If a deed poll website keeps charging you a small amount every month — often around £2.95 — you have almost certainly been enrolled in a recurring subscription that was included in the checkout small print. It is not a government fee, and it is not something a deed poll needs to stay legally valid. This guide explains what the charge actually is, how to cancel it (through the company or directly through your bank), whether you can get your money back, and how to make sure a legal name change only ever costs you one payment.
What Is the Monthly Charge For?
Some deed poll websites add a recurring ‘membership’, ‘document storage’, ‘priority support’ or ‘update service’ subscription during checkout — often pre-ticked, or presented as part of a discounted document price. The one-off document fee looks cheap; the subscription then quietly bills your card every month until you cancel it.
To be clear about the legal position: a deed poll is a one-time document. Once it is signed and witnessed, it is permanently valid. It does not need renewing, storing with the provider, or any ongoing service. There is no legitimate legal reason a name change must involve a recurring payment.
How to Check What You Signed Up For
- Find the charge on your statement and note the exact company name shown — it may differ from the website's brand name.
- Search your email for the order confirmation. The terms (and the subscription, if there is one) are usually linked there.
- Check the provider's terms page for words like ‘membership’, ‘subscription’, ‘recurring’ or ‘until cancelled’.
How to Cancel the Subscription
- Cancel with the company first. Use the account area or the contact email on the order confirmation, ask them to cancel the subscription immediately, and request written confirmation. Keep a copy.
- If that fails, cancel through your bank. Recurring card payments are a ‘continuous payment authority’ (CPA), and under UK rules you have the right to cancel a CPA directly with your bank or card provider — the bank must stop the payments, and the Financial Conduct Authority guidance is clear that it cannot insist you sort it out with the retailer first. Tell your bank the date and amount of the recurring charge and instruct them to block it.
- Watch the next statement to confirm the charge has stopped, and dispute it with the bank if it appears again after cancellation.
Can You Get a Refund?
Sometimes. If the subscription was genuinely hidden — not clearly and prominently disclosed before you paid — complain to the company in writing and ask for the recurring payments back. If the company refuses and you believe you never agreed to the subscription, ask your bank to dispute the payments as unauthorised. Payments taken after you instructed a cancellation must be refunded by the bank. You can also report misleading checkout practices to Citizens Advice, who pass cases to Trading Standards.
Does the Deed Poll Itself Remain Valid If You Cancel?
Yes. If your deed poll was correctly signed and witnessed, it is valid forever regardless of any subscription. Cancelling a ‘storage’ or ‘membership’ plan does not un-change your name and does not invalidate the document you already hold. Keep your original in a safe place at home — that is all the ‘storage’ a deed poll ever needs. If you have lost the original, ordering a fresh deed poll is quick and inexpensive.
What a Name Change Should Actually Cost
One payment. At UK Name Change, a professionally printed, legally valid deed poll costs a single payment from £14.49 — with same-day dispatch on orders before 3pm and free Royal Mail Tracked delivery, and no subscription, membership or recurring charges of any kind. See the full honest pricing picture in our complete cost of changing your name guide, or compare the routes in our solicitor vs online deed poll comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the £2.95 monthly charge a scam?
Usually it is a real subscription that was disclosed somewhere in the checkout — just not prominently. That makes it poor practice rather than outright fraud, and it also means you can cancel it at any time. If you truly never agreed to it, treat it as an unauthorised payment and involve your bank.
How do I stop a deed poll company taking money every month?
Cancel with the company in writing, and if the charges continue, instruct your bank to cancel the continuous payment authority. Your bank must stop the payments — you do not need the company’s permission.
Will cancelling the subscription affect my name change?
No. A correctly executed deed poll is valid for life. Subscriptions sold alongside it are optional extras, and cancelling them changes nothing about your legal name.
Does UK Name Change charge a subscription?
No. One payment from £14.49, one document, free tracked delivery — and nothing recurring, ever.
Change Your Name for One Payment — Not a Subscription
A legal name change should be simple and paid for once. Order a professionally printed adult deed poll or child deed poll from £14.49, dispatched same-day — trusted by 160,000+ customers, with no hidden charges.
