Are state pensions of Britons in France protected in case of UK government policy changes? 

Some Britons in France have asked about how secure their state pension payments will be in case a future UK government adopts measures such as abandoning the ‘triple lock’ or harsher rules for people living in the EU.

This comes amid economic and political uncertainties in both France and the UK, including the rise of far-right parties.

It comes also as the UK already, as of the 2025-2026 financial year, removed the possibility of working Britons abroad topping up a UK state pension at the low Class 2 rate.

The good news is that UK state pensions of people in France are subject to strong protections, whether that is in the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), or by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement for those who moved since 2021. As international treaties, these provide strong protections. 

These both provide for pensions of those concerned to be ‘uprated’, ie. subject to annual revaluation in the same way as pensions of people in the UK.

It applies to people already drawing a pension and to those who will draw one in the future when they reach the UK retirement age.

This is in contrast to the pension freezing that occurs when UK pensioners move to some other foreign countries such as Australia or Canada.

Uprating would currently be in line with the triple lock, a mechanism whereby state pensions rise each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5% –  whichever is the highest.

Rules in the WA and TCA also mean that the UK remains in the EU ‘pension aggregation’ system, meaning contribution years in the UK or France can help towards your pension entitlements in the other country.

The issue of whether the lock is too costly to the government is increasingly raised in UK media, with pressure from some economists, think tanks and other commentators who argue it is becoming too expensive, especially with an ageing population.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank recently said it meant pensions had increased by 14% more since 2011 than if they had risen in line with wages only.

The pensions director at large private pension and insurance firm Aegon, meanwhile, has proposed that increases should be tied to inflation while also allowing additional increases if earnings growth exceeds inflation over several years.

Commitment to triple lock

However, no one is suggesting removing uprating altogether and changes to the ‘lock’ would be unpopular.

The UK’s far-right Reform party recently said it was committed to keeping it, having previously said it was “open for debate” and Andy Burnham, expected to take over from Keir Starmer as prime minister, has stated he remains committed to it.

At current rates, a UK full pension is £12,548/year.

Aspects that may change

Having said this, people living abroad who are not yet drawing their pensions but hope to do so in future can be affected by UK-wide pension policy decisions in much the same way as pensioners living in Britain.

For example, the introduction of the new UK State Pension in April 2016 changed the standard number of National Insurance qualifying years needed for a full state pension from 30 to 35 for many future pensioners, although transitional rules mean the exact requirement varies according to an individual's contribution history.

As mentioned, residents in France who have paid into UK state pensions were also affected by the decision of the UK government, as of May, to stop allowing residents overseas to make 'top-up'  National Insurance contributions to complete years towards their future pension entitlement, at the law class 2 rate. 

People living and working in France having previously paid national insurance in the UK can still ‘top up’ the years from 2020-2021 to 2025-2026 at class 2 level (£3.65/week).

Howver, people abroad can only pay at class 3 (£18.40/week) for the 2026-2027 year and future years.