Newsletter.2009.doc

NEWSLETTER April 2009
Spring has sprung and after quite a wet winter spring has been mild and dry. The winter has gone so quickly and lots of things to tell you. You will all now know we have moved our office to Sant Lluis. We have about as much space but much less rent to pay; a very important factor in this difficult time. I know many of you are affected with your businesses in the UK and we can only hope that with as many cost savings a possible everyone will come through it OK. The Apartado address remains the same and it s always best really to post everything there. You can get short term parking discs in our office and we look forward to seeing everyone. Our Realcare sign should actually be up in the next week making it a bit There have been a lot of questions asked to Gesa as to the price increase they have implemented and why now monthly bills are sent out increasing paperwork and postal charges. The bill is supposed to be read one month and estimated the next month; where is the sense in that! I suspect to that many meters had not been read for a while and some people have landed up with large bills. Under pressure form the Balearic Government and the public, Gesa have now written a general letter to the public saying they will revise the electric bills from 1st November 2008. They estimated very low readings up to the end of December and then after 1st January when the price increased, they took actual readings therefore charging last year s electricity at this years prices!! They have said that where there is more to pay they will waive the charge but we believe they will have to credit quite a lot so users. We will keep you posted if more comes to light. We have met with the Bancaja bank over recent times and they have some very good offers available to new and current clients. It is a popular bank here in Menorca in Mahón, very focused on UK customers in particular, with an English speaking account manager called Yasmin who personally ensures that you receive excellent Aware of the problems that clients have been suffering because of the exchange rate and high costs of banks accounts, Bancaja have confirmed that they can offer our non-resident clients the following services: A St e r lin g Accou n t : z e r o fe e s for m a in t e na n ce a nd a dm in ist r a t ion of y ou r
account. Pounds can be paid in via sterling cheques from your UK bank (only 5
pounds commission) or via transfer (zero commission).
Eu r o Cu r r e nt Accou n t : z e r o fe e s for m a in t e n a n ce a n d a dm in ist r a t ion . No fees
for direct debit payments, for paying in cheques, or for transferring funds to another Eu r o Sa vin gs Accou nt : z e r o fe e s for m a in t e n a n ce a n d a dm in ist r a t ion , you
may pay money in and out with no restrictions and you receive 3 % int erest s
monthly on the basis of your monthly average balance. St e r lin g D e posit for 1 2 m on t h a t 3 % : z e r o com m ission s a n d fr om 2 ,5 0 0
pounds onwards
Livin gSolu t ion visa ca r d: allows you to w it hdr a w ca sh fr e e of ch a r ge fr om a n y
Ba nca j a ATM via debit transaction. At the same time you can use any Servired
ATM cash machine fr e e of cha r ge on ce a m ont h to withdraw cash. It is also
connected to a 24 hour helpline for reservations, legal and medical advice, and a translation service. You get a complete monthly statement free of charge and all your purchases and restaurant payments etc are not deducted from your account until the beginning of the following month. Yasmin can let you know when the exchange rate is good for you to change Pounds to Euros, or inform you when your funds are low and you need to top up your account. They will not return your house bills, up to 500 Euros overdraft allowed for this purpose. Should you wish to discuss this with the account manager you can write to Yasmin on ysyed@bancaja.es and she will answer any questions you may have. To open an account she would only need a photocopy of your NIE number, a copy of your house bills etc, and she would make the change from one bank to another on your behalf. TRABLISA
We have been in discussions with Trablisa, a well know security company on the island, following a number of break-ins earlier in the year. They are making a special offer to Realcare clients to install new security systems. For a standard 3 bedroom property the installation cost would normally be over 800 euros. They will do it for 469 euros plus IVA and 33.51 euros per month maintenance cost plus IVA. This connects the house to them, who in turn will contact the police if there has been a break-in. If anyone is interested in this please let me know and I can get them to check the property and confirm the cost. The island is still generally a very safe place but extra security is never a bad thing. KRAFT FACTORY
Sadly after many years it looks like the factory on the Mahon poligon will close despite an offer from a conglomerate to keep the factory open and keep the work force. It remains to be seen if the government will intervene to help but there have been local protests and many of the workers have pinned their kids T shirts on the front fencing saying no work no money to care for the kids. Hopefully a last minute solution will be found.

Source: http://www.realcare.eu/April%202009%20Newsletter.pdf