NameSwitch Terms & Conditions
Welcome to the website of NameSwitch Ltd and NameSwitch Deed Poll Services Ltd at nameswitch.co.uk (the “Website”). Please carefully review the following terms and conditions (the “Terms”) as they apply to your use of the Website and any orders that you place via the Website and affect your rights and liabilities under law. By accessing, using or downloading content from the Website and/or by placing an order via the Website, you agree to follow and be bound by the Terms. Please also read our Privacy Policy regarding personal information provided by you.
If you do not agree to the Terms and/or our Privacy Policy (or the way we use your personal information set out therein), please do not access the Website or place any order with us via the Website.
We may change the Terms from time to time without notice to you. You should periodically revisit this page to determine the then current terms and conditions governing the use of the Website.
If you have any queries relating to the Terms, please contact our customer services team: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk
The website is operated by Name Switch Ltd and NameSwitch Deed Poll Services Ltd (together “NameSwitch”, “we”, “us”), both being companies registered in England and Wales, at registered office address 130 High Street, Hungerford, Berkshire, RG17 0DL United Kingdom.
You may use the Website for your own personal, non-commercial use, if you are i) at least 18 years of age, ii) can form a binding contract with NameSwitch and iii) abide by the Terms and our Privacy Policy.
Prior to placing an order via the Website, you will need to register to create an account. Registration includes providing us with your personal information and the organisations that you need to inform of your name change. Do ensure that you provide us with true, accurate, current and complete information when you register an account on the Website. We will not be liable for any acts or omissions by you including, but not limited to, any damages of any kind incurred as a result of such acts or omissions. You are also responsible for the security of your account. If there is any breach of security or unauthorised use of your account that you become aware of, please notify us immediately.
By registering for an account, you grant us permission to send emails, offers, promotions and other marketing material to you via email. You may unsubscribe to these marketing emails at any time by simply e-mailing “Unsubscribe” to: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk
When you place an order on the Website, we shall email you an acknowledgement and link to our secure portal where you can download your personalised forms, letters and instructions. Your details will remain accessible for 6 months from date of order after which time they will be automatically deleted from our systems, in line with our Privacy Policy. Our aim is to dispatch Print Packages, Adult Deed Poll Packages and Deed Poll Premium Print Packages within 48 working hours of the order being placed. In the rare event that is not possible we will contact you. 24 Hour Express Dispatch and Next Day Special Delivery are available at an additional cost at checkout. Discounts via voucher codes will be applied and visible during checkout.
Payment for our products and services is enabled via our carefully vetted partner, Stripe. Stripe does not sell or rent your Personal Data to marketers or third parties. Personal Data that is collected by Strip shall not be retained for longer than is necessary. You can find out more details on Stripe’s privacy policy at: https://stripe.com/gb/privacy If you experience any payment issues or have a payment query, please get in touch with us: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk
Digital Packages:
Once you have checked out the system will automatically generate your profile – this is normally done in less than 60 seconds. It is important that you double check your entries and address details in the review step to ensure your details are correct. As part of our process, we review any orders and will contact you if we spot anything that doesn’t look right. If you spot any errors please get in touch with us: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk and we will update and regenerate your order at no extra cost.
Print Packages:
As above, please ensure you get in touch with us: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk right away if you spot any errors. Once they are printed and dispatched by us, NameSwitch reserves the right to charge an additional £16 to cover the processing time, cost of a re-print and Royal Mail Signed For dispatch.
Deed Poll Premium Print Packages:
As above, please ensure you get in touch with us: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk right away if you spot any errors. Once they are printed and dispatched by us, NameSwitch reserves the right to charge an additional £30 to cover the processing time, cost of a re-print and re-print and Royal Mail Signed For dispatch.
If any error is caused by our systems, NameSwitch shall assume the cost and issue an immediate replacement. Please get in touch with thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk if you have any issues that need to be addressed.
We reserve the right to refuse an order. Refusal by us of an order may, for example, result from one of the following:
- Our inability to obtain authorisation of payment; and/or
- The identification of an error within the product information, including price or promotion.
If there are any problems with your order we shall contact you. We reserve the right to reject any offer to purchase by you at any time.
Title to and risk of loss of items purchased via the Website passes to you upon delivery of the items to our carrier. You are responsible for filing any claims with carriers for damaged and/or lost shipments.
