Hello to everyone here! I seem to have arrived with a bit of a bang, haven't I. I'm sorry about that but, having read some of the obvious trolling that had been going on I felt compelled to speak out.
I'm not sure if this is in the right place, but it seems to be the only place I can put it. My question is fairly simple (I hope). I have a 7.5 tonne van and am looking to bring it over with me to Italy when I finally move here full-time (next
Good to see you have your usual opinion about everything, Karen. Oh! But you didn't share your opinion about the story posted: only how you just think everyone that posts (or used to post) here is "sad". You are the sad one.
You are making the mistake of thinking that health cover here is not tied to your residenza - it is. You may well have an Italian wife, but my claim is based on my being Italian (although brought up in London mostly), with all my family being Italian as well - so let's not play the "I'm more Italian than you" game. Your comune will interpret the private health insurance issue in it's own way when you apply for residenza, which no amount of arguing the point will change, so don't play the beligerant, "I'm European/British" card or you may well come a cropper. When you get your Tessera Sanitaria you can register with a GP of your choice if his "list" is open. This is the open door to the Italian state health card system. If you have no residenza, you have no health cover other than as I said above. Is it really so difficult to understand? It's simple and logical.
I'm always amazed at how people that don't live in Italy think they know "the answers" to how things work here. If you actually live here you will need residenza to get a doctor. Once you have a doctor you are in the system, so all of the services are there for you as for any Italian. I've already told you how prescription charges work here, so won't say again - up to you if you want to read it or not. If you don't have residenza here, you are treated as a tourist with health services open to you if your home country has an agreement with Italy - which means that if you are American, you have none apart from basic emergency care as we have available to us in America. To get residenza you must have either a job here (tax payer), a pension or have private health insurance. The 5 year permanent residency has nothing to do with health care - only your residenza entitlements. It's really simple and not hard to comprehend, is it? It really doesn't matter what the British health service is like if you are here, does it? You might not like the Italian health service but, really, what are you doing living here if that is so. Just come here on your holidays and get holiday health insurance, then go back home to your "lovely" NHS hospitals. Job done.
I just thought that this map of Italy, courtesy of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, showing the seismic activity here might be of help to you. You will see that 'your' area is not immune from the odd rattle. Sorry about the size it appears. I uploaded a much bigger one, but this website has shrunk it down to this. You still get the idea though, even if you can't read the numbers, yes?
Sebastiano is essentially correct. Once you have residency in Italy you are entitled to have full health care and are also eligible for drugs which, once prescibed by a doctor here, you only pay the standard prescription charges for. If you have a chronic illness you can request a special card from your ASL office which will give you the required drugs free of all charges, including prescription charges. You can pay privately for anything if you want to, which for tests and hospital check-ups will vary according to the speed with which you are seen (ie private) and how important the proceedures are - if you want a hair transplant, for example, you will have to pay. If you don't have residenza you are not entitled to anything other than emergency treatment once you are outside of the terms of the European Health Card, which is the scheme that the UK has signed up for. If you are extra communita - ie American, Australian, etc - you only have access to private health care, which can be accessed by insurance or wallet. Simple really.
What matters is what shows on the catasto, which is presumably what your geometra looked at. You can get a copy of the current drawings as recorded easily enough, although if your geometra has already got a copy of the drawings you need only ask him for a copy. If not, you can even get a copy on-line from either Catasto.it or Homeonline . I'm sure you can find others quite easily if you search. Once you have a copy of the current entry, send it to the lawyer acting for your neighbour - that should be enough.
Ah, Fillide. If only life were as simple as letting Rome burn. There were two questions in the original post, which you seem to have not spotted. The second question - the one about "blasting of old plaster on exterior to reveal old stonework" - was the one that I, an Italian by the way, and myabruzzohome answered. Maybe you were looking at a different bulletin board at that moment though, so were distracted? Confusions aside, the point you make about getting muddled up about the differences in how things work here by British immigrants is common and often seen on these types of bulletin boards - which is why I try to point people to local professionals rather than British products and people. Fair enough if you have a holiday home and you want to fly the Union Jack on the front lawn but not so clever if you have a limited budget and like Italy and all things Italian (as this website claims). Now to basics. You know what a DIA is, I take it Fillide? And you know that you need to get a permission to build for new works and major changes? Well, they are not the same thing. The DIA is merely an advisement to the comune of works you intend to do that fall under the local requirements outside of a building permit. Local, note, not national. The differnce is important because the rules in Pisa are not the same as in Roma or Firenza, or even in Palermo. This makes the supposed British "mindset that 'planning' and 'building regulations' are separate entities" actually surprisingly close to the realities of life here in Italy, with the two completely separate functions of the Denuncia di Inizio Attività and the Permesso di Costruire. The best way around this is to always involve Italian professionals with local knowledge who are aware of any changes of the law - both local and national - before starting a project. Any problems you may have with translation are problems you must find ways to deal with at a very early stage of your life here as any language problem is going to keep recurring until you learn to speak Italian. You just have to deal with it, not avoid it. This is Italy. That is England. It's your choice in the end.
The person who submitted the plans to the comune for approval will have incorporated everything needed by the local regulations. If you did not seek approvals then, I'm afraid, it is likely to be a very costly excercise to put everything right. The bottom line is never do any work on or in your house without asking the tecnico at your own comune. Any other comune will be likely to have different rules, so you MUST ask locally BEFORE doing anything. Or, are you just teasing us, Maureen Tease?
