Inflation: What do I do if I have not yet got France’s rentrée bonus?

Around 10.8 million people in France are eligible for a one-off government anti-inflation aid called the prime exceptionnelle de rentrée scolaire.

This money should have been sent to a majority of eligible people automatically on September 15.

Read more: Inflation aid, energy cheque: who is due these extra French benefits?

The financial support is for people who receive various benefits in France, including the revenu de solidarité active (RSA), the allocation adulte handicapé, the allocation spécifique de solidarité and the allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées. Bursary students also qualify.

The bonus consists of a €100 baseline payment, along with an additional €50 for each dependent child.

Households which do not receive the benefits outlined above but which get the prime d’activité should be paid €28, with an additional €14 for each child in the household in mid-November.

People should receive the aid automatically without having to do anything, which will be organised by the organisation handling their benefits, for example Caisse d’allocations familiales (CAF), Pôle Emploi or the Caisse des retraites.

A spokesperson for CAF told news site actu.fr that as far as it was aware, the aid, averaging €133.50 per person, had been delivered to all of its roughly 6.8 million eligible adherents without any issues.

The other four million people eligible for the prime exceptionnelle de rentrée scolaire receive benefits from various other organisations, such as Pôle Emploi or the Caisse des retraites.

The CAF spokesperson said that if you think you are eligible for the bonus and have not yet received it, you should send an email or a letter to your local CAF.

“An email is better than a phone call as it allows us to date the request and create a record,” they said.

“Also, make sure to check that your bank details are up to date on your account, whether it is with CAF, Pôle Emploi, etc.,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Pôle Emploi told actu.fr that eligible people should receive the baseline aid automatically from September 27.

They will also receive a form – une attestation sur l’honneur – that you should fill out to state how many children you have. You should then send this back to the Pôle Emploi with a copy of your livret de famille.

If anyone has any doubts about whether they should get this aid from the Pôle Emploi, they can contact their advisor or phone 3949.

France’s national statistics institute Insee has indicated that inflation reached 5.9% over a year in August, slightly higher than the 5.8% that was suggested as an estimate at the end of that month.

Related articles

Regulated French gas and electric bills capped at 15% rise in 2023

French banks to limit fee increases to 2% in 2023 amid high inflation