Moving to Netherlands

[matt28]

I have question to CT owners from Netherlands.
My company asked me to move from UK to Netherlands for couple of years to finish engineering project (Utrecht area).
As I have no experience with this country whatsoever, is that anything to convince me that is the right move?
Heard quite a lot good stories about this country, friendly people, good health care etc.
What about biking? Is road tax and insurance expensive?
Thanks in advance
Matt

[__Ray__]

Depends on what you want.
I pay €10 per month for road tax and insurance is depending on the company and your situation as there are discounts for years of experience and without claims in 20 steps.
I'm at step 20 and pay for an all risk called WA Casco insurance about €55 per month for the CT and my XT has just a basic insurance called WA which comes at €6,- per month but that will only cover damages to others. In between there is WA Limited Casco which also covers theft and fire damage. Don't know the cost of that but for my XT it was not worth the extra cost because i got that bike ridiculously cheap.

[GADGET]

Go for it, what a great opportunity for you, the Dutch are friendly and most speak English better than we do!

[bazza950]

best go over and see if you like the look of it Matt! I have only been over on business trips but like the law that makes cyclists use cycle lanes if available - not ignore all rules like here. My last trip was to a lovely couple who took me for a drive in their ancient Citroen that floated over kerbs with air suspension.He told me that no car tax applied to cars over 40 years old and there was a lively market for buying them -wot pollution?
so go and suss it
enjoy
bazza

[Max2007]

I lived in Amsterdam in 90tis for about 10 jears! Great city, great country! Had a lot of fun there!
I came back to Croatia, my wife is croatian but with my dochters i speak  dutch, it is a nice memorie of nice jears i spend in Holland!!

[Red Boll]

Originally Posted by matt28

Heard quite a lot good stories about this country, friendly people, good health care etc.
What about biking? Is road tax and insurance expensive?

Well... I am not aware of of the Brexit consequences and there are still COVID restrictions in place so the situation is not the same as 5-10 years ago.

When I worked in Utrecht there were employees from other parts of the world and they had a good time in Utrecht/The Netherlands/Europe. Some had to get used to the sometimes "in-your-face conversations". Like in each country there are friendly people and some real twats & wankers here. 

With biking you mean "the old paddle bike"? There are lot's of students in Utrecht which use bikes so that will be okay.
There are lot's of separate biking paths in the Netherlands.
Traffic on the highway to and from Utrecht can be a b!tch though. But there is a pretty big train station in Utrecht as an alternative.

Road tax and a limited insurance are not expensive depending on "your past".

Be prepared for some good old "Danglish" when you are over here.

[__Ray__]

Don't mistake the directness with rudeness.
In YouTube there are some expats talking about their experiences with integrating here.