NameSwitch eGift Cards are available to order by anyone over 18 years of age. eGift Cards may be redeemed for eligible purchases on the Website. Once you have selected the package that you want to gift and completed your order, your eGift Card will be e-mailed to the person specified on the order (yourself or your nominated recipient). You will not be charged until the eGift Card is dispatched. eGift Cards may not be returned or exchanged. eGift Cards have an expiration date of 6 months.
Title to and risk of loss of eGift Cards passes to you as soon as we e-mail the eGift Card to you, or your nominated recipient, as applicable. We are not responsible if any eGift Card is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without your permission. In the event that an eGift Card fails to function properly, please contact us: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk and we will re-issue it.
Age: NameSwitch does not currently offer a Deed Poll service for children under the age of 18 (in either the UK or Northern Ireland).
Sane Mind: In order for a Deed Poll to be valid, you must be of sane mind when you enter into it.
Witnessing a Deed Poll: You will need to be witnessed signing your Deed Poll(s) and this witness will need to sign and date your Deed Poll(s) themselves to confirm that they have observed you signing the Deed Poll(s). They will also need to print their name and list their address and current/former occupation.
It is best practice to have a UK national witness you signing your Deed Poll(s). They should also:
- be over 18, and have known you for several years;
- not be related to you, nor live at the same address as you; and
- have an active or retired occupation (although they do not need to be a solicitor, doctor or public sector official).
Names which can/cannot be changed via Deed Poll: There is no UK law or list which specifically says what names you are or aren’t allowed to call yourself. However, some names may be illegal, due to other laws.
- Any name which promotes racist or religious hatred;
- Any name which promotes other criminal activities (e.g. murder);
- Any name which could be blasphemous (e.g. “God”) may be illegal. Note that Jesus or Mohammad are commonly used first names and are legal;
- Any name which is also a trade mark would not be illegal in itself. However, depending on your actions, you may end up infringing that trade mark. E.g. if you called yourself “Burger King” and started selling fast food, you would infringe Burger King’s trade mark; and
- You cannot change your name for any criminal purpose (e.g. fraud)—no matter what the name.
Names which are not illegal, but you may have difficulty using:
- Any name which contains punctuation (other than apostrophes and hyphens or diacritical marks) is not deemed to be illegal, but you will have difficulties getting people to enter your name in their computer systems. HM Passport Office will only allow apostrophes and hyphens on your passport, for example;
- A first name such as “Lord” or “Sir”, which gives the impression that you have a title, is not illegal. However, you cannot change your title by Deed Poll—your “title” would not be officially or widely recognised, and you would actually be “Mr Lord Doe” (for example);
- Any name which is vulgar or offensive may not be illegal (unless it promotes crime or racist/religious hatred), however it is unlikely to be widely accepted, e.g. on your passport;
- There is no legal requirement to have two (or more) names, and some people do legally have one name only (Madonna). However, you may find that your name is entered into computer systems as “X Doe” or “No Name Doe”, which may not be what you wanted; and
- Any name which is unpronounceable, excessively long, or difficult to spell is not illegal, but may be impractical in everyday use.
You can use a Deed Poll to update your documents and records in the UK, such as your driving licence and your tax records, but to update your documents in your country of origin, you’ll have to follow your own country’s procedure.
Before applying for a Deed Poll, you should check with your Embassy or High Commission/Consulate in the UK to determine:
- If your country of origin will accept your change of name;
- If they’ll issue you a new passport (or amend your existing passport) to show your new name; and
- What the procedure is for changing your name in your country of origin, and — if they’ll accept a change of name by Deed Poll — whether there are any special requirements for a Deed Poll to be acceptable, for example, that your Deed Poll needs to be witnessed by a solicitor, or needs to legalised.
NameSwitch will not be held responsible for any rejection of a UK issued Deed Poll by non-UK Government bodies or organisation. NameSwitch does not offer legal or immigration advice. Please ensure you contact your non-UK Embassy/Consulate to understand their specific policies and practices.
Dual Nationality:
If you are a British national and you hold (or you are seeking to hold) nationality of another country, you should check the rules in that country to see whether your Deed Poll will be acceptable, and what special requirements there may be. If you are resident in the UK and you also need to apply for a passport in the other nationality, please contact your Consulate/Embassy.
Immigrant to the UK:
UK Visas and Immigration (a division of the Home Office) will accept a Deed Poll as evidence of a change of name, though if you want to keep your existing nationality you should follow the above advice.
If you are claiming asylum or you have already been granted asylum (and you’re a refugee), UK Visas and Immigration will accept a Deed Poll (as well as other forms of evidence, such as a marriage certificate or decree absolute) when you apply for asylum. The more documentation you can provide to verify your identity, the better.
