Can I have French and UK pensions for the same period?

I recently started to receive my French state pension. I did not pay National Insurance contributions in the UK while working in France. If I buy back the missing years from the UK, is it possible to be paid a state pension from France and the UK for the same periods?

In short, yes, it is possible to claim both a French and UK pension for the ‘same periods’.

There are no rules in France against claiming another country's state pension at the same time as a French pension, and the same applies to the UK.

With regard to your UK state pension, once you reach the UK retirement age and start to claim it, it will be a ‘full’ UK state pension if you have paid in for 35 qualifying years; it will be reduced proportionally if you have not.

Note that you need at least 10 paying-in years to receive any UK pension. Years paying into a French pension may be taken into account for this (but not to increase the amount you may receive).

It is possible to ‘top up’ a UK pension from abroad, even if you are at the same time accruing rights to a pension in the country you are living in, in your case, France.

Topping up a UK pension

Note, however, that rules on topping up a UK pension from France have changed.

Previously if a person worked in the UK immediately before moving and was currently working in France, they could top up at Class 2 NIC (National Insurance contributions) level, which is five times less than the alternative Class 3.

However, it is now not possible to top up periods starting from the current UK financial year (April 6, 2026 to April 5, 2027) at Class 2 from abroad.

It is, however, still possible to apply to top-up years before this at Class 2 rate if you are eligible under the rules that were in force at the time (three years of previous UK residence or contributions, plus having worked in the UK immediately before moving abroad and having worked abroad and still be working abroad).     

As of the year 2026-2027, it is only possible to top up at Class 3, and there are stricter eligibility criteria – generally 10 years of continuous UK residence or 10 qualifying years of contributions.

Class 2 contributions for 2025-2026 were £3.50 per week. The current rate for Class 3 (for 2026-2027) is £18.40.

Usually, you can top up periods within the last six UK tax years.

The recommended first steps are to check your National Insurance record which will show your number of contributing years, and obtain a pension forecast. This should give you an idea of whether it will be worth making top up payments.