Changing Your Name - Informing Others

Bank Accounts

Being transsexual presents no problem as far as banks or building societies are concerned. They will apply exactly the same criteria in the case of credit assessment as for anyone else.

The bank will change your name as a matter of course once it has received a certified copy of your Statutory Declaration. The bank will also require a signature card with your new signature or in the case of a second account the signature which you will use for the operation of that account.

Credit Cards

Again altering details on these and requesting new ones will present no problems. Simply send a covering letter to the credit card company together with a copy of your Statutory Declaration requesting a change in your name and requesting that new cards be issued in that name.

Do however watch out for the fact that certain credit card companies utilise gender checking as a form of security. On some credit cards the gender may be stated in which case it is easy to see the alteration but on some others such as Barclaycard there is no gender indicator as there are only initials. The use of initials is a deliberate part of the security system in that if your card is ever checked for any reason then the first thing the shop assistant is asked of the cardholder is the gender of the cardholder. Therefore make sure that the credit card is tied to an account in your preferred name.

Credit Reference Agencies (CRA) hold credit details on almost all transactions undertaken in this country. They will hold credit records which are likely to link your present and past names.

The three main CRAs (Experian, Equifax and Callcredit) have agreed a joint process where most elements of your credit history can be modified. A GRC is not a requirement for this process but certain personal information will be required.

Full details of the process can be seen at:

http://www.experian.co.uk/gra

Follow the links on that page (ignore the heading about applying for a GRC) to implement the process. You need only do this with one of the three and they will make the changes for all three Credit Reference Agency’s files.

You can obtain a new passport showing you as ‘Mr’ and ‘male’ or ‘Miss’, ‘Ms’ or ‘Mrs’ and ‘female’

All you need do is to complete the passport application together with the statutory fee and send this with a copy of your Doctor’s or Psychiatrist’s letter and a copy of your Statutory Declaration. (The Identity & Passport Service’s website includes a page on the cost of applying for a passport).

You must also send your old passport back if you have one. If you have not held a passport before, then you must also send your original birth certificate to the passport office.

You should send your passport application to:

The Office Manager
Room 235
UK Identity & Passport Service
70-78 Petty France
London SW1H 9HD

You need to get a form from your post office to apply for a driving licence.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) now issues only photocard-style driving licenses, so you will now be asked for a photograph which will be included on your new licence. Try to get a photo which you will be happy with for some time in your new role, and make sure that it complies with the DVLA’s criteria.

Send the form, along with a covering letter, to the DVLA in Swansea together with a copy of your Doctor’s or Psychiatrist’s letter and a copy of your Statutory Declaration and your old driving licence. (The DVLA’s website includes a useful page on How to Apply for your Driving Licence & How much it will cost.)

If you change your name and hold a current driving licence you must inform the DVLA without delay. Failure to do so is an offence under section 99 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

The covering letter should state that:

• you wish your legal name on the licence amended to the of your new legal name, and
• that the gender code be altered to that of your new role.

You must ensure that the gender code is changed and not just your name as explained below.

The Gender Code In Your Driving Licence

Your driving licence will include a “driver number”: it’s item No. 5 on the front of the photocard. This number includes a gender code.

Your driver number will look something like this: ROBIN512185CJ9ME

The full code is explained in the DVLA’s guidance to the new photocard driving licenses, but what matters here are middle six digits in bold: in the example above 512185.

On your driving licence, your date of birth and sex is shown in the number. On a man’s driving license, the second digit must be ’0’ or ’1’, on a woman’s it will be a ’5’ or a ’6’.

For example:

• a man born on the seventh of June 1943 would have a DVLA number 406073;
• a man born on the twenty-ninth of December 1967 would have a DVLA number 612297

The gender code is in the second digit of the DVLA number: ’0’ or ’1’ for a male, or ’5’ or a ’6’ for a female. So a female born on the seventh of June 1943 would be shown as 456073.

This can be stated as follows:

The DVLA code for a man born on 7 June 1943 is: 406073:

• The two outside digits (’4’ and ’3’) are the year.
• The second and third digits (’0’ and ’6’) are the month
• The fourth and fifth digits (’0’ and ’7’) are the day of the month.

