Prudential had the audacity to send me this letter this morning.

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Naturally, I was straight on the phone to the number listed with a very stern warning of things to come... Unfortunately, the poor fellow at the other end was not the one who'd written the letter and my forthright approach had unsettled him to the point that he was unable to think straight.

I'd had to have words with them as long ago as March of last year, viz.

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I won't tolerate such bare-faced insolence and nor should anyone. Expect further volcanics...

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

Go Reenie, I'm watching the news to see if there has been a Etna event over your way!
How is it I changed all my records with no problem ( even the Inland Revenue ) and yet these corporate brownnoses still dont know how to behave. I have a similar problem with one company so I told them unless they contact me using my legally changed name and title I feel no need to reply as that person no longer is a legal entity.

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It's not what you're born with
It's what you choose to bear
It's not how big your share is
It's how much you can share
It's not the fights you dreamed of
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It's not what you're given
It's what you do with what you've got

They will not change mine either...but they have placed MR on all my letter heads.

So why they can not do the same for you I do not know.

And yes as soon as I get my birth certificate they WILL change gender.

I hope you have better sucsses than I.

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" Too many years fighting the tears, Why can't the past just die. Try to for give, teach me to live, give me the strength to try. No more memories, no more silent tears, no more gazing across the wasted years, help me to say. Goodbye"
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hmm, thats mean of them.
all places ive written to who have updated their systems have started putting Mr on all communications, and many offered to change my gender marker even without a grc.

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僕は男の人です

My take on this is that knowledge of GRCs is only trickling slowly through the bureaucratic world, and that we will see many more requests to have sight of them in years to come.

The actuarial assessments of men and women often differ - for example, vehicle insurance rates and life insurance premiums for women are often lower than for men - so we can expect to see continuing resistance in this industry.

Stella, I believe that I might find myself prosecuted for driving without insurance were I to take out a policy as a woman. I'd like to take the insurers between the hammer and the anvil at some point, but retournons à nos moutons...

On Tuesday, I used Prudential's online email and account management system to change my title from Ms to Miss. I did not telephone them. I certainly did not ask them to change my gender. I'm quite aware that they must preserve my gender as male until they see my GRC. We agreed on this point when I had a similar problem last year when I changed my name.

Quite arbitrarily, Prudential changed my title to Mr (from Ms) and mentioned the GRC as an excuse.

Prudential wrote:

Dear Mr Bujman Thank you for your telephone call of 4 September 2007, regarding your change of title. However, unfortunately I cannot update your gender from male to female. To do the same we would need to sight your Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). ... Subroto Choudhury Business Administrator

I was murderously incensed when this popped through my front door on Friday. I have drafted a reply, if only to sound off, but I'm very tempted to send it...

Reenie, tentatively wrote:

Dear Subroto You are in very deep trouble. How dare you address me as "Mr" and mention the Gender Recognition Certificate as an excuse to deny me my very womanhood. I received your letter on Friday morning with a mixture of unbridled distress, anger and disbelief. It is not the first time that your organisation has caused me anguish in this fashion: I had to correct a colleague of yours some eighteen months ago. The eyes of the law see this as harassment and it is a criminal offence. Your senior management may yet answer for your insulting behaviour. Were you to occasion me any further distress, for example, by reiterating the content of your letter, you would personally be exposed to prosecution with the possibility of a custodial sentence. I won't hesitate to contact the police should you do so. I asked for my title to be changed. I did not ask for my gender to be changed. These are not one and the same. It is true that my gender must remain male for pension purposes until such time that the Gender Recognition Panel grants me a Gender Recognition Certificate. A title, however, can be whatever one wishes, provided it does not arrogate to oneself a qualification or similar. I may call myself "miss", if I so wish, but not "professor". You will therefore amend your records such that future correspondence will be addressed to me thus: Miss Irene Bujman [... address withheld ...] It is unwise to tread upon the toes of giants, and upon my word, you've jumped in with hobnail boots. I was educated at Emmanuel, Cambridge. Our law graduates are of the highest calibre. If you get it wrong again, I will drop upon you and Prudential from a height. Yours assuredly, Irene Bujman

These people are supposed to be looking after my pension. I wish I'd never taken out the policy. It's hardly reassuring when they get their knuckles rapped by the FSA for mis-selling pensions...

I don't think a letter to the CEO will do much, but a gentle word in Choudhury's shell from a gentleman of the blue lamp, just to set him straight, might be in order.

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

I can't see this as a matter in which the police could be expected to involve themselves, and your tone may well run the risk of seeming intemperate. But you must go your own way, and I wish you the best with it.