Just be sure that your pockets are 3 times as deep as you think they may need to be on a project of this sort. I assume you have the services of an architect to make sure everything is done both legally and safely. Emilia-Romagna does have earthquakes, so be safe.
Comments posted
Italy is not the place for you.
Good to see you have your usual opinion about everything, Karen. Oh! But you didn't share your opinion about the story posted: only how you just think everyone that posts (or used to post) here is "sad". You are the sad one.
You are making the mistake of thinking that health cover here is not tied to your residenza - it is. You may well have an Italian wife, but my claim is based on my being Italian (although brought up in London mostly), with all my family being Italian as well - so let's not play the "I'm more Italian than you" game. Your comune will interpret the private health insurance issue in it's own way when you apply for residenza, which no amount of arguing the point will change, so don't play the beligerant, "I'm European/British" card or you may well come a cropper. When you get your Tessera Sanitaria you can register with a GP of your choice if his "list" is open. This is the open door to the Italian state health card system. If you have no residenza, you have no health cover other than as I said above. Is it really so difficult to understand? It's simple and logical.
I'm always amazed at how people that don't live in Italy think they know "the answers" to how things work here. If you actually live here you will need residenza to get a doctor. Once you have a doctor you are in the system, so all of the services are there for you as for any Italian. I've already told you how prescription charges work here, so won't say again - up to you if you want to read it or not. If you don't have residenza here, you are treated as a tourist with health services open to you if your home country has an agreement with Italy - which means that if you are American, you have none apart from basic emergency care as we have available to us in America. To get residenza you must have either a job here (tax payer), a pension or have private health insurance. The 5 year permanent residency has nothing to do with health care - only your residenza entitlements. It's really simple and not hard to comprehend, is it? It really doesn't matter what the British health service is like if you are here, does it? You might not like the Italian health service but, really, what are you doing living here if that is so. Just come here on your holidays and get holiday health insurance, then go back home to your "lovely" NHS hospitals. Job done.
I just thought that this map of Italy, courtesy of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, showing the seismic activity here might be of help to you. You will see that 'your' area is not immune from the odd rattle.
Sorry about the size it appears. I uploaded a much bigger one, but this website has shrunk it down to this. You still get the idea though, even if you can't read the numbers, yes?
Sebastiano is essentially correct. Once you have residency in Italy you are entitled to have full health care and are also eligible for drugs which, once prescibed by a doctor here, you only pay the standard prescription charges for. If you have a chronic illness you can request a special card from your ASL office which will give you the required drugs free of all charges, including prescription charges. You can pay privately for anything if you want to, which for tests and hospital check-ups will vary according to the speed with which you are seen (ie private) and how important the proceedures are - if you want a hair transplant, for example, you will have to pay. If you don't have residenza you are not entitled to anything other than emergency treatment once you are outside of the terms of the European Health Card, which is the scheme that the UK has signed up for. If you are extra communita - ie American, Australian, etc - you only have access to private health care, which can be accessed by insurance or wallet. Simple really.
What matters is what shows on the catasto, which is presumably what your geometra looked at. You can get a copy of the current drawings as recorded easily enough, although if your geometra has already got a copy of the drawings you need only ask him for a copy. If not, you can even get a copy on-line from either Catasto.it or Homeonline . I'm sure you can find others quite easily if you search. Once you have a copy of the current entry, send it to the lawyer acting for your neighbour - that should be enough.
Ah, Fillide. If only life were as simple as letting Rome burn. There were two questions in the original post, which you seem to have not spotted. The second question - the one about "blasting of old plaster on exterior to reveal old stonework" - was the one that I, an Italian by the way, and myabruzzohome answered. Maybe you were looking at a different bulletin board at that moment though, so were distracted? Confusions aside, the point you make about getting muddled up about the differences in how things work here by British immigrants is common and often seen on these types of bulletin boards - which is why I try to point people to local professionals rather than British products and people. Fair enough if you have a holiday home and you want to fly the Union Jack on the front lawn but not so clever if you have a limited budget and like Italy and all things Italian (as this website claims). Now to basics. You know what a DIA is, I take it Fillide? And you know that you need to get a permission to build for new works and major changes? Well, they are not the same thing. The DIA is merely an advisement to the comune of works you intend to do that fall under the local requirements outside of a building permit. Local, note, not national. The differnce is important because the rules in Pisa are not the same as in Roma or Firenza, or even in Palermo. This makes the supposed British "mindset that 'planning' and 'building regulations' are separate entities" actually surprisingly close to the realities of life here in Italy, with the two completely separate functions of the Denuncia di Inizio Attività and the Permesso di Costruire. The best way around this is to always involve Italian professionals with local knowledge who are aware of any changes of the law - both local and national - before starting a project. Any problems you may have with translation are problems you must find ways to deal with at a very early stage of your life here as any language problem is going to keep recurring until you learn to speak Italian. You just have to deal with it, not avoid it. This is Italy. That is England. It's your choice in the end.
The person who submitted the plans to the comune for approval will have incorporated everything needed by the local regulations. If you did not seek approvals then, I'm afraid, it is likely to be a very costly excercise to put everything right. The bottom line is never do any work on or in your house without asking the tecnico at your own comune. Any other comune will be likely to have different rules, so you MUST ask locally BEFORE doing anything. Or, are you just teasing us, Maureen Tease?
Just be sure that your pockets are 3 times as deep as you think they may need to be on a project of this sort. I assume you have the services of an architect to make sure everything is done both legally and safely. Emilia-Romagna does have earthquakes, so be safe.