A deed poll does not recur#
A deed poll records a change of name that happened on the day you signed it. There is nothing to renew, nothing to keep active and no register to stay on. GOV.UK's guidance describes making one and using it straight away as proof of your new name, and says nothing about ongoing fees, because there are none. Even enrolment with the High Court is a single fee of £53.05.
So if money is leaving your account every month, it is not for the deed poll. It is a subscription to something sold with it.
What the charge usually is#
Some deed poll companies sell an ongoing plan alongside the deed, typically described as archiving or storing your document, with a monthly fee that carries on until cancelled, sometimes with a notice period. People write to us mistaking us for one of those companies. We are not: nothing we sell recurs, we do not take monthly payments, and our own SafeKeep record is a single payment with nothing to cancel.
How to find out who is charging you#
- Look at the statement. The name on the debit or card payment is the company. It may differ from the website name you remember.
- Search your email for the order confirmation from around the date you changed your name; it will name the company and, usually, the plan.
- Log in or write to them. Ask what the charge is for, when it started, and what you agreed to.
How to cancel#
Cancel with the company in writing, keep a copy, and ask for confirmation. If the company will not cancel, or keeps taking payments after you have cancelled, tell your bank or card provider: a continuous payment authority can be stopped by the bank at your request, and a direct debit can be cancelled with the bank. Payments taken after you have cancelled a continuous payment authority can be disputed.
What the law is doing about it#
The government has announced new rules for subscription contracts under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, due to start in January 2027: clearer information before you sign up, reminders before renewals, cooling-off periods and an easier way to cancel. Until then the existing consumer protection rules still apply to unfair or misleading terms.
Does cancelling affect your deed poll?#
No. Your change of name happened when you signed the deed, and it does not depend on any company's records. What a storage plan offers is a copy if you lose the original; if you cancel and later lose the deed, a replacement deed poll records the same change again, from any provider.
