Sorting out my S1

[Headers]

I am in the French healthcare system as a dependent of my OH on his S1.
This year I reach pensionable age. I applied for my pension by phone to the DWP overseas section exactly 4 months before my birthday. All done over the phone.

3 weeks later I rang the NHS department that deals with the issuing of S1’s for eligible overseas residents. She asked me if I have the start date for my pension. I was bemused as I thought that the pension started on my birthday but it doesn’t it’s a random day after my birthday linked to the last 2 digits of my National Insurance number.
I can’t apply for the S1 until I have this and no sooner than 3 months before the eligible date AND she said there is a 6 month backlog of processing pension applications.

I began to panic at this point as I am receiving ongoing cancer treatment and I really can’t afford any confusion about my eligibility for treatment.
I contacted the DWP again and explained my situation. The guy checked and said I was on the Priority 1 list. He reassured me that he would change the priority and I was not to worry.

One week later, I received an SMS telling me my application had been dealt with and they are writing to me to explain everything.

So basically if you have any ongoing health issues, I would encourage you to point this out to the DWP contact to ensure that you don’t end up t the bottom of the heap.

I still have to deal with the NHS people again (24 minute wait on the queue last time) but I hope I’ll get the letter in the next few days.

[DominicBest]

That’s useful. Thanks.

[Sparkle]

@Headers Thanks for your post as DB says very useful to know and hope all is going well with your treatment.

[Mangetout]

If it's of any help to you, I am on my husbands S1 despite having received my own years ago. I just never got round to registering it. I have not encountered any problems.

[Loup-garou]

If it's of any help to you, I am on my husbands S1 despite having received my own years ago. I just never got round to registering it. I have not encountered any problems.

But you should lest anything terrible happens to your husband - it took my wife about five months because of papers going missing from her dossier (or at least multiple requests for them) and the usual complications about her family name before marriage. Apply while you are covered and not impacted by any delays.

[Antonia]

But you should lest anything terrible happens to your husband - it took my wife about five months because of papers going missing from her dossier (or at least multiple requests for them) and the usual complications about her family name before marriage. Apply while you are covered and not impacted by any delays.

I second that. I'm too young to have my own S1 and was covered by my husband's. When he died mine was cancelled immediately and it took me three months to get into the French system during which time I was uninsured. Fortunately I didn't need medical treatment during that time but it was a massive worry on top of it being the worse time of my life. I did query the cancellation with the pensions service as I had been previously told there was a 12 month grace period but apparently that has now been removed to cut costs. Instead they sent me a letter ( in french ) to give to the french authorities saying they were no longer liable and a warning that, if I attempted to use my S1 again they would take me to court.

[Mangetout]

As it happens my husband is very ill with a 2nd bout of cancer. Biut to be honest, with all the worry of that, sorting out my S1 is the last thing on the list of things to do.

[Sparkle]

@Mangetout Look after your OH but don't forget to take care of yourself as well and do only what you feel is necessary at the moment as I'm sure you need all the energy you can muster. Whilst I would agree with everyone here about getting your S1 sorted now, it wasn't a quick or easy process for me as I somehow got lumped in with the Brexit crowd that were last minute applying and they thought I was one of them applying for a CV not changing status to S1 (I've been here and had my CV 15 years!) and having delivered by hand all my S1 paperwork they misplaced it somewhere. Then I couldn't get onto the Amelie site as they'd locked me out and they wouldn't accept OH asking for details on my behalf! It took a great deal of back & forth emails to CPAM not to mention the stress of it all! Several months later I finally I managed to get a response not from my local CPAM but from CPAM loireatlantique@assurane-maladie stating: "si vous avez conservé une copie de votre formulaire S1, pourriez-vous nous en adresser un exemplaire à l'adresse" So I sent everything I had and I must admit that it was then sorted very quickly and my Ameli account reinstated to great relief.

When the time comes I'm sure someone will be able to help you and maybe by then the system may not be so clogged up - just ask.

[Quiksilver]

I've just had an 'interesting' conversation with a fonc at Agen CPAM, sort of on the same subject. I hope you don't mind me tagging this onto the original thread?
We applied for renewal of the CSS way back in early March, but have just discovered that it's not functioning. I was unable to complete it online, so it was dealt with in paper form, in person. There was some confusion on the part of the fonc as to whether the CPAM were still managing the 'mutuelle' part, but she assured us that it would be approved within 5 days. I've just been informed that 'migrants' no longer have the right to apply for C2S as it's now called. The agreement by which we're covered by an S1 no longer permits us to apply for it, (she said). Has anyone else come across this? Frankly, until I see it in writing on an authorised site, I don't believe her. We've had so many experiences with staff in Agen, from inefficiency to downright dishonesty, that it needs challenging. But I want to be sure of my facts

[Headers]

I've just had an 'interesting' conversation with a fonc at Agen CPAM, sort of on the same subject. I hope you don't mind me tagging this onto the original thread?
We applied for renewal of the CSS way back in early March, but have just discovered that it's not functioning. I was unable to complete it online, so it was dealt with in paper form, in person. There was some confusion on the part of the fonc as to whether the CPAM were still managing the 'mutuelle' part, but she assured us that it would be approved within 5 days. I've just been informed that 'migrants' no longer have the right to apply for C2S as it's now called. The agreement by which we're covered by an S1 no longer permits us to apply for it, (she said). Has anyone else come across this? Frankly, until I see it in writing on an authorised site, I don't believe her. We've had so many experiences with staff in Agen, from inefficiency to downright dishonesty, that it needs challenging. But I want to be sure of my facts

It may be worth posting this on the Strictly Sante Facebook page as they know the route through to the National level officials. I have had a quick look and can’t see any threads about this issue. I know Agen CPAM staff sometimes make Byzantine decisions, so this needs a definitive answer.