French Court Erases €11,465 Debt Despite Benefits Claimant Living in Morocco for Two Years
France Travail had established that a benefits claimant had lived in Morocco for more than two years while receiving benefits. Yet a court in Strasbourg refused to exclude a debt of €11,465 from his debt-relief proceedings. Other amounts still have to be repaid.
Between January 2023 and March 2025, the man received unemployment-related benefits even though he no longer lived in France. France Travail is seeking, among other amounts, €11,465.41 for the specific solidarity allowance, as well as other overpayments.
In April 2025, he filed for debt relief. With no stable address, no benefits and no assets that could be liquidated, he had no capacity to repay. In July, the commission decided to write off the debts that could legally be erased.
France Travail opposed the decision. The agency cited false declarations about his residence in Morocco and asked that the €11,465.41 be treated as a fraudulent debt, ineligible for any write-off. It also disputed a claim for €1,081.42.
An overpayment acknowledged, but decisive evidence missing
The judge acknowledged that the benefits claimant had received payments while living in Morocco. But for the €11,465.41, France Travail produced only a formal demand for payment. No penalty or court decision established that the debt arose from fraud under the conditions set out by law, the May 6, 2026 ruling noted.
The court also found that the benefits claimant had himself reported the overpayment to the commission in June 2025, before learning exactly what it was for. France Travail did not provide details until its written submissions in November.
On Bladi.net : His wife and children live in Morocco, but he declared himself a resident of France: €22,255 in debts to repay
The outcome was different for the other amounts. A penalty established that the €1,081.42 was fraudulent, while a €6,142.52 claim, related in particular to undeclared work, had already been excluded from the proceedings.
The court upheld the personal insolvency procedure without judicial liquidation: the €11,465.41 was written off, but fraudulent debts, including the two aforementioned claims, remain payable. The immediately enforceable decision also means he will be listed in the credit repayment incidents register for five years.
