, clothes) to Bristol. How should we ship them? Do you know affordable international shipping company?

5. How are you all ?

I will appreciate all replies.
Do you have any other suggestions, advice that we should know before going there.....

Thanks

congratulations on the pregnancy! renting in uk is generally cheaper and as for medical insurance if i were n your shoes id use the national health service which s free .[my I ON KEYBOARD keeps getting stuck and doesnt always type]Hope this is of some help good luck with everything esp for next July.Best wishes Sue

P.s Rightmove.co.uk website has comprehensive list of homes to let.

You can also have a look at this forum (hope it's ok for the link)

http://www.alloexpat.com/moving_to_u...kingdom_forum/

add : it's an old link from my bookmarks...

and congrats for the pregnancy....

You probably want to by a UK (right-hand) car to drive in the UK. The CHF is too high so it is defiinitely not worth buying here, and importing a used car is always a hassle.

Here are some answers for you...

1) Congratulations. It really depends what you want in terms of care, private rooms etc. The National Health system will look after you well and ensure you get good care and treatment for your child and you. It won't cost you anything.

2) I would buy a car in the UK.As mentioned earlier you really need a right hand drive car. I know because I have a left hand drive car in Switzerland and its a nightmare. Every time I go to a car park I have to get out of the car to get the ticket to let the barrier up to get in and out, the cars behind often get impatient too! Separately to import a car to the UK duty free you need to have had it registered in your name for a minimum of 12 months. Cars are relatively cheap in the UK.

4) There are loads of companies. We recently used a company to ship about 10 cu m for GBP 1k. They regualrly travel between UK and Switzerland. www.removalgroup.com

You need to change your forum name to "Arrives 2nd July"

1. Forget your health insurance. Unless things have changed radically, have your baby on the NHS. Most private hospitals in the UK haven't the expertise if any complications should arise. You could use your health insurance to get a private room once you've dropped the sprog.

2. Buy in the UK. The £ is rock bottom a the moment, so the CHF you've saved will go a loooong way.

3. Housing market in the UK is not doing very well. There's a glut of rental properties, so you should be able to find something pretty nice for a very reasonable amount. Fully furnished/semi furnished apartments are much more available than in CH. The difference in rent between unfurnished is not much greater either. Rentals are for 6 months, extendable every six months. If you need something shorter term, you can try a holiday let.

4. don't know

5. I'm good, thanks.

btw - July birthdays are good days for quality people - my wife's birthday is the 2nd, 1st july is my youngest daughter's - 5th is my grandmother's, and 18th my eldest daughter.

Bristol has lovely areas in which to live - and not so nice areas so make sure, when looking for houses/appartments, that you choose a nice area.

I'm sure there are people on this forum originally from Bristol who can advise.

If you are not planning to stay long term buy a (relatively new) second hand car, depreciation on new cars is steep - as we found out to our cost when we moved here

Re babe - You will need to register with a GP (General Practicitioner - Doctor) when you have somewhere to live - this is done by area not through choice of which you choose to see! You will then see the Community Midwife regularly 1/wk or 1/2wks & she will guide you through the process. Its all free & through personal experience I cannot fault it.

Theres no central site for rentals - its just legwork around the various rental & estate agencies.

Have a look at. http://www.medicsonthemove.co.uk/Bristol/Areas-of-Bristol.aspx#2515

I studied my BSc there long ago, but:

Clifton - hippish area, but full of students
Bishopston - city suburbia, a lot of old houses converted to flats
Henleaze & Stoke Bishop - leafy suburbia

Stay away from: Hartcliffe, Withywood, Filwood Broadway, Southmead and St Pauls

Bristol Royal Infirmary is a good university hospital, with excellent facilities, but don't have any experience or knowledge of births there.

Buy there as CHF is nice and strong and car prices in the UK are rock bottom. Also, you'd want a right-hand-drive car, which would cost extra if you bought it here/D.

Hi Susie

Congratulations and good luck with your move!

As others have already stated, Bristol is a great place to live, particularly the Clifton area, and it is also close to Bath which is gorgeous. Primelocation.com is also a good website for property searching.

Re the car, I have sent you a PM.

Best wishes for the future.

Hi and Congratulations

You need to register with a Dr and they will then get the midwifes to contact you this is with the NHS you may be able to get extras in hospital with your medical insurance i.e a private room. You usually see a midwife evety month until 30 weeks then every week you usually only have scans upto 20 wks in UK unless there are problems. You will get to write your own birth plan and usually get to choose whether you want a midwife or consulant led birth. I had my son in a community based hospital I has fantastic care and it was lovely experience.

The centre of Bristol is fantstic espically areas such as Clifton and Redlands very central with great cafe culture etc. Rents here are more expensive then other areas in Bristol but not if your used to living in Zurich. There are also some great areas a little further out if you fancy a house and a garden. A great site is www.rightmove.co.uk all the agents use the site but you may struggle to find a furnished place. Buying household funtuire is cheaper with a lot more choice in Uk so furnishing a place can be done quite reasonably.

For removals www.Lukerbros.com are great they specialise in removals from UK to Switzerland and vice versa.

You should buy your car in Uk a lot cheaper more choice.

