There are many posts regarding S1 forms on here but I can’t seem to find a relevant one for my circumstance so I am wondering if anyone here has experienced the same situation.
I have been employed here in France for a short while by a UK business operating a TFE. This enabled me to get my Carte Vitale.
The company has run out of money (again!) so I am no longer employed BUT I am into pensionable age, am already receiving my UK state pension and also have an S1 form.
So I now need to register the S1 form with CPAM hopefully without disturbing the validity of my existing Carte Vitale.
I’ve tried calling the English speaking line at Ameli several times but it never seems to be operating. I know I will have to present myself at CPAM in Tours but I know I will likely need a tonne or two of documents (as always of course) so I am trying to determine just what I need.
So I would gratefully value anyone with similar experience please.
Surely it is either/or? By that I mean you can’t have both and switch between them. Talk to the CPAM people. I fear you might be in a slightly sticky situation.
I am no longer working so it’s not an either/or situation. I am no longer employed (i.e. retired) so I need to switch my health care to be paid for by the UK.
There are people on this forum who know far more than I so await their comments.
However, as I understand it if you’ve worked/contributed to the French system then France becomes your competent state for healthcare & you therefore cannot use a UK S1.
I wondered about that! My “French” employment only lasted a few months, the UK business is a pre-revenue startup but ran out of money so I no longer work for them. It seems a bit of a cheat to claim all my future health care from Ameli when I am fully paid up in the UK. Unfortunately the English speaking line at Ameli just cuts you off after a bunch of English and French announcements so I can’t easily ask them for advice.
I guess I’ll need to make the appointment, take as much documentation as I can and hope for the best.
I’ll also report back here if I remember
You should maybe request a new S1 to reflect your new stuation, with a start date that follows on from the date your employment terminated.
Then there would be no issue as I see it. It would simply be a normal change of situation from working to retired.
If the UK business employed you via a TFE then then you were completely entitled to a carte vitale as they will have been paying your cotisations.
So now, with your S1, you are also entitled. Make several copies of that you store safely and take it to your CPAM to register. It can take a while as many local offices will send it off to the international division. And you might find your current CV stops working. But don’t worry, just keep the brown feuille de soins you get when you pay for stuff and it will be reimbursed.
After a while, do a mise à jour of your carte vitale and then it should work again. And your attestation code gestion should change to 70.
If the S1 was provided on the back of getting a State pension then there is no change of status?
OP will confirm but I don’t think he has used it. Until CPAM register it, it is not in force. I had mine for many months before I found time to go to CPAM. They will just start from the date his employment cover stopped.
This is exactly what I did when OH got an S1 and I got one as a dependant (I’m not of pensionable age yet). It was processed in about 2 weeks, which amazed me.
Yes, mine stopped working.
This is what I was told, both verbally and via letter, but the Pharmacy said the card was invalid. Talked to CPAM twice now and they insist that my card should work but it doesn’t so I’m in a Catch-22. As they refuse to supply me with a new card, I may have to tell them it’s lost just to get a working card .
Does your attestation on ameli say that your rights are current? Because it would be unusual for the card itself to have become faulty. When the machine flags your card as invalid, it is normally because it has consulted your CPAM record and received data saying that your rights have expired.
A new card would not change the data, if that is what needs to be amended.
I would start by going onto ameli to see for myself what it actually says for my current rights.
If card is being said invalid and mise à jour is not working then perhaps when CPAM noted or heard your original S1 had expired and not been reissued by HMRC or a new one from Newcastle, sounds like someone at CPAM cancelled your Carte Vitale. Once cancelled, even in error, they can’t be resuscitated.
Remember the HMRC S1’s issued to working people resudent in F. are only valid for 1 year. Check its date you’ll see. Each year you are supposed to ask HMRC for a new one provided you still qualify as a worker.
This happened to me when the UK felt they were “too busy” during covid and refused to even let me enter a queue for renewal. My S1 lapsed. After 2 months CPAM cancelled my card as the UK had not provided a new valid S1 despite me
begging them. I was thrown out of the French health system.
When I eventually got a new S1 issued I had to apply for a new Carte Vitale on the same form and with new photo etc as I’d applied for my existing one still in my wallet, that was behaving as yours is.
I think you should phone them, mention you have a new S1 and ask if you should now apply for a new Carte Vitale.
Yes, and no which I think is where the problem lies. Before, I had my own Amelie account and could print out an attestation there. Now, my Amelie account is non functional. As I’m classed as a dependant of my wife as far as CPAM are concerned (she has an S1 as she is in receipt of an exportable benefit from the UK), my wife can log onto her account and print out an attestation for me. The local CPAM know about this as they put it in place and we’ve explained that we think this may be why my card doesn’t work, but they insist it should.
Just by phone as I fell into the trap mentioned by @_Brian where there is no way to get an online appointment for this issue and that’s the only way our local CPAM will grant an appointment.
Perhaps I should go to France Services. There is an office about 12km away.
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