Hassle

Posted by Rosie

For almost as long as we have been in France I have been trying to claim the French equivalent of Child Benefit for the boys. This is something that, according to everyone I have spoken to and everything that I have read, I am fully entitled to claim. However, this is France, a country who could make leaping through hoops tied up with red tape and Olympic sport and get Gold every time. After a visit to the CAF office and umpteen letters asking for more and more information and translations of birth certificates etc, I received a letter before Christmas refusing me the Benefit explaining I had not given them details of my carte européennes de sécurité sociale. Now what that is I am not sure but they have never asked for it before so I was not going to accept this refusal letter without a fight. Thanks to a friend who speaks fluent French and who phoned CAF for me, we were led to believe this was our European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which I DID have when we first applied and as luck would have it I still had. Copies were duly sent off.

This week I received another letter wanting more information about this card but after over an hour to all sorts of people in England I am no further forward. No-one in England knows exactly what they mean by this card and if it is my EHIC there is no date of issue as is being requested by CAF. It may an E121 or E106, other forms we filled in when applying for our Health Cards but these are now with the French Health Authority with whom CAF has been in contact. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

So, Simon and I are going up to the CAF office in Caen on Monday (again) to discuss our application face to face with some-one. Wish us luck.