Renting Gas /Water / Electric

sternjohn662200

Hi there,

Im moving out of my parents house for the first time ever next month so am just after some help as its all new to me.

I have sorted all the things out with the rent, etc as im renting a house im just not too sure about the bills when i move in.

How do i go about setting up gas / water and electric as i keep seeing things on the main website about finding cheapers alternatives but im not sure how im to set it all up. When i move into the property that im renting - do i call these companies on the day i move in asking them to set it up and charge me from then or do i have to go in and phone british gas and the local water company to get them to set it up initally then switch to one of the cheaper providers.

Any help would be appreciated as i am a newbie to renting and my family dont seem to know the answer either.

Cheers

MX5huggy

Presuming the services are on when you move in, all you need to do on the day is take meter readings for all 3 (there may not be a water meter) then at your leisure you need contact the current suppliers the water is easy its your local company the gas and electric you need to as the agent or LL who they are.

sarah_elton

MX5huggy wrote: »

Presuming the services are on when you move in, all you need to do on the day is take meter readings for all 3 (there may not be a water meter)

This bit's important as if you don't know your starting meter readings you may end up paying for what people used before you. When you phone the supplier to open an account, you give them the numbers and that's the balance your account starts at.

mynameiscatherine

When I moved house the letting agent had done the meter readings and put them on the inventory for us. When we signed the contract we were given a form to fill in which transferred the responsibility of paying the bills to us (we phoned them after moving in just to make sure).

When we actually moved in there were bills on the mat for the letting agents for gas and electric so we just forwarded them on and they were dealth with.
As for the water, the local water company had sent a form asking for our details and the meter reading so we posted that off and that was everything sorted!

You will generally find that companies are very nice and helpful when you are trying to pay for things!!

Good luck with the move!

sternjohn662200

Ok thanks for the help.

Would i have to stay with the letting agents / landords provider for the gas and electric initially to get it on straight away with the meter readings or if i had permission from the landlord could i ring a different company with the meter readings if i look for someone cheaper.