Forgetting to claim what comes back to us, it seems unthinkable, and yet many retirees deprive themselves of part of their pension.
Each year, thousands of French people allow a acquired right to be passed, a deserved sum, as if it did not exist. By negligence, by oblivion, sometimes by discouragement in the face of blurred or too complex approaches. Others think they are not entitled to it, or do not even know that this right exists. The result is the same: the money remains blocked, and no one comes to get it.
This is the case for many retirees: they are thousands to reach retirement age without touching a penny. Not because they are not entitled to it, or because they prefer to continue working. But simply because they did not take steps. Some people think they did not contribute enough. Others live abroad, or ignore that it is necessary to make a request to trigger the payment. Result: sometimes large sums remain pending, for years. According to a pension insurance report, 600,000 insured are in “complete non-recourse situation”that is to say that they do not receive any retirement pension, because they have never taken the steps to ask for it.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not new. In 2019, a survey carried out by the DREES, the organization responsible for statistics at the Ministry of Health, revealed that at 70 years old, almost one in four born in 1942 had still not recovered all the sums to which she was entitled, when she had nevertheless left active life. The reasons are multiple: “The populations concerned are often in a situation of fragility or ignore the administrative procedures to be accomplished”underlines retirement insurance on its site. For many too, the steps are blurred, even intimidating. Difficult, under these conditions, to activate all its rights.
The good news is that it is never too late to make up for it. Even if the retirement was not requested at the right time, it remains possible to regularize the situation and launch the procedure with the retirement insurance or the pension fund of the last activity. However, the retroactivity of the pension, in other words, receiving arrears for the years not claimed – is only permitted in very specific situations. This concerns in particular the regularization of an administrative situation or of cases where the administration is at fault.
Apart from these situations, no right to the amounts not paid in the past is possible beyond 5 years. “In the event of a late request, in accordance with Agirc-Arrco regulations, retroactive payment cannot be more than 5 years”, explain the authorities on the Public Services+site. To make you help and see more clearly, you can speak with a retirement advisor or a social worker. Some centers also offer free support. If you are concerned, do not wait any longer to claim the money that comes upon you.
