Prepare for questions if calling UK over life certificate issues from France
Reader highlights information needed to ensure pension payments resumed during phone conversation following missing letter issues
Preparing in advance before calling the DWP can help resolve pension issues
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To the editor,
Following your first article on the matter of UK life certificates, I used the advice of your reader and waited three weeks after sending back my signed form by registered letter.
I confirmed with my local post office that the letter had indeed reached the DWP address, but saw no further pension payment had been paid into my bank account since posting the form.
There is a phone number cited on the DWP site for international pensions but it turned out to be for people with health problems or with change of status issues.
I then used the phone number quoted in your article above.
I am pleased to report that, perhaps due to the attention your magazine is giving to the matter, a response took only about five minutes.
Prepare for questions in advance
The authorities asked me several questions when I was on the phone - here are some tips for other readers.
Having given my full name and date of birth, the first question was to provide my UK National Insurance number - it can be good to have this to hand before calling if you do not know it off by heart.
The next question was: 'can you quote the first line of an address that you have previously lived at in recent years?'
It would be a good idea to prepare for this question if you moved several times when living in the UK.
Finally, the question that caught me out was the year and month of arriving permanently in France.
Somewhere in my computer files I still hold the certificate from the mairie showing the exact date that we were formally accepted as permanent arrivals in our village, but while the DWP lady patiently waited, I could not locate it.
In the end, she accepted I had done my best and told me my UK pension would now be unlocked and should arrive within three days.
B.S, by email
Other reader advice on the matter can be found in our article here.
If you have experienced any issues with sending or receiving UK life certificates, send us an email via feedback@connexionfrance.com
