Natwest are sexist!
I'm not making any jokes, this is true. It's the most ridiculous and infuriating thing they've ever done, including when we requested a transfer of £15k to pay the deposit for the flat and they transferred £15 and blamed us.
Due to the amount of post-wedding mess and trying to move home (we get the keys next week- yaaay!) we've not had much time to do our name changes. Well, Chris more than me, since he works in London full time.
Today, he wanted to set up a direct debit for our new mortgage so we figured we'd do his name change since we're there already. Our household account (for the mortgage) is at Nationwide- the one handling our mortgage- had no problem with Chris changing his surname to a double-barrel to match mine. Natwest seemed to have a huge issue with this.
This is what they said to us:
"There's nothing wrong with changing your name [me] because your tie to the new name is marriage. However, there is no familial link to the additional name you want to add to your surname [Chris]"
So he can't change his surname because he's a guy. That's the short and short of it. No other bodies have had ANY issue with Chris changing his surname, but this bank couldn't understand why he'd want to or why we were upset with this policy.
They said they MIGHT consider changing his name if we get a letter from the Registrar saying it was okay for him to do this. Otherwise, we have to go through Deed Poll. Why should we have to do this when we've been told by our mortgage advisor, building society, the registry office AND the registrars themselves that we don't have to do a deed poll to change his surname?!
I am sickened by the sexist nature of their policy (and the homophobic implication if this policy relates to civil partnerships as well).
I made a complaint via the website and told them that if they don't update this policy and let Chris change his name without jumping through unnecessary hoops, we'll close our accounts.
Due to the amount of post-wedding mess and trying to move home (we get the keys next week- yaaay!) we've not had much time to do our name changes. Well, Chris more than me, since he works in London full time.
Today, he wanted to set up a direct debit for our new mortgage so we figured we'd do his name change since we're there already. Our household account (for the mortgage) is at Nationwide- the one handling our mortgage- had no problem with Chris changing his surname to a double-barrel to match mine. Natwest seemed to have a huge issue with this.
This is what they said to us:
"There's nothing wrong with changing your name [me] because your tie to the new name is marriage. However, there is no familial link to the additional name you want to add to your surname [Chris]"
So he can't change his surname because he's a guy. That's the short and short of it. No other bodies have had ANY issue with Chris changing his surname, but this bank couldn't understand why he'd want to or why we were upset with this policy.
They said they MIGHT consider changing his name if we get a letter from the Registrar saying it was okay for him to do this. Otherwise, we have to go through Deed Poll. Why should we have to do this when we've been told by our mortgage advisor, building society, the registry office AND the registrars themselves that we don't have to do a deed poll to change his surname?!
I am sickened by the sexist nature of their policy (and the homophobic implication if this policy relates to civil partnerships as well).
I made a complaint via the website and told them that if they don't update this policy and let Chris change his name without jumping through unnecessary hoops, we'll close our accounts.