Living in France Q&A: Pensions After Brexit

Every month the UK government hosts a Facebook Q&A for British nationals living in France, or planning to do so, to ask questions about what will happen with their rights, access to healthcare, money and family lives after Brexit. Here are some of those questions, and their answers from the government. Some questions and answers have been edited for length or clarity. The full set of questions and their answers can be found here.

Hello, I’ve been living in France for 26 years, I’ve paid all of my social charges here since then. I’m self-employed and my declared income is up and down. I worked in the Uk from a young age, I have qualified for a UK pension. Where do I stand here? And where do I stand with my UK pension in future?

Member States will take into account all contributions paid into their respective social security systems by UK nationals within the scope of the Withdrawal Agreement and regardless of when the contributions were made, before or after the end of the transition period. As now, the amount of State Pension to which you will be entitled as a result of the contributions you have made will be determined according to each state’s social security legislation.

What will be the minimum income requirement for a couple of pensioners in France to get full residency rights?

The French authorities are in the process of designing the residency criteria. We are working with our colleagues at the French Interior Ministry to help them understand concerns around minimum income and expect they will take a flexible approach. We will update the Living in France Guide as soon as we have more information.

I live full time in France. At present, I do not pay social charges as my pension is a government pension. Will this change or is it to be decided?

It’s not clear from your question whether the pension you refer to is French or British. I can tell you that the current structure of EU rules and regulations will continue to apply during the transition Period, and this will continue for UK nationals living and/or working in the EU at the end of the transition period, for as long as they remain in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement. As now, the amount of State Pension to which those individuals will be entitled as a result of the contributions will be determined according to each state’s social security legislation.

We are resident in France and no longer have a UK address, but my husband and I both have UK bank accounts, into which our pensions are paid. Will we be allowed to maintain these accounts after withdrawal?

If you wanted to have your pension paid into a French account then you could do that. Otherwise, you can continue as now to have the payments made into a UK account.

There are suggestions the new residency will be valid for 5 years and we will have re-apply. as the uprating of state pensions is only guaranteed until 2023, there may be a need for repatriation of many thousands of poor pensioners. Can we have a statement on what will happen to pensions after 2023?

As long as you are living in France by 31 December 2020, you are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, meaning that you will get your UK State Pension uprated every year for as long as you continue to live in France. You’ll find further information here.