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Should we reimburse wrongly paid family benefits?

Verified 22 September 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Yes, you have to repay benefits wrongly paid by the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) or the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA).

The FCA or AMM may ask you to repay benefits paid in error:

  • During a period of 2 years
  • During a period of 5 years if the award of these benefits is the result of fraud or misrepresentation on your part.

After these deadlines, the Cof or the MSA can no longer ask you for a refund.

How are these sums recovered?

The recovery of wrongfully paid family benefits is effected in one of the following ways:

  • In one installment
  • In several installments (a sum is then regularly deducted from the benefits paid afterwards).
What sanctions?

FYI  

The amount of the penalty shall be determined according to the seriousness of the facts. For example, whether the alleged acts were intentional or repeated, the amount of the damage and its duration, the means and methods used.

This amount may be up to €14,664.

Warning  

Penalties are increased when the intent to defraud is established.

How do you avoid having to pay back benefits paid in error?

If there is a change in your household, you must immediately report it to the CAF or the MSA, even if you have already reported it to another organization (Taxes, Pôle emploi, CPAM...).

This will help you avoid having to pay back to the UIC the money you wrongly received.

Who can help me?

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