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I have a lsection on cost of living on my site that has these fiigures and more. [url]http://www.expatsinitaly.com/living/col.htm[/url] Hope this helps.

to put it in real terms...whatever you pay in england double it at least....closer to triple might be nearer the mark.... and there are no alternatives... italy has most probably the most expensive services in europe.... with most probably the least efficient customer service rating... the standing charges alone will be most probably more than your annual charges in italy.....

Hi all,

following on this theme, how do we get an electricity bill....we've been here 3 months and nothing !!!!

As we get no postman , I doubt very much if the meter reading man will come out to us here.!!!!

I assume we read the meter ourselves but how do we get info to ENEL...can you do it on the Internet ?

Also , what about paying our community charges and rubbish tax..and are there any other thing we need to pay (we have our own artesian well..so no water charge...or is there ?!.)..and gas is in a tank which we top up when we need it and pay as we go ????..Do we ask at the Commune as we go back there in 3 weeks to pick up our official residency documents.? Have only just received all official paperwork from Notary re; buying house...it is definately ours now ...all signed and stamped ( very pretty !!!).

Our Estate Agent and translator were going to help us with all this , but they seem to have gone walk-about ( or is it 'cos we told them last quote to have drive done was astronomical and we were getting other quotes !!!)

Actually digressing as you do !...the quote we have gone with is 3500 Euros LESS than the quote from their people and they are coming tomorrow to do the job !! Just goes to show .....

Anyway, back to my bills...I think there was something about this in a previous post but at that time, we didn't have all the paperwork etc. , so if someone could point me in the right direction...thanks Lyn

Alex and Lyn - yes, you can do everything ENEL-related over the Internet - submit meter readings and even - gasp - pay the actual bill with a credit card!

We get a paper bill sent to England, but your bi-monthly bills are all there online and you can probably set up an e-mail notification just before it's due too.

Pass a few happy hours by having a look at [url]http://www.enel.it/sportello_online/elettricita/index.asp[/url]. You can always hit the "English" translation button if you don't know your bollette from your contatori.

I got the ball rolling by calling them on the 800 900 800 number (I think you'll need OK ½ûÂþÌìÌà for this though). I don't suppose you're lucky enough to have a previous bill from the last owner, or could get hold of one, with the customer reference number? This makes for a slightly shorter phone call. I couldn't, but they still seem to (eventually) manage with just the address and the name of the previous owner.

From memory (it was two years ago...) they need your codice fiscale too. Also, we got hit with an extra charge because they cancelled the old contract and started a new one for us - whereas you can get the contract simply transferred across.

Make sure they know you're resident - your bills will be cheaper.

Rubbish tax (TARSU) is handled by the comune and can be paid through post offices and banks. You don't get bills for council tax (ICI, paid the same way) - everyone has to work it out themselves and pay it without being told to. There's acres of info on this forum about the dreaded ICI if you do a search.

Gas - yes, refilled as necessary by your local supplier - ours is a company called Beyfin covering northern Tuscany. Watch out in the winter as central heating (if you have it) eats into gas at an alarming rate, and it's very expensive. Get chopping wood now - those piles of logs you see outside just about every home are not for decorative purposes alone!

On the admin side, what you think should take days can take weeks. But don't let it get you down - keep smiling and keep going. You will get it sorted.

Very best of luck on what I know will be a fantastic adventure for you.

Mike

Mike,

thanks so much for all that easy to read info...we'll get started today and get ourselves sorted once and for all....actually, we pick up official residency papers in 3 weeks...would it be better if we waited till then ? I don't suppose anothe couple of weeks will make much difference.

My only concern is that our house doesn't actually have an address, we pick our mail up from the Post Office !! Our estate agent got us changed over with ENEL and di dthe initial meter reading for us...I think I'm going tohave to track him down 'cos he may have some sort of reference number....of course it is the August break now...oh well !!!

If you are 'remote' you should be aware that your ENEL bills will be calculated on an estimate (often calculated at winter!) and if you use the property infrequently, then I suggest you take regular readings of the meter & post a mail to ENEL via [url]www.prontoENEL.it[/url].

Johnsm13 is right; if you are wanting to use ENEL on-line, you will need your codice fiscale. Registering is simple, no really!

We have done this before (it saves us calling the Numero Verte number!) and have found that 'everything ties together' and we have had several month's credit on hour bill to adjust it.

Give it a whizz, it should save you cash!