Will my debt disappear if I change my name?#
No. A debt is an obligation owed by a person, and a new name does not make you a different person. The law treats a change of name as a matter of record: the explanatory note to the Enrolment of Deeds (Change of Name) Regulations 1994 says that changing a surname by deed poll is "only evidential and formal". Your deed poll records the name you now go by. Every loan, overdraft, card balance and court order you took on under the old name still binds you under the new one, on the same terms.
The deed itself acknowledges this. GOV.UK's wording for an unenrolled deed poll has you confirm that when you apply for official documents in your new name, the authorities may check the history and validity of both the old name and the new. The National Archives sets out the one limit on changing your name: anyone over 16 may start using a new name at any time, as long as the reason is not fraudulent or illegal.
Can I change my name if I have debts?#
Yes. No law stops someone with arrears, a county court judgment or an insolvency from changing their name, and GOV.UK's list of bankruptcy restrictions is about borrowing, company directorships and running a business, not about names. What the change brings is paperwork. Tell each lender and creditor, because they report to the credit reference agencies, which keep your old name beside the new one so that the history stays joined to you (does changing my name affect my credit rating?).
| Record | What a change of name does to it | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A loan, card or overdraft | Nothing: still owed in full, on the same terms | The agreement you signed |
| A county court judgment | Stays on the register, and in your credit report, for 6 years, in the name and address the court recorded | GOV.UK and Registry Trust |
| Bankruptcy | The restrictions continue, and trading under another name means giving the name you were made bankrupt in | Insolvency Act 1986, section 360 |
| An IVA | Stays on the Individual Insolvency Register until 3 months after it ends, with any other name you are known by | Insolvency Rules 2016, rule 11.14 |
| A debt relief order | The restrictions continue for its 12 months | Insolvency Act 1986, section 251S |
| Your credit file | The old name is kept as an alias, so the history follows you | Experian |
What happens to a county court judgment?#
It stays exactly where it is. GOV.UK says a county court judgment (CCJ) or High Court judgment stays on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for 6 years. Pay the full amount within a month and you can have it removed; pay later and it can be marked as satisfied, but it stays on the register. Registry Trust, the not-for-profit body that has kept the register for the Ministry of Justice since 1985, says each entry holds the debtor's name and address, and a date of birth if one was given, and that a judgment stays in your credit report for the same 6 years. It keeps equivalent registers for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and its TrustOnline service searches by name, address or case number.
So the judgment stays in the name it was given in, the creditor can still enforce it, and a lender who finds your old name through your credit file finds the judgment too. Registry Trust calls paying within a month the only guaranteed route to early removal, apart from proving the entry wrong or having the judgment set aside in court; a new name is none of those. If an entry contains a mistake, GOV.UK says to contact the court that made the judgment.
What if I am bankrupt?#
You can change your name, but section 360 of the Insolvency Act 1986 contains two offences written for exactly this situation. While you are an undischarged bankrupt in England and Wales, it is an offence:
- to get credit of £500 or more, alone or jointly, without telling the lender that you are an undischarged bankrupt (the £500 is set by the Insolvency Proceedings (Monetary Limits) Order, as amended in 2004);
- to carry on any business, directly or indirectly, under a name other than the one you were made bankrupt in, without telling everyone you do business with the name you were made bankrupt in.
Credit includes hire purchase, conditional sale, and being paid in advance for goods or services. Under Schedule 10 to the Act, either offence carries up to 2 years in prison, a fine or both. Both also apply after discharge for as long as a bankruptcy restrictions order is in force, and GOV.UK says the official receiver can seek one if they believe you have acted carelessly or dishonestly. Northern Ireland has the same two rules in article 331 of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. Scotland's Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 has its own credit rule, in section 218.
GOV.UK's bankruptcy guide adds that a previous name may have to go on your bankruptcy application, and that the official receiver may need to tell people your previous name where that helps recover what you own or helps creditors identify what you owe them. The public record keeps up with you as well. Rule 11.16 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 requires the Individual Insolvency Register to show any name you have been known by other than the one you were made bankrupt in, and the name of any business you ran under a different name. GOV.UK says the Gazette notice of a bankruptcy is a permanent record, and that a bankruptcy can stay on a credit file for 6 years from its date.
