voluntary contributions in UK whilst in France

[berty]

WE are going to take a sabbatical in france for a while.Whilst we are there can we still make voluntary NI contributions to keep up with our old age pension/health payments.We are still going to be British residents.However the reason for going to France is to make a new life there.We hope to find work once our French is improved ( we are both hairdressers ) but if this proves impossible then we will have to return to blighty.   Many thanks for any replies                                   

[BJSLIV]

You certainly can make voluntary contributions to protect your pension, but it has no added value as far as health cover is concerned. Perhaps it would be worthwhile checking whether one year missed would matter. Depends on the age at which you stated work and  whether you have had any other gaps. In general terms you need to have paid 35 full years between the age of 18 and 60 to qualify.

[Teamedup]

As BJSLIV says, if you will have enough years in then I wouldn't bother.

If you won't then contact the DWP Overseas section in Newcastle and they will tell you how much you have to pay for the year you will be absent.

[Coco]

Your age also makes a difference because if you are young enough to think about getting pregnant when you are back in the UK maternity leave will be dependant on how much NI you have paid in the previous two years, or so I believe.

[Owen]

Hello,

You can continue to pay Class 3 contributions towards pension. but it is only towards pension. There is no health cover and neither can you pay another class of contribution in the UK to obtain health cover whilst in France.

As you are presumably below state retirement age but are not intending. at least initially, to take up formal residence in France, an E106 will not be appropriate either. Issue of E106 is a tacit admission that you are shedding UK residence.

Essentially therefore you are coming to France on a long holiday so you should take considerable care about healthcare provision. You can obtain E111 from the Post Office and the new version will be valid up until 31 December 2005. This now covers "necessary" as opposed to previously "immediately necessary" or emergency treatment. But E111 will probably only be valid for up to 6 months. After this you will be considered as being no longer a resident of UK for health cover purposes. E111 will still only give a level of cover that would be available to any French resident, so depending on the treatment received, you could still face a considerable bill.

E111 + travel insurance. I have posted on this subject before. This is a possible solution but again you need to take care. When you take out the insurance it must be for a specific period or in the case of an Annual Multi Trip policy there will be a maximum length for each trip. But in either case, in the event of a claim you will probably have to produce proof of your intention to return to UK eg; return air/ferry ticket. In the absence of such proof a Loss Adjuster will probably refuse any travel insurance claim whatsoever.

Full private insurance. This is another option and the insurer will want to know what your intended country of residence will be. You can safely state France even though you will not be taking up formal residence immediately. A health insurer is not particularly interested in whether you have completed bureaucratic formalities of residence - just the geographical location of the risk. The disadvantage with private insurance is that you will probably not have cover for any pre-existing conditions, although that would apply to a travel insurance too.

Regards

Peter Owen

[email protected]

[derf]

Just an addition to Peter's reply, you could also pay class 2 voluntary contributions to count towards your pension rights.

[berty]

Many thanks to you all for the helpful replys,Berty