Is your husband workimg in the UK or France? If it’s the UK then he might be entitled to a worker’s S1, and then you would be covered as well. If not, then are you in receipt of the UK state pension? As that’s the other reason to get an S1.
You need to contact the DWP overseas health team, who will tell you if you can get an S1 or provide you with the end of rights letter.
The other key question is when did you move to France? As if more than three months ago then you can apply to join the french health service straight away as a main criteria is that you have lived here for 3 months. The difficulty will be that they may ask how your health care has been covered since you left england, as it is expected that you will have taken out private health insurance for the 3 month period. The formal position is that as soon as you become resident in France you are no longer entitled to NHS treatment.
One solution might be for you to return to England, have the treatment, and then come back to France and apply to join the health service here 3 months later. I don’t understand why you say that the papers for you and your husband need to be submitted together as health care is now individual - the old system of “ayant droit” where one of a couple could be included in the other’s application no longer exists.
The other solution if you have been here for 3 months is to get your skates on and apply to join. The minute you have confirmation that the application has been accepted you can go ahead with the operation. You will probably have to pay upfront, but will be able to claim back a percentage of the costs.
And the third solution is just to pay for it to be done…
Thank you Jane. For some reason I just saw your reply, which is very helpful. I called the Department for Work and Pensions but they said I’m not entitled (not in employment, not retired). They said a legislation letter might do but then I had to call back as I didnt have my NI number with me, and the last operator said that the only thing I could do is just send them the link to the nhs page to show that I’m not entitled to that document. My husband is now working in France. He ha the support from the Company but apparently his paperwork is following another route. They don’t want an S1 nor any other form or letter from him, but they asked an S1 from me. I didnt personally contact the French healthcare, as we have a lady who is doing all of this for us but that’s taking ages, and information comes in bits. We physically moved in September but it’s been up and down from France to Uk these months. We didnt have the time to apply with the private insurance yet but we’re going to do it anyway. I sorted my treatment in Uk, 15 minutes and done. If it wouldn’t have been possible I would have gone back to Italy and paid to remove it over the Christmas break.
It’s all quite annoying because it seems that the paperwork to enrol the French system should be done for the family but since my husband is following a different procedure his paperwork is stuck because mine is stuck. That also means that he cannot be on sick leave in case he needs to, since he doesn’t have the numero de securite’ sociale, I’m guessing. He was supposed to receive a temporary one but never did.
Thank you for all your kind and useful information.
I’ll try to contact the support team from the Company and explain the situation. Maybe they’ll find a way out.
by the way, I received a reply from the relocation company which is following all this paperwork. They said that I need to get the S1 as other people did (Employees who have been relocated from Uk to France with a French contract of course could have an S1 for them and their family, not quite the same for me and my husband who has a new French contract) They underline that there’s no other way out. It’s ridiculous. After 3 months in France I’m starting to be fed up as it happens all the time for many different things…
No, healthcare entitlement in France is handled individually. Since 2016 the “dependent” (ayant droit) status in France no longer exists, each adult accesses healthcare in their own right .
It’s true that if he had an S1 then it would also cover his dependents because that’s the UK’s policy - but since he doesn’t, you both fall under French rules and you both need to be accepted onto PUMA individually.
There was another thread about this recently on here, from another person who wasn’t happy about being asked for an end of rights letter from DWP. Not sure why folks have such a problem with this particular requiremen. It is necessary for the simple reason that before CPAM accepts you onto PUMA, they need to be sure that you are, in fact, their responsibility. They don’t want to go spending France’s healthcare budget on people who should according to EU arrangements be covered by another EU country’s health service. Hence they need something from your previous healthcare organisation, ie DWP, to confirm that you’re no longer covered by the NHS. It’s simply a case of asking for DWP for the letter - they provide hundreds if not thousands every year.
Here’s a post from another forum, from a person who did this a few weeks ago:
“In case anyone reads this thread searching for the answer to my question, you just call DWP on +44 191 218 1999 and select option 6. They will check that you are not eligible for an S1 and then issue you a legislation letter in English and French (in my case) proving your non-eligibility.”
thank you Anne. That surely will do. I don’t want to keep both health services (and of course it makes sense that either you have one or another one, and you should have the health service of the country where you pay taxes). I just wanted to switch to the French system. I’ll call them again and see if they can do it. I called them twice and they said no to the S1 (fair enough) but also that they cannot provide me any letter or declaration. Maybe I’ll be luckier with another operator.
