Contracts in France?

Question

I have heard a rumour that if you move abroad from France, you are not under any obligation to fulfil the terms of a contract.

We are English and have just moved back to the UK after living 4 years in France and Orange Fr have just taken over 300 Euros from our account as our contract expires next year, even though we will no longer use their service. Is this legal?

Answer 1

Stephane's right. We ran into that when we moved houses in the same city in France. My husband sent a letter but because it wasn't a REGISTERED letter, they were refusing to honor it and claimed they never received it (yeah right). Noos kept trying to bill us.

I think you're confusing it with renter's contracts. It's true that if your company ships you away, that's legal ground for breaking your lease. My company gave transfers on short notice so they agreed to write letters saying that *they* were sending us to another city so that we wouldn't get stuck with paying rent when we no longer lived there.

Some of the services can get picky and expats are warned that they might have to cancel contracts and live without certain services at the end of their stay.

Answer 2

Well said Stephane.

Read the small print in your contract. Penalty payments if you don't complete the contract are both common and legal.

Ian M

Answer 3

Un contrat ignore vos déplacements et considère votre obligation -

Dans le cas de Orange-fr vous avez signé à une date x et vous êtes tenu à cette date par périodes annuelles - en général vous devez bien veiller à envoyer une lettre recommandée accusé de réception deux mois avant la date du contrat pour présenter votre démission