au pair - any recommended nationalities? and what about car insurance

[massivepants]

I want to get an au pair, for the first time, this summer. I had been thinking about a French girl, but I haven't found one yet. I have been using au pair world. Has anyone had any experience of finding an au pair? Any top tips please? I thought it would be easy..........but no such luck.

we had a sulky Italian one and probably wouldn't do that again...too much getting changed all day and no motivation to do, well, anything!

going for a bloke au pair this time and hoping he will be more 'actif'

I did wonder about a bloke, but my hubby is against it. Not sure why. My fear is having a rubbish au pair..............can you send them back?

yes and I think from hearing other stories on here that many want to send them back within the first week!! Teething problems and all that.

It is a strange arrangement, no doubt about it, but we really need the help so will have to buckle down to it again (I am returning to full time work and have 4 DCs).

it depends on the person,not the nationality.Had a fab french girl,rubbish at cleaning but fantastic with the kids,she even caught the Eurostar back the day after she got home as i had fallen down the stairs(was pregnant) and my dh was away so no one to help me,she did this off her own bat to.
Had fab Italian and a rubbish one,mixed bag with the German girls and an amazing Austrian.
Dont think its possible to judge from the country,you just have to hope you click.Goodluck in your search

What about car insurance?

It can be exhorbitant. You probably want to get the au pair a 2 hour driving lesson before letting her loose with the car! It may also be worth switching provider to one that will protect your no-claims if AP totals it/going with someone that treats each driver separately earning separate no-claims.

What kind of car will you need them to drive?

age of AP is the key to car insurance; over 21 is cheaper than under, and over 25 is cheaper still.

We've had 2 German APs, one was fantastic, one is ok, but I'm guessing it's more to do with their personalities than nationalities
As for car insurance, try to get older APs if you can. I have always tried but failed and my APs are 20yrs old, they are just about affordable for car insurance but it certainly isn't cheap

I've had some really good Czech girls and a lovely German girl.
If you need them to drive try and find a candidate from one of the West European countries. There is a huge difference in the driving skills of a girl I had from Romania and even the czech girls. They usually don't own a car so don't drive that often after getting their license. They all need a lot of help when they get here and don't even think about letting them out without having them checked by a qualified instructor. The Romanian girl unfortunately had to leave us as her driving was so poor. The instructor (a friend of ours) was horrified.
As others have said, don't go below 21 unless you are prepared to pay a lot of money. We used the AA to find insurers.

Current AP is 20 and Dutch and when I switched the insurance over she was cheaper than the previous 23 y.o. French girl, there appears to be no logic to it.

Personality is more important than nationality, I only offer the job after an extended dialogue to make sure both sides are happy and fully informed.

Those that have lived away from home and those where both parents work are more likely to have the independence to be able to cope with getting on with things in a new setting.

I take them out for a test drive when they arrive, have a little route that starts on totally empty roads slowly getting busier to see if they can cope (must include a roundabout as many nationalities haven't seen them before). They all hit the kerb in exactly the same place, if either of is not happy they have driving lessons until instructor is happy (but instructor is FiL so bit of an advantage there).

My very fab Spanish AP has a few friends all keen to come over for the summer, some perhaps for longer.

In general they will be new graduates (or final year students) from University of Madrid, aged around 24, probably all drivers.

In Spain the recession means nearly 20% unemployment at the moment, and much higher levels for graduates, so (rather sensibly) my AP's friends are using this as an opportunity to move overseas and brush up their English so they have another skill to add to their CV's.

Anyone who is tempted - feel free to CAT me.

Squiffy, I might be interested, would they come to the arse end of no where oop narth? (Yorkshire)

I can always ask - would it be feasible for them to be able to get trains into London on a Friday and return on a Sunday night? I can tell you from experience that this is probably what they will want to do - ours heads off to London at any chance he can, there seems to be a big spanish mafia operating and he crashes on friend's floors there for the weekends...