Changing your name with Aviva

How do I change my name on an Aviva pension?#

With Aviva's online change of name form for pensions and retirement policies, which its Aviva Pension (SIPP) help page links as "Change my name". The form asks you to confirm you are the policyholder, then for:

• your policy number, and your title;
• the reason for the change of name and the date you changed it;
• your previous first and last names, and your new ones;
• your date of birth, home address and email address;
• whether this corrects a mistake in Aviva's records or is a change, and whether the policy is held jointly.

If the email address you give is not the one Aviva holds, it says it will contact you by phone or post instead.

The form notes that some policy changes can also be made in MyAviva, and Aviva's workplace pension help page says that, depending on how your pension number starts, MyAviva lets you update your details. If you have a financial adviser, Aviva asks you to talk to them first before you change your policy.

The electronic check, and when Aviva asks for proof#

You do not send anything with the form. Instead, Aviva says it runs "an electronic check against your details" as a security measure, which leaves a soft footprint on your credit history without affecting it. If it cannot validate your new name electronically, it will need to see proof of the change, and says it will contact you to explain what it needs to see.

So keep your deed poll, or your marriage or civil partnership certificate, to hand until Aviva confirms the change. Its life insurance FAQs add that, depending on the circumstances, it may need to see evidence of a change of name "in the form of an original or certified legal document", so if Aviva asks, check whether a certified copy will do before you post an original.

Annuities#

An Aviva annuity has its own change of name form, linked from Aviva's annuity page as "I want to change my name on my policy". It can be completed by the policyholder or by someone with power of attorney, and Aviva says that if it does not hold proof of the power of attorney, it needs that before it can act: lasting powers of attorney and a new name covers the attorney's side. The form asks for two pieces of information about the policy that only you would know, not passwords, and runs the same electronic check.

Aviva's annuity page adds that the bank account your annuity is paid into must be held in your name, as a sole or joint account, so change the name on the bank account as well.

Changing the name on an Aviva life policy#

Aviva's life insurance help page links a separate form, "Change my name on my policy". It asks what you are changing (your title, your last name, your first name, or something else) and whether the policy is joint, and runs the same electronic check.

Aviva's page on managing your policy says joint policies and policies held in trust may need extra help, and its guide to managing life insurance says address, phone and email changes can usually be made in MyAviva.

Aviva car and home insurance#

Aviva's page on managing your policy says MyAviva lets you update your personal details on home and motor policies you took out directly with Aviva. For AvivaPlus policies, policies not taken out directly with Aviva, or changes you cannot make yourself, it says to get in touch. Its car insurance FAQs describe changing drivers, vehicles and addresses online but publish no separate process for a new name, so if MyAviva does not offer the change, contact Aviva rather than waiting for renewal. Insurance and a new name compares other insurers.

ISAs, investments and other Aviva products#

• Stocks and shares ISA and investment account. Aviva's page on managing your policy says MyAviva lets you change your details for these; the ISA help page has an online form for a change of address, but none for a change of name.
• Endowments. Aviva's page on maturing endowments says that if your name has changed, or is wrong in your maturity pack, you should ring Aviva on the number that page gives.
• Health insurance. A personal details form on Aviva's health insurance help page takes a new first or last name for anyone insured on the policy.

After the change#

When you submit the pension form, Aviva's confirmation page suggests checking who you have named to receive your pension if you die, which you can do in MyAviva under your pension's details. Beyond Aviva, pensions, savings and investments lists how other schemes change a name, and your bank comes first where payments are concerned: Lloyds, Halifax and Santander accept an unenrolled deed poll only with a passport or driving licence in the new name, and Barclays wants photo ID in the new name for a new first name. Changing your name with your bank compares them.