Thank you, Stella. I had a situation to deal with in Somerset some time ago, in which I chose to involve the police. The miscreant was duly informed of his obligations and warned as to his conduct, but not before I'd had an hour-and-a-half with my then new local beat officer. I was the very soul of diplomacy and so he kindly did my bidding. We've stayed in touch since and a useful ally he has proved to be.

I'm not known to the police here, but who knows what positive spin-off might emerge from a quiet chat, should I chose to involve them?

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

I am unable to see anything in Subroto Choudhury's letter which could conceivably be construed as a criminal offence, let alone one that might be thought to warrant a custodial sentence.

An offence of harassment occurs when a person, on separate occasions causes another individual distress or alarm.

Harassment is a criminal offence which in England can attract a custodial sentence of six months. In Scotland, a breach of a non-harassment order can amount to as much as five years'.

Subroto Choudhury's letter certainly occasioned me alarm and distress upon its arrival. Were he to do it again, that would constitute the offence of harassment and would expose him to arrest, etc., with the possibility of a custodial sentence. As it is, he's in the clear. But it's check-mate in one...

Prudential, having done this twice, by different hands, might be considered to have committed the offence already. How the law works against mighty organisations, I've yet to investigate. I won't be surprised if I run up against a wall of funny-handshakes.

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and it's ilk are there to allow us to fight bullying and the regular kicking that we get from such as the Prudential. It's a cudgel to be taken up and brandished. It's not for decoration.

As I indicated earlier, by careful consultation with Avon and Somerset Constabulary, I've tested the theory and we put the whole plot into practice. A workmanlike slice of cooperation it was too.

Speak softly and wield a big stick...

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

I wrote to Prudential:

Reenie wrote:

Dear Subroto You wrote to me on 5th September. Here is what you wrote: Dear Mr Bujman ... thank you for your telephone call of 4 September, regarding your change of title. However, unfortunately I cannot update your gender from male to female. To do the same we would need to sight your Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). I did not telephone you. I changed my title myself using your website. I changed my title from "Ms" to "Miss". I did not ask for my gender to be changed. No action on your part was necessary. For some reason, you felt compelled to deny me my very womanhood, strip me of my title and address me as "Mister", something that I find deeply offensive. If it was your intention to belittle a transsexual woman then you have certainly picked the wrong target: I was educated at a Cambridge college renowned for law. I will assume that your action has some benign explanation, but I warn you that any repeat of this profulgent insolence will land you in deep trouble as it will constitute a criminal offence. You will do well to ensure that my details are recorded correctly. Yours sincerely Irene Bujman

They have replied this morning with an apologetic form letter.

It was addressed to "Miss I Bujman".

Mission accomplished.

Do take the trouble to complain, people. It's worth letting them know that we won't be trodden upon.

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

in some cases its innocent thou

the GRC has created a benchmark they all seem to run to now - forgetting that before its existence gender was changed in records gov documents like passport and Driving Licence to female without too many problems a letter from the doctor sufficed in most cases

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

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i guess my style of dealing with 'authorites' is more snookerball in a sock :)
sorry brick in a handbag :)) hehehe

seriously though - to go in and explain it in great detail so they learn something at the same time for the next trans person - i also think the trans community is judged by its individuals and their dealings with them - you still get what you want but they like you as well - if done softly softly catchey monkey is used instead

but i guess results are what matters - just be careful they dont 'mark your file' - if that was a waiter they would spit in your soup after all ;)

WD Reenie :)

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Man [...] must count no one but himself; that he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth." (Jean Paul Sartre, 1943)

It behoves a financial institution to keep accurate records. How else are we to have faith in their ability to guard our horde?

In retirement we rely on a pension to provide for our needs and so it is essential that one's pension company can be relied upon to deliver its promises of security in old age. It is obvious, is it not, that the likes of Prudential should provide continuous reassurance during one's working life that they are to be trusted.

Today, I received two copies of a letter from Prudential thanking me for notifying them of my "correct sex". With tedious inevitability, one of these was addressed to Mr Bujman. The other was correctly addressed.

This is the latest disturbing development in this sorry saga.

I spent many years working in a data processing department and I am intimately familiar with the situations that can give rise to this duplication. Among these are administrator error and programmer error followed by inadequate system testing.

I rarely worked on our company's accounting software, but when I did, I was impressed by the diligence with which our development team approached the task at hand. We tested, tested and tested again. There was no margin for error.

There were a few tears as you may imagine and so further grounds to invoke the protection from harassment act. But none of it...

This requires a firm letter to the chief executive.

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room