What is the right to make mistakes about the administration?
Verified 05 August 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)
If you have made an error in an administrative declaration, the right to error allows you to regularize your mistake without risking a penalty (e.g. financial penalty or deprivation of social benefit due). We present you the information to know.
All administrations are concerned. For example: Caf: titleContentFrance, Work (formerly Job center), Health insurance, Urssaf: titleContent, Taxes.
You must respect the 3 conditions following :
- You ignored a rule or you made the mistake for the 1era times
- You regularize your situation on your own initiative or at the request of the administration within the specified time limit
- You are from good faith. It's up to the administration to prove your bad faith or that you defraud.
No, the right to error shall not apply regardless of the error committed. For example, it does not apply in the following cases :
- Gross error or gross negligence (for example, misrepresentation)
- Error that cannot be rectified (e.g. missing or late reporting)
- Penalty under EU law
- Penalty for failure to comply with rules directly protecting public health, the environment and the safety of persons or property
- Penalty under contract
- Penalty imposed by a regulatory authority on professionals subject to its supervision
- Obligation linked to an international convention that may oppose it (for example, in the field of labor law).
You must contact on your own initiative the administration concerned to regularize your situation.
Administration may also invite you to regularize your situation in a time limit it shall set.
Example :
You forgot to tell France Travail that you have resumed a professional activity. In this case, you must contact France Travail on your own initiative to update your situation. This will avoid the wrong payment of allowances that you will have to repay later.
Service Public
Ministry of Finance