French Pension - Attestation d'existence

woolly_wombat · 8 February 2019 at 4:25PM

My other half is in the process of claiming a small French pension from a few years spent working in France.

He has now received an 'attestation d'existence' form which has to be completed by a relevant authority. I understand he will have to go through this rigmarole on an annual basis to prove that he is still alive and kicking. I am also aware that this can be done at the French Consulate in London:
https://uk.ambafrance.org/The-life-certificate-attestation-d-existence
That's straightforward at the moment, but could become more difficult in future with age and infirmity.

Does anyone have experience of a simpler solution?

Also, does he have to claim the supplementary AGIRC-ARRCO pension separately?

I would be grateful for any pointers from anyone with experience of claiming a French pension from the UK.

Thanks.

xylophone · 8 February 2019 at 7:48PM

https://www.frenchentree.com/france-forum/topic/help-with-applying-for-pension/

Is the above of interest?

woolly_wombat · 9 February 2019 at 11:24AM

xylophone wrote: »

https://www.frenchentree.com/france-forum/topic/help-with-applying-for-pension/

Is the above of interest?

Not really, but thanks for posting.

He has applied via the International Pension Centre in Newcastle and has finally, after many months, heard back from l'Assurance Retraite with a calculation that does not appear to include his supplementary AGIRC pension from previous pension projections, which is a concern.

He has also now been asked to complete the Attestation d'existence form.

xylophone · 9 February 2019 at 11:44AM

l'Assurance Retraite with a calculation that does not appear to include his supplementary AGIRC pension

You will note the comment in the link above

However, if your husband was a salaried worker (I’m assuming so, if he has pension rights with a retraite compl!mentaire through AGIRC/ARRCO), the CARSAT will deal with his basic pension.
An appointment with CARSAT and AGIRC/ARRCO in the d!partement where you are now living would allow you to make sure that your files have been transferred and that they are up to date

https://www.expatforum.com/expats/france-expat-forum-expats-living-france/415506-pension-fund.html

Having just had a quick look at my pension contributions in France, I think that AGIRC/ARRCO are "complementary" pension schemes, so you would probably need to contact them directly to assess your entitlement

Their website is here
retraite compl!mentaire AGIRC-ARRCOÂ*AccueilÂ*-Â*Calcul des points de retraite, cotisations, demande de retraite, pension de r!version, cumul emploi-retraite...

http://www.agirc-arrco.fr/

woolly_wombat · 9 February 2019 at 12:17PM

I've already had a look at the agirc-arrco website thanks, but my French is appalling.

Will have to wait until OH returns from overseas business trip and has more time to look at it.

A former (French) colleague of his seemed to think the AGIRC pension should have been included in the calculation, but clearly that hasn't happened, hence I wondered if anyone else had been through the process.

woolly_wombat · 14 February 2019 at 5:44PM

Re claiming a French pension from the UK:

Only the basic French pension (retraites de base) can be claimed via your UK pension state pension claim form (or when you claim your French pension separately via the International Pension Centre in Newcastle).
Supplementary pensions (retraites complementaires) such as AGIRC-ARRCO have to be claimed separately.
The simplest way to get an Attestation d'existence is from the French Consulate in London, and one will be required for each French pension (arrgh).

Posting here in case it helps someone else in the future.

DeepSporran · 16 February 2019 at 6:54PM

Thanks wooly_wombat and xylophone. I worked in France for a few years in the early 90s and will need to apply for pensions in a few years, so your information will be useful. I had registered on a French pensions website a few years ago, but that site seems to have disappeared now. I was able to register on the ARRCO/AGIRC website xylophone referred to, once I'd managed to find my French social security number, which seems to have had an extra 2 digits added to it since I last needed to use it many years ago.The full record of my contributions and entitlement seem to be correct, so I hope that the claiming process once I reach retirement age will be straightforward. We shall see.

woolly_wombat · 18 February 2019 at 10:52AM

DeepSporran wrote: »

I had registered on a French pensions website a few years ago, but that site seems to have disappeared now.

You should be able to create your 'personal account' on the l'Assurance Retraite website, and subsequently obtain an estimate of both the Retaites de Base and the Retraites Complementaires, here:
https://www.lassuranceretraite.fr/portail-info/files/live/sites/pub-bootstrap/files/pdf/drico/EN-create-personal-account.pdf

DeepSporran · 18 February 2019 at 12:31PM

Thanks w-w, I went onto that site and tried to create an account, but it seems I already had one, so I was able to get a new password and gain access. I guess this is probably the site I used a few years ago but for some reason my bookmark was directing me to somewhere invalid.

The estimate for retraite de base and the retraites complementaire was identical to the one I see on the ARRCO/AGIRC site which is reassuring.

Alisonjane1 · 18 January 2020 at 3:35PM

I have been quite disappointed by the whole process of claiming my little bit of French pension. My estimation statement was quite a bit higher than what I am actually receiving, even though they calcluated that I had 14 more trimestres than on the statement, so logically I should be getting more. The basic pension is about 20 euros less than what I expected. I also was not expecting it to come from two different places. Still haven't received the complementary part even though I have been entitled to it since August last year. The total of the two amounts is between 20 and 40 euros less a month than what I had been led to believe I would receive. Plus the endless forms to fill in, certificats de vie, lettters arriving a month after the postal date, querying my identity because I put my Christian name before my surname...bureaucracy gone mad! And I am a Francofile!! Still waiting for an explanation on how they have arrived at their calculations....
Dealing with the authorities in Belgium was much much easier!

nigelbb · 18 January 2020 at 6:06PM

Alisonjane1 wrote: »

I have been quite disappointed by the whole process of claiming my little bit of French pension. My estimation statement was quite a bit higher than what I am actually receiving, even though they calcluated that I had 14 more trimestres than on the statement, so logically I should be getting more. The basic pension is about 20 euros less than what I expected. I also was not expecting it to come from two different places. Still haven't received the complementary part even though I have been entitled to it since August last year. The total of the two amounts is between 20 and 40 euros less a month than what I had been led to believe I would receive. Plus the endless forms to fill in, certificats de vie, lettters arriving a month after the postal date, querying my identity because I put my Christian name before my surname...bureaucracy gone mad! And I am a Francofile!! Still waiting for an explanation on how they have arrived at their calculations....
Dealing with the authorities in Belgium was much much easier!

Are you having social charges deducted? If you live outside France then you should not be paying these as France is not paying for your healthcare. I tried to explain that all residents of the UK get full free access to the NHS but they insisted on a document so ultimately I got a letter from my GP practice confirming that I was registered with them & showing my NHS number.

I concur with the enormous bureaucracy & form filling but ultimately I am being paid a very decent pension after just 15 years working in France albeit in a well paid job. I would be very well off indeed if I had worked all my life in France & had a full pension. It was great to be able to claim at age 63 as when my UK trimestres were added including 12 from ages 16-18 when I was still at school I reached the required 165.

I had some hiccoughs along the way too but eventually I got more than I was expecting from both the basic state pension & AGIRC-ARRCO complementary pensions.

French Pension - Attestation d'existence

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