The domain name “Nameswitch.co.uk” and all intellectual property rights in the content and other subject matter included on the Website and all intellectual property rights in the products (including forms, letters and instructions) and services provided by us to you are the property of NameSwitch Ltd. You agree not to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, sell, licence or otherwise exploit the same without our written permission.
For your convenience, we may include on the Website links, advertisements, offers and details of other resources and activities belonging to or run by third parties. We have no control over and assume no responsibility or liability for the same, nor the privacy policies or the practices, products or services of any such third party. The fact that we have included the same on our Website is not to be interpreted as an endorsement by us of the third party or their products or services and you remain responsible for carrying out your own due diligence and protecting yourself.
You may not:
- use the Website in any way that causes, or may cause damage to the Website or impairment to the availability or accessibility of the Website; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity;
- upload or transmit through the Website any material which is defamatory, offensive or of an obscene character;
- conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities on or in relation to the Website;
- interfere with or attempt to interfere with, disrupt or hack our services.
- upload or transmit via the Website any computer viruses, malware, illegal materials or anything else designed to interfere with, interrupt or disrupt the normal operating procedures of a computer;
- copy, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, assign, distribute, or reverse engineer any of the technology and/or the software that underlies the Website and/or our products or services; and
- remove, obscure, or alter our copyright notice, trademarks, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained in the Website.
We reserve the right to suspend your use of or access to the Website for any reason. We reserve the right to take legal action in the event of breach of these Terms and reclaim any loss of earnings or damage to the NameSwitch brand.
The privacy and security of our users is of critical importance to us. You understand that by accessing the Website and/or completing an order via the Website, you agree to the collection, use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information and aggregate data as set out in our privacy policy. While we work to protect the security of the Website and your account and content, we cannot guarantee that unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat the security measures we have in place.
All documentation & personal data will be automatically destroyed after 6 months. Customer Name and Profile settings will be held for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements or to resolve disputes. You may contact us at any time before the 6-month period from the date your order was first processed, and we will gladly re-generate your profile which you may then download.
Disclaimers:
- The Website is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis;
- We do not promise that the Website will always be available, or that it will work perfectly; and
- While we attempt to ensure that all the information included on the Website is complete, accurate and current, there may be occasions where it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date and we make no representation as to the completeness, accuracy or currency of any information on the Website.
Limitation:
- To the maximum extent permitted by law, NameSwitch Ltd will not be liable to you in relation to the contents of, or use of, or otherwise in connection with, the Website or any order placed via the Website and NameSwitch Ltd hereby disclaims all warranties, express or implied, in relation to the same including, but not limited to, any warranties against infringement of third party rights, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose or arising from a course of dealing, usage or trade practice.
- To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree that NameSwitch Ltd shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive or consequential damages including but not limited to any business losses, loss of revenue, income, profits or anticipated profits, business or opportunity or loss of reputation, goodwill or any other sort of economic loss, whether or not such arises out of any problem you notify to NameSwitch Ltd and whether or not we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
- Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall limit NameSwitch Ltd’s liability for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence or for fraudulent misrepresentation.
We shall have no liability to you for any failure to deliver your NameSwitch order or any delay in doing so or for any damage or defect to your NameSwitch order that is caused by any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control.
NameSwitch Ltd is based in England, United Kingdom and as such English law will apply to all disputes and the interpretation of this agreement and English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction.
If any part of the Terms hereunder shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from the Terms and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any remaining provisions of the Terms.
As you browse the Website, NameSwitch will collect certain information about your computer hardware and software. This information may include: your IP address, browser type, operating system, domain name, access times and referring website addresses. NameSwitch will also record the number of visits, paths taken and time spent on sites and pages of the Website. This information is used for the operation of the Website, to maintain the quality of the Website and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Website. It may be stored as a cookie on your computer’s hard drive. If you are concerned about information contained in your cookie, you may delete the file(s) at the end of each browser session.
Our system has been built to uniquely complete multiple forms and letters into one same format: PDF. Currently it is not possible to provide editable versions or word documents however those with PDF writers may be able to add (but not remove) copy on the PDF letters provided.
If you have any questions, comments or enquiries about nameswitch.co.uk or ideas on how to improve it, please contact us by email to: thegirls@nameswitch.co.uk. Please note that by doing so, you also grant us permission to use and incorporate your ideas or comments into Nameswitch.
