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International insurance
Moving abroad: health, protection insurance, repatriation. What French Social Security no longer covers.
When you settle outside France, you leave French Social Security as a rule. Healthcare, sick leave, disability, death: every cover has to be rebuilt, for you and your family.
Healthcare costs
From the first euro, or as a supplement to the CFE.
The Caisse des Français de l'Étranger reimburses your healthcare based on French rates. A supplementary contract covers the difference, which is often significant in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, or the Emirates.
An international contract covers all your costs on its own, from the first euro, in the chosen country. Simpler to manage, it is priced by age, zone and level of cover.
Protection insurance
Protect your income and your family.
Daily allowances to replace your income if you can no longer work, where no local scheme protects you.
An annuity if an illness or accident permanently prevents you from working, calculated on your actual income.
A lump sum or an education annuity for your children, and the cost of repatriating the body.
Before leaving
Three questions to settle before departure.
A seconded employee remains affiliated to French Social Security for the period set by EU rules or the bilateral agreement; an expatriate leaves it. Everything else follows from that.
Group contract, family covered or not, reimbursement ceilings, cover ending when you leave the company: read it again before signing.
Expatriate employees can keep contributing to the French basic state pension through the Caisse des Français de l'Étranger, so as not to lose any quarters.
Frequently asked questions
What clients ask us.
Is the CFE sufficient?
Rarely in countries where healthcare is expensive: it reimburses on the basis of French rates. On a €20,000 hospital stay billed in the United States, the share reimbursed on French rates is far lower. Hence the choice between a CFE top-up and a first-euro contract.
My employer provides me with coverage abroad: is that sufficient?
For healthcare, often; for protection insurance, not always. Check 3 points: is your family covered, are the ceilings high enough in your host country, and what happens to the cover if you leave the company locally.
I am a self-employed worker in France: what can I deduct?
Protection insurance and top-up health insurance contributions under a Madelin contract are deductible from profit, up to 3.75% of profit plus 7% of the Social Security ceiling, capped at 3% of 8 ceilings, i.e. €11,534.40 in 2026 (Article 154 bis of the French Tax Code).
What arrangements should I make for my family if I die abroad?
A death benefit or an education annuity for the children, repatriation of the body, and an up-to-date beneficiary clause on your assurance-vie contracts. The inheritance law of your country of residence may also apply (EU regulation of 4 July 2012): this is what our country-by-country expatriation guide covers.