I have had a house in France for many years. I’ve gradually increased the amount of time I’m here so that now I’m here most of the time. I am enquiring about getting an S1 and have spoken to the UK DWP Overseas Team who have told me what I need to tell them. This includes the date at which I became resident abroad, which is rather moot. What I want to know is what I may lose on the UK side when I register in France. At present I pay income tax in UK as my income is in UK - will that change? What will be my rights to healthcare in UK once I am registered in France? etc. Will my official moving date affect my ability to apply for a Carte de Sejour in France? It is all rather confusing.
To get your S1 you have to be resident in France, and so you will have to make your tax declaration here on all your worldwide income. Depending on your amount and source of income you might find you pay less tax, although there may well be some social charges on top - again depending on your source of income. Tax offices here are usually very helpful so you can always go with a list of your income and ask. But first off look at the remain in france website as gives clear info - including the very critical point that to be legally resident here you need a certain level of income which is slightly higher than basic UK state pension.
With the CdS who knows! The current state of affairs re Brexit is such a mess that anything might happen. Basically if it’s no deal then you’re too late to become legally resident by next Friday. Otherwise everything is possible.
Under current regime UK pensioners retain their right to NHS healthcare when visiting and if they return. Again for the future who knows!
Hi there, I have given birth in France 2 years ago, my ex had to pay for the birth as I did not have card vitale, I am disabled with cerebral palsy and I have had no cover, they want proof of my bank account closing and a s1 form I am thinking off applying s1 E121 as I would still get my disability benefits?? Do you think I should apply for that? As I can not work and I have no income to pay my rent otherwise and then social workers will be back all over my case again with my son. It will take up to 9 months before I even get a payment here they said and obviously with no money for 9 months they will take my son off me as the social workers over here are to stuck up and strict. So how would I keep it so I can pay my rent until the 9 months has passed and then I will be given a french benefit payment? I don’t know what to do I can’t just give it up as my landlord will kick me and my son out and that is why I had my son taken off me as I got made homeless when he was 2 months old I got everything including my passport stolen off me whilst I was in a hostel and they took my baby because of it?
Any help would be a lifesaver…
DO any of you think I apply for health insurance to keep the social workers off my back as they are now saying if you don’t get card vitale your son will be taken from you as you are too ‘much of a liability’ if you get injured severely.
Thanks very much any help would be much appreciated xx
I don’t have any direct experience that is relevant, so just a couple of suggestions as your situation sounds very unpleasant for you. There are others on here who know more about childcare in France and may have some helpful suggestions.
First off, is your ex French and named on your son’s birth certificate? As he has a responsibility to your son that he can’t ignore. Do make sure you have the paperwork on this.
Also, did you get disabled living allowance (DLA) or personal independence payments (PIP)? As they are benefits that can be paid to you in France is you are eligible - or do you get these already? It’s not quite clear from what you write. I would suggest you need to call the overseas health team at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and ask them what might be possible. Collect together all the information you have, such as your UK national insurance number, previous address, etc and ring them
Overseas Healthcare Team in Newcastle on +44 191 218 1999 or emailing them at Overseas . Healthcare@dwp .gov.uk.
I don’t know whether S1’s are given to people in your situation, but you can only ask.
Hello everyone!
Me and my partner are having the same problem with the S1 form. I am working, he’s not, so they’re asking him for said form. Since he’s not retired nor working for a British company, we are told he’s not entitled to it. However, there’s the option of “end of rights” S1 form. Any idea how to get that? we’re in despair by now
Thank you!
The dwp have an international dept and you ring them and tell them that you want an end of rights letter. They send one in French and one in English with the date you were no longer entitled to NHS care. It takes about 2 weeks to arrive.
When we initially went to cpam they gave us a list of everything we needed and we made a rdv had it all checked and sent away.
I can’t remember the number. I’ll try and find it.
When you do get all the paperwork ready for CPAM (or whoever) do keep a copy of everything you give them. Sometimes paperwork gets lost and if you have a copy it can save a lot of grief.
Also I’m not sure what happens if you’re working and he’s not.
If your partner has sufficient company pension there shouldn’t be a problem.
We’re both inactive so were treated as a joint application as my pension is tiny so I rely on my husband’s.
