Pension not in my full given name

MallyGirl

Hi
I am in the process of consolidating a number of small previous company / personal pensions into a SIPP. I have just got the (very involved) paperwork for a company GPPP pension that is Trust Based and held by Standard Life. They are insisting I provide original birth certificate and marriage certificate to prove name and name change. I can do that although I would have preferred to use certified copies but apparently those are not acceptable.
My possible issue is that the pension is in the name I always use but this is actually a diminutive - think Jim instead of James (not my real name )
I have always used ‘Jim’ for day to day / company email addresss etc but most sensible companies have setup pensions etc as James. Not this one and I never noticed / bothered.
Is this likely to be an issue? Or are companies used to this sort of thing? It is a common diminutive.
I haven’t worked at this firm for 15 years.
TIA

mgdavid

MallyGirl wrote: »

........ I never noticed / bothered.

which was it?

MallyGirl wrote: »

........ is this likely to be an issue?.

I doubt if anyone on here can tell you the definitive answer; best you phone the pension company and ask them.

MallyGirl

Didn’t notice but even if I had it wouldn’t have occurred to me that it might be an issue until I had my lightbulb moment and decided to take some control rather than let this selection of small and dormant pensions trail along behind me till retirement.

I will be calling in the new year, I just thought someone might have experienced a similar issue.

Silvertabby

This was a common occurrence with the LGPS, and wasn't an issue - we just asked for a letter from the pensioner confirming the difference. However, I would check with your provider to see if they would require anything else.

Have to say, reminds me of a lady who rang me in an absolute panic because I had asked to see a copy of her birth certificate before making her pension payment. Seems daddy had 'wet the baby's head' rather too well just before he went to register her birth, and her birth certificate gave her first name as one that she and her mother had never used. She got her pension!

redux

I would be reluctant to provide originals of documents, unless it was to show them on a personal visit to an office.

I once sent off bank statements and other details in support of a postal loan application with a well-known bank. I received back similar documents for a couple who lived 200 miles away. I phoned the bank and posted these back to the bank. I never received either my own documents or even any acknowledgment explanation or apology.

Novice_investor101

Birth/marriage certificates are copyrighted. That's why they have to ask for the originals. If you choose to send in certified copies, they may/probably will accept them.I know Aviva do, as a member of my family sent in a certified copy of her marriage cert and they processed a name change from that. They'd still told her that they can only ask for originals cos of the copyrighting.

MallyGirl

Aviva accepted a certified copy for me but this trust one states categorically that certified copies won’t be accepted. I will wait till RM have calmed down after the Christmas rush before risking the originals with them I think
It is getting more tempting to just leave this one where it is

Andy_L

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

Birth/marriage certificates are copyrighted. That's why they have to ask for the originals.

They are copyright, but HMG allow you to reproduce them for pretty much any use except passing it off as an original. They want an original (or possibly certified copy) because a photocopy/scan will not have all the anti-forgery measures

greenglide

You can always go to your registry office and get another one. There is, of course, only one original and that is held by the registrars department. What you have is a copy extracted by the registrar.

The name issue can cause confusion. It is often put as James, known as Jim. I had this issue when my mother died as the birth certificate differed from almost every other document.

System

greenglide wrote: »

The name issue can cause confusion. It is often put as James, known as Jim. I had this issue when my mother died as the birth certificate differed from almost every other document.

It's all sortable though if you explain.
We live in a rural area on the borders of three counties. The Post Office have changed our post code twice over the past 32 years, our notional village three times, and our postal county once.
We don't actually live in any village, and the postal county district does not follow the local authority administrative boundary. None of these "addresses" actually describes where we live, which is in reality 4 miles from any of them.
Banks and utility companies use address databases of different vintages, so they rarely agree in detail. But a phone call usually overcomes their initial disbelief that this situation is possible.