About Surviving Economic Abuse#
Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) describes itself as the only UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse and transforming the response to it. Economic abuse is a legally recognised form of domestic abuse: an abuser controls a partner's or ex-partner's money, finances and the things money buys, such as food, transport and a place to live. SEA campaigns, publishes research and trains professionals, and all its work is shaped by an Experts by Experience group of women who have lived through it. It is registered as a charity in England and Wales and in Scotland.
How to get help#
SEA does not give advice directly. Its I need help pages are the starting point, with information on banking, debt, housing, separating your finances and the law, a banking support directory, an economic abuse guide and a survivors' forum. For one-to-one advice, its frontline partner Money Advice Plus runs the CEDEAS Helpline for anyone experiencing domestic abuse who is in financial difficulty, on weekdays (shorter hours on Fridays), with interpreters on request. Advisers can help with coerced debt, benefits, budgeting, bills and opening a bank account safely. Its pages have a quick exit.
What it publishes that matters when you change your name#
SEA publishes nothing about deed polls or changing your name; a search of its site finds no results. But three of its guides cover the records a new name has to reach.
Opening a new bank account safely. It suggests a different bank from any joint accounts and from the abuser's own bank, or making sure accounts are fully de-linked if you stay. It asks you to think hard about which address the bank will write to, because abusers often take post. If you lack the usual documents, it says banks that signed the 2021 Financial Abuse Code have committed to accepting alternatives, such as a letter from a refuge, social worker or local authority. It also mentions basic fee-free accounts, accounts with an untraceable sort code, and credit unions.
Your credit report. Joint credit creates a financial association between you and the other person. You can ask Experian, Equifax and TransUnion to disassociate you once there are no open joint accounts, and you can add a password to your report to make it harder for anyone to apply for credit in your name.
Your post. It explains Royal Mail redirection and PO Boxes as ways to take control of your mail without revealing where you live.
What that means in practice#
A new name reaches your bank and credit file as a change of details. Some banks, such as Lloyds, Halifax, Santander and TSB, accept an unenrolled deed poll only with a passport or driving licence in the new name, so if your ID is still in your old name, ask the bank first. Ask lenders to keep your old name linked as an alias, so your credit history follows you. An unenrolled deed poll is not published anywhere, but it does record an address, so choose a safe one before you sign.
Money, credit and a new name: further reading#
- Changing your name with your bank: what 24 banks and building societies ask for.
- Does changing my name affect my credit rating?: keeping your history linked.
- Credit reference agencies: updating Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
- Charities that help after domestic abuse.
This page describes what Surviving Economic Abuse publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. SEA has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