What about an IVA or a debt relief order?#
An individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is an agreement with your creditors, managed by an insolvency practitioner. GOV.UK says it is added to the Individual Insolvency Register and removed 3 months after it ends, and rule 11.14 of the Insolvency Rules 2016 requires the entry to include any name, other than the one you entered the IVA in, by which you were or are known. GOV.UK's guidance on IVAs says nothing about changing your name, so tell your insolvency practitioner and read what your arrangement asks you to report.
A debt relief order (DRO) comes with restrictions for its 12 months. GOV.UK lists borrowing more than £500 without telling the lender about the DRO, and managing a business without telling the people you deal with, and section 251S of the Insolvency Act 1986 makes it an offence to trade under a name other than the one the order was made in without disclosing that name. GOV.UK says a DRO stays on your credit record for 6 years.
The Individual Insolvency Register covers England and Wales and can be searched by name or trading name. Scotland's Accountant in Bankruptcy keeps the Register of Insolvencies, and Northern Ireland has its own registers for bankruptcies, DROs and IVAs; GOV.UK's register search page links to each.
How does a credit file connect the two names?#
Through your lenders, and then an alias. Once a lender reports your new name, the old one stays on your report as what Experian calls "an extra name on your report". That link keeps a good history yours after a change of name, and it works the same way for arrears and defaults: a search in the new name finds the record built up in the old one. Public records hold on to a former name more firmly still. Where Experian agrees, after a gender transition, to remove references to a former name, it says it cannot remove that name from public financial information such as a court judgment or an insolvency. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion explains how each agency handles a new name.
Is it illegal to change your name to avoid a debt?#
The change of name is not the offence; using it to mislead can be. Under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, a person commits fraud by dishonestly making a false representation, express or implied, intending to make a gain or to cause someone a loss, and section 1 sets the maximum at 10 years in prison. Telling a creditor you are not the person who owes the money, or giving a lender a false account of the names you have used, could fall within it. Registered offenders have reporting duties of their own (changing your name with a criminal record), and the law on changing your name sets out where the line sits in general.
Where to get free debt advice#
If debts are part of the reason you are thinking about a new name, advice will do more for you than a deed poll. GOV.UK's list of free, confidential debt advice includes National Debtline, Citizens Advice and StepChange Debt Charity, and points to the Accountant in Bankruptcy for Scotland and to nidirect for Northern Ireland. In England and Wales a debt adviser can also apply for Breathing Space for you: GOV.UK says it gives up to 60 days in which creditors cannot take enforcement action, contact you about the debts or add interest and charges, though your repayments carry on.
Questions people ask
Can you change your name to avoid debt in the UK?
You can change your name, but the debt comes with you. It is owed by the person who borrowed, so the creditor's claim is unaffected, and using the new name to make a creditor think you are someone else could be fraud by false representation under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006.
Does a CCJ follow you if you change your name?
Yes. GOV.UK says a county court judgment stays on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for 6 years unless it is paid in full within a month, and Registry Trust records the name and address the court gave. Your credit file links your names, and the judgment can still be enforced.
Can I change my name while I am bankrupt?
Yes. Changing your name is not one of the bankruptcy restrictions GOV.UK lists. But under section 360 of the Insolvency Act 1986 you must tell a lender you are bankrupt before getting credit of £500 or more, and anyone you trade with under another name must be told the name you were made bankrupt in.
Will a new name give me a clean credit file?
No. Lenders report your new name to the credit reference agencies, which keep the old one as an alias, so the whole history, missed payments included, follows you to the new name. Experian says it cannot take a former name off a court judgment or an insolvency.
Do I have to tell my creditors I have changed my name?
You should. Experian's advice is to contact your lenders first, because that is how a new name reaches your accounts and the credit reference agencies. Each will ask to see your deed poll, or your marriage certificate if that is how the name changed.
Something else? Ask us, and a person replies by email, normally the same working day.