Bristol is a great city I hope you enjoy your experience there, good luck x

Hi,

The are many removal companies, without going into details check this out before you use a broker company like removalgroup.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/compl...oup-c6620.html

good luck

Congrats on the move and the baby.

My friends with babies all joined the NCT National Childbirth Trust, and took their classes - was invaluable i n setting up a network of people going through the same thing at the same time and all stayed in contact for years afterwards.

My other tip is to use the profile part of :

http://www.upmystreet.com/

it can give a bit of insight into any property you find. As the others mentioned Bristol has lovely areas and very dodgy areas as well.

It is a lovely part of the world - shopping tip is that there are some good shopping centres nearby and one of my favourites is about 30 mins away- Clark's Village which is a great outlet village near Glastonbury.

Good luck, you will love the variety in shops especially for children's clothes and the prices will definitely be a pleasant surprise.

Oh thanks everybody for quick response, definitely every word, sentence is helpful for us.
- I have some questions in my mind about NHS. I am not EU or UK nationality (I hope it is clear ), would it possible to get NHS, is it working for everyone, for every visitor? Are we covered by NHS, also does it depend on our salary? at NHS web site I could not find NHS requirements.
Is there health insurance requirement for residents?

I think "hi everyone" should have been number 1.

Congratulations, I'll try to give you up to date info as I had a baby 1 year ago in London.

NHS is generally good and free.( Try not to give birth on a Sunday due to staff reductions). You need to register with your local GP and he/she will refer you to a hospital (you can choose the hospital) and there offer lots of options (natural birth, pool birth, mobile epidural, home birth). After leaving he hospital you are visited by a midwife for 10 days and the rest of the checks (weeks 6 and 8) at the clinic. There are lots of after birth support and lots of organisations that will help you with any issues you may have. Prior to birth, you can register with NCT- they run same sessions to prepare you for the birth and they also intend to create a support network with other people in your same situation. Costs £100 and it's useful for first time mothers.
Any info on taxes, benefits go to www.direct.gov.uk

To buy a second hand car you can buy locally in garages or magazines such as auto trade. I've bought all my second hand cars from www.cargiant.co.uk in London. It's worth to go as they have thousands of cars to look at in one go and this company has very good reputation. London is not far from Bristol.
Also, I will definitely buy it in the UK as there are many issues with insurances, number plates and road tax if you drive a left hand side car. You can check info on www.dft.gov.uk

Most rented accommodation in the UK is furnished unless specified. Beware of too cheap accommodation, as it may be located in a no so good area. I would avoid (ex)council estates. When I came to London I didn't know what it meant, now only too well. Luckily I never lived in one.
I advise you to check OFSTED report of schools around the area where you intend you live. That will give you an idea of the area. www.ofsted.gov.uk
Be careful with estate agents, they will try to sell you any thing. Read tenancy agreement carefully, many have very unreasonable clauses.

If you need any more info, just ask me.
Good luck
Sonia



1. I am pregnant, my due date is on July 2. I have a Swiss insurance (Vivao sympany) will it be more expensive or cheaper to give a birth in Bristol?

2. We are planning to buy a car before going to Bristol, where would you recommend to buy a used car, in CH, in Germany or in UK?

3. Do you know any good web sites where we could find an apartment there? Are apartments in Bristol furnished. We browsed an interenet and found some web sites but they were really nice and cheap... do not know believe or not?

I found that there are usually more un-furnished properties around but it depends on the area I suppose. Most websites have a filter to choose either.

Rightmove.co.uk, findaproperty.com, Zoopla.co.uk (formerly Hotproperty), Primelocation.com,
http://www.thomsonlocal.com/Letting-...ol/988/478460/ lists letting agents in Bristol.

Most go for a 12month contract with a 6 month break clause. You will have two give two months notice (sometimes one) once you have been there for at least 4months.
Find out if the propertry is managed by the Agent. If it is, you can chase them if problems arise and not the elusive landlord.

Haggle on the price!!

Try and get some references from your Landlord inc telephone number as they will most likely be needed by the reference company that the Letting agent uses.

hope that helps.

firstly bristol is 117 miles from london, and without a car thats going to take you all day on public transport.

Secondly cargiant (and car supermarkets in general) have a terrible reputation, selling unprepared ex fleet cars. steer well clear of em!

2nd hand cars are dirt cheap in the uk, just walk into any local car dealers and you'll be able to drive one away more or less then and there, give someone like directline a call to get insurance, and make sure the car has a Tax disc and a valid MOT certificate, the dealer will have to send off the V5 (certificate of ownership - more or less)*

Without a tax disc or insurance you'll be stopped and the car confiscated as just about all the police and councils use anpr now and it'll flag up the car isn't taxed and insured.


* yes I know its not really, but thats the easiest way to explain it

If you are taking up residence in the UK then the NHS is available to you - if a visitor will always get treatment but it is possible you or your home country health insurance may get charged depnding on circumstances.

If your partner is employed in the UK then he will have deductions for tax and social security - social security is used for state pensions and the NHS and other things. You do not need to pay anything towards the NHS - you are covered under his deductions (and in fact under the rest of the populations deductions) which, by the way, are a fixed % of gross salary and do not change according to how many people are in the family.