The Connexion has learned that 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 DWP sends out forms that must be filled out, witnessed by an authorised person (like a professional, counsellor, or civil servant), and then sent back by mail. This proves that the person is still alive and can still get payments.
But after we helped a UK retiree whose pension had been temporarily stopped in a recent article, many readers have told us about their own problems with the system.
Many people have said that letters never arrive, arrive late, or are not acknowledged, which is a common problem with the postal-based method. This has caused payments to stop in a few cases.
Some readers also say that letters go through the Netherlands, probably through the DWP’s European postal distribution hub.
One person wrote, “I got my last life certificate on March 17, and it was dated February 25.” It was hard to send the letter back right away because it took 20 days to get from the UK to France.
Someone else said that post is especially hard for people who spend time in more than one place.
He said, “France and the UK are next-door neighbours. If people are having problems there, just think about how bad it is to be on another continent.”
Some people think that a digital system would be better.
For a few years now, people who get certain types of occupational pensions have been asked to use digital life certificate systems.
This includes some UK local government pension plans that let you use a computer or app to take a picture of your ID and a selfie.
A French retiree in the UK says that her French pension provider sends her a certificat de vie in both English and French.
She just prints this out, has someone sign it, and then scans it and sends it back by email.
“They say they got it safely within two or three days. She said, “The French system is quick and easy.”
Since 2024, French retirees living abroad who get basic and extra pensions from the main regimes have also been able to use the phone app Mon certificat de vie.
This does away with the need for a witness; instead, it uses an ID document and a short video taken with the phone’s camera to prove that the person is who they say they are. Out of 1.5 million pensioners, about 63,000 use it.
Laura Trott, who was then the UK pensions minister, told Sir Roger Gale MP in 2023 that the service was “looking into making them [life certificates] digital.” But at the time, the DWP said it had “nothing more to say.”
The DWP doesn’t say how often they send life certificates (some reports say every one to two years). It also won’t accept life certificates that are sent without being asked for, but there is an example available.
People have shared tips, such as putting “Royaume-Uni” on pre-printed reply envelopes, paying for tracked (lettre suivie) postage, and asking the witness to use a professional rubber stamp.
Readers say that the International Pension Centre is a good place to report problems. It can give a French translation of the form to witnesses who don’t speak English.
