change of name. deed poll insisted on by building society...

spabbygirl

I know there is a similar thread but it didn't seem to address my query. I have a savings account with coventry building society and I want to go back to using my maiden name not my married name. My driving license, bank account, passport etc are all in my maiden name & I'd like my savings account to do the same, but Coventry Buildings Society are insisting that I change my name by deed poll. 
Surely that can't really be the case, they let me withdraw recently whilst I have two names, and surely since I have all the major documents in my maiden name I don't need a deed poll. Both names are after all on my marriage certificate and rather than changing my name, I am simply choosing to use one rather than another.

eskbanker

spabbygirl said:

My driving license, bank account, passport etc are all in my maiden name

If all of your formal documents are in your maiden name, can't you just open a new account using those?

Or have you ended up in a halfway house situation where your formal ID is all in one name but your finances are in the other, including current accounts, credit facilities, etc?

DullGreyGuy

Have you gotten divorced? If so the divorce certificate is normally accepted as proof of change of name

spabbygirl

Hi both, no I haven't got divorced but I write books in my maiden name, I work in my maiden name and it just became too difficult to use both, because I forget which one I've used where! I also prefer my maiden name.
I suppose opening a new account is the thing to do, a move from Coventry to 212 would be good, I just hope coventry don't make a fuss further down the line, thanks both

Brie

the problem can be that some bureaucratic type can't think logically and just goes into a "computer says no" mode. 

just because someone wants to use the name on their birth certificate instead of the one they acquired on marriage doesn't mean they are necessarily divorced.  I agree with eskbanker that likely the easiest thing to do is open a new account otherwise just take your business elsewhere.  I would also suggest lodging a complaint to say that you have all the documents to prove who you are so what's their problem?  

this is a bit like when my work pension scheme wanted me to supply them with a copy of my marriage certificate as I'd logged my husband as my beneficiary but he has a different name to me.  Next day I came in to work to discover all of my work systems had been updated with his surname.  I asked them to change it back and was asked for a copy of the divorce certificate.  Which of course I didn't have as I wasn't divorced.  Took about a week before some logic was kicked into the right person's head.  

spabbygirl

I had a great idea thanks to you both, I looked up what I'd need to return to a previous name on a formal legal document, so I looked up what I'd need to change my name on my passport and its birth cert, document with new name like passport, council tax etc. marriage cert with both names & signed statement saying I've gone back to previous name & won't be using the former. So if Coventry make a fuss, I'll complain on this basis, thanks all for your help.