Car insurance - changing name after marriage

cllola

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows the answer to this through experience as i cannot get through to my insurance company at the moment due to a 'local emergency' according to their answering machine. I am assuming they have been flooded!

I have recently got married and i am changing my name on everything. Do i need to get my new driving licence before i change my name on my car insurance?

I am assuming if my name on my driving licence is different to the one on my insurance policy and I have an accident my insurance will not be valid?

I want to add a learner driver to my policy as soon as possible but want to change my name at the same time to avoid multiple admin fees :mad:

Thanks in advance!

Netwizard

Send your licence off and get your insurance changed at the same time Some times you can change details online.

Iceweasel

Whether you change your name or not is up to you - you don't have to really.

What order you do it in will make no difference to anything - and having a licence in one name and insurance in another will make no difference to the validity of either of them.

Same with your passport and other ID docs.

Marrying doesn't change who you are - you can use any name you want as long as their is no intention to deceive.

I believe many married women these days just stick with their original (maiden) name.

sgun

Actually, unless the law has changed, you DO have to change your name on your drivers license. Its the only thing you HAVE to do, you can be fined for not doing it. I haven't done it yet though after 5 months, I went as far as getting the form from the post office. I kept my insurance in my old name so that it matched. I will get round to changing it but you have to send off your marriage cert. I don't think the DVLA are particularly organised so worried they will lose it!

Everything else you can keep in your maiden name just make sure that you book flights etc in your maiden name if you don't change your passport straight away.

Ms_Chocaholic

sgun, I'd be interested to read where it states you DO have to change your name on your driving licence.

If the person is not intending to deceive, you can be known by any name you choose.

forgotmyname

Slight risk of inconvenience having your licence in one name and insurance in another if you were stopped for any reason.

missile

I would wait until insurance renewal to avoid the admin charge.

InsideInsurance

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

sgun, I'd be interested to read where it states you DO have to change your name on your driving licence.

If the person is not intending to deceive, you can be known by any name you choose.

I agree that you can call yourself whatever you want but my understanding was that you still should have one "legal" name and that your official documents such as your driving license should be in this name

Snuggles

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I agree that you can call yourself whatever you want but my understanding was that you still should have one "legal" name and that your official documents such as your driving license should be in this name

Having recently got married myself, my understanding is that you should inform everyone of your name change, if you are indeed changing your name. Confusingly however, it is legal for you to continue to use a passport in your previous name until it expires (you would also have to book any travel in your maiden name).

However, I believe you are supposed to change your driving licence immediately, and can be fined if you don't. Not sure how reliable this website is (see para 2):

http://www.needasolicitor.com/Driving-Licence-Laws.html

Oh and just to add, I wasn't charged an admin fee for changing my name on my car insurance (Direct Line).

Iceweasel

There is no must about any name changes at all.

A married woman does not have to change any names on any documents at all.

Most of these changes are tradition only and not a legal necessity.

So she can change some, none, or all of them.

The OP's question was about the order that she should change them in and was there an order that needed to be followed.

The answer is there is no order and she can do what she wants, when she wants.

What usually happens and what legally needs to happen are often confused.

Aretnap

It is an offence not to update your licence immediately if your name changes, but I have no idea how they would go about prosecuting you for it given that there's nothing to stop you using different names for different purposes (ask Cherie Booth/Blair) and there's no register of "official legal names" to prove that yours has actually changed, other than the one held by the DVLA (and the passport office, but only if you have a passport). In any event, the chance of being prosecuted for doing it a few months late is very slim indeed.

Contrary to popular belief it is actually quite difficult to invalidate your insurance and you would not have a problem if your name on the insurance certificate and the one on your licence didn't match, so long as you could prove that they both referred to you. I suppose there's a slim chance that it could cause you problems if you were stopped by a policeman who didn't believe that you were the person named on the insurance. So personally I'd wait until renewal time to change it, and update my licence at about the same time.