Self-employed pensions ‘underpaid’ in France

The pensions body Cipav has been accused of deliberately underpaying pensions for some micro-entrepreneurs.

Cipav (Caisse interprofessionnelle de prévoyance et d’assurance vieillesse) runs pensions schemes for professionnels libéraux, including lawyers, some doctors, nurses and dentists, architects and occupations such as freelance translating and computer services. 

Many signed up for compulsory pension contributions with Cipav after the auto-entrepreneur (now micro-entrepreneur) system was first created in 2008. Problems arose when some of these people then tried to claim their pensions.

They discovered that Cipav had reduced their pension points, which should be awarded based on quarterly payments calculated on total turnover, without any deduction for expenses. 

Cipav has instead been applying a flat-rate deduction of 34% before calculating points, invoking a principle of proportionality between traditional self-employed workers and those under the microsocial scheme. 

Affected people form association

Several hundred thousand micro-entrepreneurs are reportedly affected by this reduction in their pension points, according to an association called the Collectif d’information des professionnels adhérents victimes de la Cipav.

It urges people who pay into Cipav (money has been collected by Urssaf since 2022) to “check their annual statements dating back to 2009 and take action if they find that they have been awarded only 9 or 10 points based on their revenue”.

In theory this should be available on the government site, but the association says information from Cipav is sometimes lacking, and not detailed enough for proper checks.

The association provides guidance on how to challenge Cipav in the courts.

Cipav said it has only 80 cases where its calculations have been challenged, and it has 800,000 micro-entrepreneurs on its books, with 65,000 already drawing pensions.