Moroccan Man in France Mistakenly Declared Dead by Health Insurance Fund

Rachid Zouini, 45, received a letter from the Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM) announcing his own death. What he thought was a joke changes the normal course of his life in a short time. It all started on June 21, 2019. Rachid Zouini returned from the Nantes University Hospital after having a shoulder prosthesis fitted, reports presseocean.fr.

In the following days, calls from his entourage poured in. "They called my father to learn of my death, and to get money to repatriate me to Morocco. At first, I thought it was a scam," he said.

After explaining his misadventure to the woman in charge of his file at the CPAM on June 24, he realized that the INSEE had declared him dead. He then went to the Nantes Town Hall on July 8 to receive a Certificate of Life.

In short, Rachid Zouini discovered the reasons for his announced death on July 11 on Facebook. "I realized that someone named Rachid Zouini had indeed died but he was domiciled in La Rochelle." That’s when he remembers that in 2013 there was an administrative error on his tax return. Two addresses were listed there (Nantes, La Rochelle).

"Just seeing the sheets that attest to my death, it makes me feel bad. For a month, I’ve had this idea of death in my head," he is depressed.

In his family, Rachid is not the only one to suffer from such a nuisance with the French services. His brother Youssef had been the victim of a judicial error in 2007, which earned him four years in prison, the same source details.