Claiming French pension from the UK

I wondered if anyone has any experience of this?

My OH has been through the process via the Newcastle Pension Centre for a small French pension he accrued a few years back.

He has finally, after a very long time, received a calculation from l'Assurance Retraite, and also an Attestation d'existence form to complete.

The problem is that the calculation is substantially less than expected and doesn't appear to include the AGIRC supplementary pension from previous projections.

He decided to apply to take the pension at 65 years and 2 months (now many months ago), i.e. a year early with a reduction, because he was concerned about a hard Brexit.

A former French colleague of his seemed to think that the AGIRC element should have been added in automatically.

Can anyone with experience of the French system shed any light please?
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Comments

  • There's a pensions forum higher up the front page where you might get more help on this;

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19
  • Thanks for the reply.

    I have already tried posting over there prior to finding this old thread:
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5060735

    Hence I thought there might be more folks over here with prior experience of claiming a French pension.
  • Only the basic French pension (retraites de base) can be claimed when you claim your UK pension (or when you claim your French pension separately via the International Pension Centre in Newcastle, as OH did).

    The AGIRC-ARRCO supplementary pensions (retraites complementaires) have to be claimed separately I have now discovered elsewhere from a couple of people who have been through the process.

    I thought I would reply to my own post here in case anyone else searches these boards in future!
  • Concerning your comment:
    The AGIRC-ARRCO supplementary pensions (retraites complementaires) have to be claimed separately I have now discovered elsewhere from a couple of people who have been through the process.
    Would you be able to provide more details please?
    I am in a similar situation having worked in France for some years. I know how to deal with the state pension, but I cannot seem to find any usable guidance on the AGIRC-ARRCO supplementary pension. I would really appreciate some information from somebody that has been through the process. Many thanks in advance.
  • These posts are very interesting!

    I worked in France from 1991-94 and am trying to track down any pension I might be entitled to. Would be great to hear from someone who has succeeded with this.

    Up until 2017 I did have contact with ARRCO and AGIRC via the humanis.com website, who sent me statements (when I asked them), but that organisation has now become malakoffhumanis, and I cant access the website anymore. 

    Instead I tried to access the website "espace-personnel.agirc-arrco.fr"

    ... but they ask me for an "Identifiant" and I dont have this, and dont know where to get it.

    So I'm stuck. Any suggestions would be great as I dont know what to do next.

    Can I also claim some French state pension for the 3 years I worked there? How would I do this?

    Many thanks!

  • Newly_retired
    Newly_retired Posts: 2,945
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    I have just encountered a problem with my French pension. It is only a tiny amount but payments have stopped. The umbrella website where I can see my payments is info-retraite.fr.
    I know my pension comes from other organisations but is handled via this website. I had to register with my Social Security number.  That might be what is needed for Identifiant? 
    I am hoping they can solve my problem, as I do not have the ID needed to get into any other websites.
  • davem20 said:

    These posts are very interesting!

    I worked in France from 1991-94 and am trying to track down any pension I might be entitled to. Would be great to hear from someone who has succeeded with this.

    Up until 2017 I did have contact with ARRCO and AGIRC via the humanis.com website, who sent me statements (when I asked them), but that organisation has now become malakoffhumanis, and I cant access the website anymore. 

    Instead I tried to access the website "espace-personnel.agirc-arrco.fr"

    ... but they ask me for an "Identifiant" and I dont have this, and dont know where to get it.

    So I'm stuck. Any suggestions would be great as I dont know what to do next.

    Can I also claim some French state pension for the 3 years I worked there? How would I do this?

    Many thanks!

    Sorry, I am unable to be of any assistance as my other half is still trying to claim his AGIRC pension after several years of trying!

    I suggest posting on the retirement board. There is a very knowledgeable poster there (nigelbb) who may be able to point you in the right direction.


  • I have just encountered a problem with my French pension. It is only a tiny amount but payments have stopped. The umbrella website where I can see my payments is info-retraite.fr.
    I know my pension comes from other organisations but is handled via this website. I had to register with my Social Security number.  That might be what is needed for Identifiant? 
    I am hoping they can solve my problem, as I do not have the ID needed to get into any other websites.
    Have you completed a recent life certificate (attestation d’existence)?

    More details can be obtained here:
    https://uk.ambafrance.org/The-life-certificate-attestation-d-existence

    As mentioned above, nigelbb is the poster with expertise in claiming a French pension - try posting on Pensions, Annuities & Retirement Planning.


  • Newly_retired
    Newly_retired Posts: 2,945
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    I completed one in March last year and for the first time was invited to send it online. I got a receipt but I did wonder if something had gone wrong.
  • I am currently applying for a French pension (Retraite de Base) from the UK. I worked in Grenoble but because I am living in the UK was told to send forms to Conventions Internationales CARSAT Normandie, Rouen. I also have to apply to ARRCO for the second part of my pension (Retraite Complementaire). When I asked them how to apply they sent this email:

    La retraite n'est pas attribuée automatiquement : Il faut la demander.
    Pour votre demande de retraite complémentaire AGIRC-ARRCO, nous vous invitons à
    formuler votre demande par mail à notre centre de gestion pour les « Résidents Hors de
    France » : centregestionRHF@agirc-arrco.fr.
    A cet effet, merci de bien vouloir leur communiquer la date de départ de votre retraite
    dont vous aurez préalablement convenu avec votre régime de base français (CNAV, MSA,
    RSI), ainsi que les éléments suivants :
    Numéro de sécurité sociale :
    Nom de naissance :
    Nom marital / nom d'usage :
    Prénom :
    Date de naissance :
    Adresse complète :
    Motif de votre départ :
    Vous pouvez également échanger avec leurs services en utilisant cette adresse postale :
    Centre de Traitement CICAS RHF 45805 Saint Jean de Braye Cedex.
    Nous restons à votre disposition.
    L'Agirc-Arrco vous remercie de votre confiance,
    Votre conseiller CICAS.

    Basically, once you have a pension start date from CARSAT/CNAV/Assurance Retraite you can send your details to ARRCO.

    CARSAT Normandie has been processing my claim for 6 months now, still no sign of much happening, so get your claims in early! I get the feeling my forms weren't even looked at for 4 months. By the way, you can't contact CARSAT except by letter, which in my case they have so far chosen to ignore.

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