UK OAP living in France offered a French Pension

I have in recent weeks given notice that I have been awarded a small french pension. I was one of the initial autoentrepreneurs and worked for about 2.5 years about 3 years ago… I was a UK pensioner at the time, then gave up the work and went back to the S1 regime (lots of hassle then as it was all new to the French administration). I had no idea I would be entitled to a French pension (about 45 euros a month) for that short period that could begin in January when I am 71. My question is, has anyone actually applied for this small pension - I have done a wee bit of research and if I am reading this correctly, it means that my meagre income from the UK taxed via the French social tax system - no worries there as its not worth worrying about - and more importantly I will if I accept, lose my rights to S! health care and therefore become a member of the french healthcare system. I also wonder what would happen should I have to move back to the UK ie will I still be entitled to UK health care. If all is hassle free, how do I go about applying for this pension. You seem to get an awful lot for very little money, is there any time limit to how long this pension is awarded or is it similar to the UK state pension, and become a member of the French Healthcare system without any contribution from the UK. So many questions to ask. I also wonder if I would be better waiting to see the outcome of Brexit - as there may be some complications therein.

is it from the CIPAV?

It will be interesting to learn how Maggi has got on… she has not been on the Forum for some time…

Hope all is well with her… perhaps your question will “wake her up”… :relaxed::upside_down_face:

Re french pension - to be honest I can find absolutely no information re this - up to the end of last year I was able to logon and check it was still offered but this year I have not been successful in gaining any further info - I can still log on but that’s it. I have not been able to research any further into the implications of what happens if I accept this pension - in fact info is very thin on the ground. I wonder if anyone else has been offered this and their experiences. Sorry I have not been online for a while - and I did not realise anyone had responded.

if it is from CIPAV, which would mean you payed into it whilst an AE, then I don’t see any problem. Its just a French private pension payment which is too low to be taxed. I get 17 euros per month from having payed into CIPAV for 18 months when working as self employed

I get 25 euros a month French pension from the msa. Getting it took 12 months and lots of paper to fill in. You just go to or write to your caisse who ever you are covered with and they send you the papers for “retraite”. My carte vitale is with my S1 because thats the way i organised it but could have kept it with msa if i wanted .

Thanks for your replies -the thing that worried me was coming away from the S1 system of health care but if I get a choice I will definitely be applying - every penny counts nowadays. As I am of a certain age, and have a married woman’s pension, I will if I survive my husband inherit his state pension and to be honest I was concerned that perhaps that would affect my claim.

Update on this thread - I formally applied for this wee pension about june 2018 - response of a sort came in September asking me for further info ie tax forms - then absolutely nothing. I logged onto my file within pensions retraite - no info yet gain. I emailed them attaching the letter from Rennes - they told me I had to contact Carsat -as I was a with the RSI regime. again I emailed the letter asking why no response - they confirmed receipt but still no response - makes me wonder why as so many had said it was easy - could it be something to do with the fact I would be a member of the French health service and with Brexit looming more uncertainty. I also now note there are no more updates etc available from the Pensions Retraite site - looks like they have removed the many updates I had received - odd. Luckily I downloaded and saved them.

Hello Maggi

Just seen this post, the one you previously posted here “As I am of a certain age, and have a married woman’s pension, I will if I survive my husband inherit his state pension and to be honest I was concerned that perhaps that would affect my claim.”
I wonder if you mean “widow’s pension” because as I understand it that has now been changed. ?

Hi Ann -

If you read this you will get a better understanding of the current state pension inheritance regulations in cases similar to mine should I survive him. I was born in 1946 and my husband in 1935 .

Thanks Maggi

As I am not yet eligible for my state pension then the rules will be different if (probably) my husband, who has a state pension dies before me :frowning: