Universal Credit#
GOV.UK's guidance on changes of circumstances is written for money matters, but it is also the rule for your name. You need to report changes so that you keep getting the right amount, and you need to report them as soon as they happen. The page lists the kinds of change it means, from finding a job to changing your bank details or your mobile number, and it warns that a change can affect the whole assessment period, not just the days after you report it. It also says you could be taken to court or have to pay a penalty if you give wrong information or do not report a change.
How to report is one line: sign in to your Universal Credit account. Report the new name in your journal, in the same way you would report a new address, and say what changed it: a deed poll, a marriage certificate or a decree. Your work coach will reply through the journal if they want to see the document, and whether a photograph of it uploaded to the journal is enough or they want to see the original at the jobcentre. The name on your account should match the name on the bank account your payments go to, so tell your bank as well, and in that order if you can.
The State Pension and Pension Credit#
The State Pension, the over 80 pension and Pension Credit are not changed through a Universal Credit account: a new name goes to the Pension Service, by phone or by post, because GOV.UK's Manage your State Pension service takes a new address but not a new name. If you live in Northern Ireland or abroad, the Northern Ireland Pension Centre or the International Pension Centre deals with it instead. Changing your name on your State Pension sets out each route, what to have ready and what happens to your payments.
Other DWP benefits#
Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance and the other benefits each have their own contact routes on GOV.UK, and each expects a change of name to be reported to it separately; DWP does not pass a new name from one benefit to another. Report it to each one you receive, using the contact details on that benefit's GOV.UK page.
What to have ready#
Your deed poll, or the certificate that changed your name, and the new name exactly as you want it recorded. If your payments are made into a bank account, change the name on the account too, so that the name DWP pays and the name the bank holds are the same.
