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Frighteningly, I will soon be eligible for a UK state pension.

The pension service tell me that I have to apply for it from the French authorities but don't give any hints as to who these authorities might be.

My accountant says that I have to apply to CIPAV which makes sense because twice a year they ask me for money. Beyond that I haven't the first clue how to go about getting it.

Has anybody else trodden this path? Any help would be appreciated.

I would love to simply have it paid in the UK but the pension service is emphatic that is not an option.

There was a lot of UK state pensions being paid to overseas accounts of dead people so the logical thing is for local organisations to manage it as best they can then divi it up at the grown-ups table.

A bit like having one meter reader for all Gas water and electricity !

When my hubby was 65, he went to RSI who was and is our caisse. He applied for British pension and French pension at the same time. It was very easy, and of course, you have the option of having the funds deposited wherever you want. We opted for our French bank account, and every 4 weeks it arrives in the account without fees and with a great exchange rate.

Just be sure that you take all of your paperwork completed with you which you should have received from the DWP.

From Face Book

I spoke to the DWP this morning and they say that they encourage you to make your claim for the OAP through the French authorities, and by doing so it will speed up your claim, because they will examine your birth certificate etc and that saves you having to send it to the UK. However, if you don't want anything to do with the French authorities you can still make your claim through the UK, but it might take slightly longer to process your claim.

Kate wrote:From Face Book

I spoke to the DWP this morning and they say that they encourage you to make your claim for the OAP through the French authorities, and by doing so it will speed up your claim, because they will examine your birth certificate etc and that saves you having to send it to the UK. However, if you don't want anything to do with the French authorities you can still make your claim through the UK, but it might take slightly longer to process your claim.

That is the absolute opposite of what they told me. They were categorical that under EU law I must apply in the country in which I last worked or if I am still working in both countries (which I am) then it must be my country of residence.

Their website says :-

You’ve only worked, lived or are working abroad

You must claim the State Pension through the relevant authority of the country you’re in if you currently live and have worked in:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland.

Unfortunately their website is full of contradictions as it would seem is the advice that they give.

Thanks for the input anyway

maybe ring the DWP more than once because sometimes you get different answers

But I assume that if you have never worked in France everything inc payment is dealt with by DWP and monies can be paid into a UK bank account

The continuing discussion on FB


Clare Gallaway Can't see why an eng pension has to be applied for in France. DWP have been extremely efficient in my experience and ....*you know where you are with them* ........ My OA pension is paid here, when I changed it from UK, the change took effect on the next instalment, very straightforward,
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Clare Gallaway Personally I would never leave anything to be done here if it could be done in UK
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Clare Gallaway I don't see why you have to send birth certificate, all they ever want from me is my NI number.
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Adrian Milne I was as surprised as anyone else. When I applied for my OAP to the DWP the biggest problem was filling in the almost "paperback" application form, with the request to detail ALL occupations, and the dates of employment. (As if they didn't have all those details on record) I can see all kinds of problems in going to the French pension authority. How are they going to read your birth certificate if that is your required means of identity? The man I spoke to, did say that if you wanted to make your application for the OAP to them you still could. It would simply mean a possible delay. Now unless I am a bit dim, your OAP doesn't come up and suddenly bite you on the bum. So it simply means making the application in the time frame that they require without any delay on your part.