I HAD reason to visit Stroud District Council for confirmation that I am still alive in order to continue to receive a pension from the French pension authorities.

I was directed towards a customer service manager who thought the relevant form he had devised, with the agreement of others, would not present a problem for me.

This form is in English only.

The official French legal form “Attestation pour les paiement des retraites” is presented in the French language.

From my experience, the French authorities insist French must be used on all correspondence appertaining to state and legal matters.

I was told by the customer service manager that Stroud District Council had adopted this English-only form for one-and-a-half years without any problems.

I applied just 11 months ago using the previous procedure.

I would be interested to know if any other of your readers receive a pension from the French Republic and haven’t received difficulties from using the SDC form?

I should think it most likely that they have.

By the way, I visited my bank in Stroud and they completed the official French language form in 30 seconds with a smile.

Chris Willcox

Paganhill

Stroud