UK DWP considers digital life certificates to simplify pension checks in France

The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is “exploring electronic solutions to modernise and improve the process” of issuing life certificate requests as part of its ongoing review of the system, The Connexion has learned.

Under the life certificate system, the DWP sends out forms to be completed, witnessed by an authorised person (such as a professional, councillor or civil servant), and then returned by post. This confirms that the recipient is alive and remains eligible for payments.

However, following a recent article in which we assisted a UK retiree whose pension had been temporarily suspended, many readers have told of their own problems with the system.

A common issue arises due to the postal-based method, with many reporting that letters never arrive, arrive late, or are not acknowledged. In several cases, this has resulted in payments being stopped. 

Some readers also note that letters are routed via the Netherlands - likely via the DWP’s European postal distribution hub.

One wrote: “My last life certificate was dated February 25 and was delivered on March 17. The letter asked me to return it as soon as possible, which is difficult when it took 20 days to come from the UK to France.”

Another noted that post is particularly problematic for those who spend time in more than one location. 

“France and the UK are next-door neighbours and if people are experiencing problems there just imagine what it is like to be further afield on another continent,” he said.

Several suggest that a digital system would be more appropriate.

People receiving certain occupational pensions have been asked to use digital life certificate systems for several years. 

This includes certain UK local government pension schemes that use an online process via computer or app, involving taking a photo of an ID document and a selfie.

Similarly, a French retiree in the UK reports that her French pension provider emails a certificat de vie in both English and French. 

She simply prints this, has it witnessed and signed, then scans it, sending it back via email. 

“They acknowledge the safe receipt within two or three days. The French system is quick and easy,” she said.

French retirees abroad receiving basic and complementary pensions from the main regimes have, since 2024, also been able to use the phone app Mon certificat de vie.

This removes the need for a witness, instead using an ID document and a short video taken via the phone’s camera for validation. Some 63,000 pensioners out of a total 1.5 million use it.

In 2023, then-UK pensions minister Laura Trott told Sir Roger Gale MP that the service was “looking into making them [life certificates] digital”. However, the DWP at the time said it had “nothing further to add”.

The DWP does not publish how often life certificates are sent (reports suggest every one to two years). It also does not accept life certificates sent without request, though an example is available.

Readers have shared tips, including adding ‘Royaume-Uni’ to pre-printed reply envelopes, paying for tracked (lettre suivie) postage, and asking the witness to use a professional rubber stamp.

Issues can be reported to the International Pension Centre, which readers say is helpful. It can provide a French translation of the form for witnesses who do not speak English.