UK State Pension in France: Claiming, Increases, Tax and the S1 (2026)

Moving to France does not stop your UK State Pension. It does change a few practical things: who you deal with, where the money goes, whether it goes up each year, and which tax authority has a say. This guide sets out what the official pages say, so you can see what to ask and who decides.

If you are still planning the move itself, start with moving to France from the UK. For the wider picture of retiring here, see retiring to France from the UK.

Claiming your State Pension from France

You can claim if you have paid enough UK National Insurance contributions. GOV.UK says you usually need 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to be eligible for the new State Pension. Contributions to state pensions in the EEA, Switzerland or a country with a social security agreement with the UK can count towards those 10 years. They are added when you claim, but your payment is based only on your UK qualifying years.

Timing matters. GOV.UK says you must be within 4 months of your State Pension age to claim. You can contact the International Pension Centre, or send the international claim form (the address is printed on the form). You will be asked for details of time spent abroad when you claim.

If you have also lived or worked in other countries, GOV.UK says to contact the pension authority where you live. It may notify schemes in countries you have lived or worked in, and those schemes will contact you if you are eligible.

Contacting the International Pension Centre

The International Pension Centre page gives these routes:

• Telephone for State Pension: +44 (0) 191 218 7777, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. You can ask for a callback to reduce the cost of calling from abroad.
• Online: an enquiry form on the page, though it says replies are currently slower than usual.
• Post: The Pension Service 11, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1LW, United Kingdom.

To report a change of address or bank details you must use the telephone or post, not email.

How the pension is paid

You must choose one country for your pension to be paid in. GOV.UK says you cannot be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest.

Payment can go to a bank in the country where you live, or to a UK bank or building society. The account can be in your name, a joint account, or someone else’s account with their permission. For a French account you will need the IBAN and BIC.

Some details from the same page:

• Payments are converted into your local currency at the rate on the conversion date, with a 0.39% conversion charge applied before payment.
• You are paid every 4 or 13 weeks.
• If your State Pension is under £5 a week, it is paid once a year, in December.
• Payments can arrive a day late if they fall in the same week as a US federal holiday, because a US company processes them. Public or bank holidays where you live can also cause delays.

Annual increases when you live in France

GOV.UK says your State Pension will only increase each year if you live in the European Economic Area (EEA), Gibraltar, Switzerland, or a country with a social security agreement with the UK. Canada and New Zealand are the exceptions, where increases are not paid. The page also says you will not get yearly increases if you live outside these countries. France is a member state of the EEA, so it falls in the first group.

If you later return to the UK, the page says your pension rises to the current rate.

The Life Certificate

The Department for Work and Pensions can send you a Life Certificate to confirm you are still eligible for the State Pension. GOV.UK says to return it only if you have been asked to. The form should be returned “as quickly as possible”, and the page gives no fixed number of days.

You print it, complete it and post it to the Wolverhampton address above. The page does not mention returning it online or by email.

The form must be signed by a witness. The witness should not be related to you by birth or marriage and should not live at your address. The listed witnesses include police officers, teachers and lecturers, an officer of a bank authorised to sign documents, registered doctors, nurses and pharmacists, solicitors and notaries, councillors, magistrates and ministers of a recognised religion. GOV.UK also says your witness does not need to live in the UK or hold a passport from a particular country. Check the current form for the full list.

Your payments may be suspended if you do not return the form.

How the State Pension is taxed

Two countries can claim a say, so this is the point to read slowly. GOV.UK says that if you live overseas you may be taxed by both the UK and the country you live in, and that if you pay twice you can usually claim tax relief to get all or some of it back. If your country has a double taxation agreement with the UK, you pay tax on your pension only once, and the agreement decides which country taxes it.

HMRC’s notes for the France Individual DT form are specific. They say the UK State Pension is normally liable to UK Income Tax, and is “taxable, but usually paid without deduction of tax”. They also say that as a resident of France you can apply to have this income exempted from UK Income Tax under the UK/France Double Taxation Convention. To do so you tick the “UK State Pension” box in Part C1 of the form and give the date payments began.

The notes also describe the process:

1. You send the completed form to the Service des Impôts Particuliers for the district where you live.
2. That office certifies that you are resident in France for the purposes of the convention.
3. The form then goes to HMRC at Pay as You Earn and Self Assessment, BX9 1AS, United Kingdom.

HMRC’s notes are dated 01/20, so check GOV.UK for the current version of the form before you use it. HMRC decides on the claim. How the pension is then reported on your French return is a matter for the French tax authority and I have not set it out here. For more on how the treaty works, see the UK-France tax treaty guide. Contributions made while you live abroad are covered in National Insurance when living in France.

The effect on your S1

GOV.UK’s page on healthcare in France says you may be entitled to UK-funded healthcare if you live in France and receive a UK State Pension. To get an S1 you must request an application form by phone from NHS Overseas Healthcare Services. Once you have the S1 you must register it at your local CPAM office. Registration gives you and your dependants healthcare on the same basis as a French citizen, though you still pay part of your medical costs.

There is one effect to watch if you are covered as the dependant of someone who is not yet drawing a pension. GOV.UK says that if your S1 is as a dependant of a State Pensioner, your cover ends once the pensioner starts claiming the UK State Pension. NHS Overseas Healthcare Services will post a new S1 to your registered address, and you must register it to keep your healthcare cover. You are responsible for telling them about any change of address or circumstances.

For the full process, read the S1 guide for UK pensioners.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim my State Pension before I leave the UK?

GOV.UK says you must be within 4 months of your State Pension age to claim, and it does not tie that window to where you live. You can contact the International Pension Centre or use the international claim form.

Can I be paid half the year in the UK and half in France?

No. GOV.UK says you must choose one country for payment and cannot be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest.

Will my pension go up every year in France?

GOV.UK says increases are paid if you live in the EEA, Gibraltar, Switzerland, or a country with a social security agreement with the UK, other than Canada and New Zealand. France is on the list of the 30 EEA members published by Eurostat, so the increase applies if you live there.

Do I have to send a Life Certificate?

Only if the Department for Work and Pensions has asked you to. GOV.UK says payments may be suspended if you do not return it.

Do I pay tax in both the UK and France?

GOV.UK says that where a double taxation agreement exists you pay tax on your pension only once, and the agreement decides where. HMRC’s France notes explain how a resident of France applies for exemption from UK Income Tax on the State Pension. HMRC and the French tax authority decide each case.

Related guides for British readers

• Our guide to opening a French bank account as a UK citizen covers what a French bank asks a British resident for, the proof-of-address loop, the right to an account if a bank refuses, and why your UK accounts must be declared.