Social insurance · France
Notification d'indu — the CAF wants it back
The CAF has decided that benefits were paid that should not have been, and will take the amount back from what it still pays you. It is a decision of a social security body, which is why there is a two-month window to put it before the commission de recours amiable.
How serious: needs actionAlso called: indu CAF, trop-perçu, notification de trop-perçu, demande de remboursement CAF
The notification states the benefit, the months concerned and the amount to repay, and normally says that recovery will be made from the payments still being made.
Because it is a decision of a social security body, article R142-1 of the Code de la sécurité sociale applies: the commission de recours amiable must be seized within two months of the notification.
That recours is the step required before any court. Asking for a remise de dette, or for smaller deductions, is a different request and does not take its place.
Who sends it
A Caisse d'allocations familiales, or the MSA for people covered by the agricultural scheme.
A letter from the CAF with the numéro allocataire, headed 'notification d'indu' or referring to a trop-perçu, naming the benefit and the months concerned, the amount to repay, how it will be recovered, and a paragraph on the recours before the commission de recours amiable.
The deadline
two months from the notification of the decision
Two months from the notification of the decision, to bring the matter before the commission de recours amiable (Code de la sécurité sociale, art. R142-1). The period runs from when the letter reached the allocataire, not from its date.
If you do nothing
The decision becomes final for want of a recours in time, and recovery continues on the terms the notification sets — normally by deductions from the benefits still being paid.
Compute your date
The rule above is what the law sets. Put in the dates on your own letter and it becomes a date.
How it escalates
- 01The decision stands, the recours being out of time after two months (art. R142-1).
- 02Recovery continues from the benefits still being paid, on the terms the notification states.
- 03Where no benefit remains to deduct from, the CAF may recover the sum as a debt owed to it.
- 04A request for a remise de dette, or for smaller instalments, is separate and does not preserve the two-month recours.
How to respond
Below is the procedure only: what the recours has to identify, where it goes, and by when. What the figure should be is a separate question from whether the period was met.
Response types
- Recours before the commissionRecours before the commission de recours amiable of the CAF · Code de la sécurité sociale, articles R142-1 and R142-2
- Ask for the calculationRequest for the detail of the calculation
- Ask for smaller deductions or a remiseRequest for a smaller monthly deduction, or for a remise de dette
- Repay, or show a repaymentRepayment, or a record of a repayment already made
Where and how
- A lettre recommandée avec avis de réception to the CAF, which proves the date if the file later says the recours was late.
- The online space on caf.fr, which records the date and keeps the history.
- Ordinary post, which proves nothing.
- The CAF number on the notification, which brings no recours.
What to attach
- A copy of the notification of the indu.
- The documents relied on — declarations of resources, proof of a change of situation.
- Earlier correspondence with the CAF on the same period.
- A statement of income and outgoings, where a smaller deduction or a remise is asked for.
What makes it count
A recours counts when the CAF receives it, within two months of the notification of the decision — counted from when the letter reached you. Requests about instalments or a remise are decided separately and do not preserve that period.
Common questions
Can I just ask them to write it off?
You can ask for a remise de dette, and the CAF decides it. But that request is not a recours: it does not stop the two months running, and once they have run the decision itself can no longer be put before the commission.
They are already taking money from my next payment.
Recovery from benefits still being paid is what the notification normally announces. Asking for a smaller deduction is a separate request from contesting the sum, and both can be made.
I do not understand how they got the figure.
Ask the CAF for the calculation month by month with the resources taken into account. It is a request for information, states no position, and the two months run on while it is answered — so make the recours in time if there is any doubt.
Do I have to go to the commission before a court?
Yes. The recours before the commission de recours amiable is required before the matter can reach a court, and article R142-1 fixes its two-month period.
Sources
Facts verified against the sources below on 10 September 2026.