Conversely, the DVLA code for a woman born on 7 June 1943 is: 456073:

• The two outside digits (’4’ and ’3’) are the year.
• The second and third digits (’5’ and ’6’) are the month
• The fourth and fifth digits (’0’ and ’7’) are the day of the month.

You can see clearly that 5 is added to the second digit a for female. It is of course a complete give away to the police if they should ever inspect your licence. To avoid embarrassment, you should ensure that the old gender code is deleted.

Send a letter, and a certified copy of your Statutory Declaration with your doctor’s letter, in confidence, to your Inspector of Taxes — the address is available from your employer’s personnel or wages office.

Mark the envelope as “private and confidential” of the tax office which deals with your affairs and quote your National Insurance number and Tax reference (available from your wages office or often it is on your wages slip).

Your income tax records will always be changed and any further correspondence will always be addressed in your new legal name. If you advise the DWP of your change of status, then you must advise the Inland Revenue at the same time… but you should not of course notify these changes until you have also informed your employer.

Send a certified copy of your Statutory Declaration with your doctor’s letter together with a letter from yourself quoting your National Insurance (NI) number to the central office of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as follows:

Department of Social Security,
Special Section D, Room 105H,
Contributions Agency Central Operations,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE98 1YX.
Telephone: 0191 225 7123

The DWP will acknowledge your change of name and style of address and reply in a standard letter stating that in effect that the change will have no effect to any legal entitlement to state benefits, especially the state pension. You may also receive a plastic NI numbercard which will show the new title and name but there will be nothing on the card to indicate any change of name or previous name.

Note that when you inform the DWP of your change of name, you should also inform HM Revenue & Customs at the same time.

Pensions

The entitlement to a state pension, following decision CP/76 of the National Insurance Commissioner is that a transvestite or a transsexual person’s right to a state pension will be by reference to your original biological sex. This follows the Corbett doctrine and means that if were born a man you will receive your pension at 65 and if you were born a woman you will receive it at 60. The fact that the retirement age for state pensions for both men and woman are now being equalised by the year 2020 will then make no difference to entitlements or retirement ages.

National Insurance number

The national insurance number will not be changed by the DWP and the central office of the DWP in Newcastle will record your previous legal name as well as your new one and may be viewed on the DCI computer by any authorised employee of the DWPS. All employees of the DSS are bound to keep information confidential unless required by the courts or the police through special section A. The DWP central index of your National Insurance number will also be annotated and flagged that you are to be treated as male for some purposes and female for others.

Jobseeker’s Allowance (unemployment benefit)

A transsexual person is entitled to Jobseeker’s Allowance in the same way that every other person is, and will also be treated in the same way for the payment of national insurance contributions. If you are unemployed then the Unemployment benefit office and Job centre will also be aware of your previous details and will require to be informed of your change of status. Employees of the unemployment benefit office are again bound by confidentiality.

To obtain a new NHS Medical Card you should write to your local Family Practitioner Committee [address available from your GP], requesting a Medical Card in your new name, and enclosing the letter from your Doctor or Psychiatrist as outlined above together with a copy of your Statutory Declaration and your old NHS Medical Card.

Your new Medical Card number will be a completely new number, though the last three figures which are the ID suffix will remain the same. Your new number will also have a special prefix of an A or a Z which denotes that an alteration or variation in unspecified status has taken place.

If you own a house or flat in your own name, you must change your name on the proprietorship register at the district Land Registry where your property is registered.

You need to forward a covering letter stating the address of your property together with the registered title number of the property concerned and enclose a certified copy of your Statutory Declaration. If your property is mortgaged then you must also inform your building society or mortgagee.

If you are not sure where your property is registered you should contact the solicitor who handled the purchase of the house for you as they will generally know which registry you should contact.

You may also wish to change your name on various documents such as examination certificates. All you need do is to write to the examination bodies concerned, enclosing a certified copy of your Statutory Declaration. There may well be a fee for such a service and you should enquire beforehand.

Some University examination bodies have recently refused to alter the name on the degree certificates of some transsexual people. If this happens, then initially write an appeal to the examinations office, with supporting evidence such as your Statutory Declaration and doctor’s letter. If again refused, then contact the LGBT officer of the students union, who will ensure that you have support when you make a formal appeal to the University Senate body, though it would be surprising if the University insisted upon taking the matter that far.