This chapter tells you what you need to know to claim a disability pension in France.

If you have worked and paid social security contributions in another country of the European Union, your period of work and the contributions that you have made may be taken into account when your pension is calculated in France.

In what situation can I claim?

If you have been a victim of a disease or an accident of non-occupational origin, you may ask to benefit from a disability pension in order to compensate for the loss of your income.

What conditions do I need to meet?

If you are incapable of resuming work after an accident or an invalidating disease of a non-occupational origin, you may receive a disability pension by satisfying the following conditions:

• you have not reached the legal age of the retirement (62 years);
• your capacity to work or income has been reduced by at least 2/3;
• you have been registered for at least 12 months when you stop your work, or when your disability was established by the medical consultant of your health insurance fund;
• you can prove, over the 12 months prior to your sick leave or medical establishment of your disability, either that you have carried out at least 600 hours of salaried work, or having paid contributions on a salary totalling at least 2,030 times the hourly minimum wage.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

In order to determine the amount of the pension, three categories are defined, according to the remaining work capacity:

• The 1st category concerns disabled people who are still capable of carrying out a professional activity. The pension is calculated according to the following formula: average annual income (SAM) x 30%. The maximum amount of the pension is equal to 30% of the social security threshold, i.e. €1,099.80 per month.
• The 2nd category concerns disabled people who are incapable of carrying out a professional activity. The pension is calculated in the same way as for the 1st category, with a different percentage. The calculation formula is as follows (SAM) x 50%. The maximum amount of the pension equals 50% of the social security threshold, i.e. €1,833 per month.
• The 3rd category concerns disabled persons in the 2nd category, who are obliged to receive help from a third party in order to complete ordinary acts of everyday life. The amount of the basic pension is then increased by 40%. Maximum monthly amount of 3rd category disability pension: €3,025.55 per month.

Jargon busters

• Smic: French Minimum Interprofessional Guaranteed Wage. The gross hourly minimum wage is €11.27 gross at 1st January 2023.
• SAM: Average yearly income calculated on the basis of the 10 best years of activity (income subject to contributions up to the limit of the annual social security ceiling).
• Social security threshold: maximum total defined each year, on the basis of which contributions and certain social security allowances are calculated (annual amount in 2023: €43,992.

Forms you may need to fill in

Application form for disability pension on the sickness benefits website.

Know your rights

The following links provide further information about your rights. These sites are not the responsibility of the European Commission and therefore do not represent its viewpoints:

• More information on the sickness benefits website.
• Centre of European and international social security matters (Cleiss) page on health insurance in France.

Commission publication and websites:

• Social security allowances: your rights as a European citizen abroad

Who do you need to contact?

Contact the sickness benefits online or find the closest Primary health insurance fund to where you live on the dedicated page of the health insurance website.