When to change address details?

Angie_B

Definitely do not instigate a change of energy supplier until on/after your completion date.

Unbeknownst to me, my buyers did this and started the switch from one company to another between exchange and completion (a little bit cheeky as it was still my account but they were FTB and I give them the benefit of the doubt). As a result, I could not hand in my final readings officially (although they are logged on my file) and also could not start a transfer to take my current supplier with me, as my entire account was frozen pending switch.

(And no, I have no idea how they were allowed to do this - I assume they told a little white lie about who technically owned the property when they spoke to the new supplier).

I have also now received the bill for the entire time up until the switch went through, using final meter readings at the date of switch, rather than just up until completion date.

So, now I have to dispute that, complain, get a new bill issued and leave it to the energy company to sort out billing the new owners for the extra 10 days.

All because my buyers could not wait one week until they actually owned the place.

Stevie_Palimo

westv wrote: »

Royal Mail redirection sometimes fails.

Yes but so do many other things in life, All you can do is hope the times you require service or an item it goes through smoothly.

pinkteapot

Royal Mail redirection takes a bit of time to set up (a week or so? I forget now). Order it now if you haven't already. You can specify a start date, but if you order too close to the start date there may be a few days were post doesn't get redirected.

Agree with others on the thread - tell people after you've moved.

Utility companies - on completion day, read meters at your old house and phone that supplier to close your accounts, and give them closing meter readings. Then go to new house, read meters there, and phone new suppliers to open accounts and give opening meter readings.

But utilities are the only one you need to faff with on the day, and actually if you can't make the phone calls till a day or two after completion it doesn't really matter. I think I did my calls the next day. Getting the meter readings is the only absolute essential for completion day.

custardy

Something people can keep in mind
RM offer a free call & collect service.
So if you are staying locally,you can set this up and give yourself a little breathing space with regard to setting up the redirection.

penguingirl

Broadband/ phone is useful to set up as if you have fibre broadband you will probably need am engineer's visit. We exchanged the day before completion and ended up 2 weeks without phone/internet which was annoying as we get no mobile reception and we needed to tell everyone we'd moved...

Hoploz

Just thought - we cancelled Sky and weren't transferring it to our new house. We had to give them a months notice, so ended up paying for a month after we moved out! So if you're thinking of dong the same then contact them ASAP!

rosie383

Thanks all. Very, very useful advice anna42hmr. I like to be as organised as possible as I have a head like a sieve so I will start doing that now. Brilliant plan.
No Sky plan. Managed to do TV Licensing, library, Tesco clubcard etc. today.

red_imps_2003

Aye; I think I received a couple of letters for the people who bought our house a few days before completion. I can't recall now whether they were personal correspondence or business. They didn't look like utility bills or anything, though.

We exchanged contracts on our new place last week and I was able to arrange phone line/broadband with BT immediately; the transfer isn't due to go through until well after completion. I asked the advisor at BT repeatedly whether it would be a problem that I don't actually own the place yet and that the current owners are with a completely different provider and he assured me [repeatedly] that it wouldn't. Needless to say I've kept a copy of the transcript. There was also a box to tick on the online order form the confirm we don't own the house yet.

That is the only thing we are organising in advance. We have a postal redirect in place for our previous place; it's worth the fee. We've already had a tax disc renewal reminder intercepted (I could have sworn I informed them) and an annual statement from a store card we had forgotten about (worth getting a copy of your credit report to check for financial accounts you may have missed). I'd also forgotten to inform Barnardo's and only realised when one of their updates was redirected. The rest has been junk mail but it is considerate to inform them as well [where possible] rather than leave the new owners to 'return to sender'.

agrinnall

I completed last week but as I'm not moving in until next week I am leaving all of my address changes until then (apart from Macmillan Cancer who happened to ring me yesterday so I decided to save myself a phone call). The RM redirection has been set up and will start the day before I move - it does require 5 working days so I was only just in time, for 1st September you've probably missed it due to next Monday being a public holiday.

D_M_E

As well as phoning the utility companies, I would also photograph the meters showing the readings - with a date stamp on the pics if possible - and send the readings, together with copies of the pics, by email as well.

Don't forget to also read the water meter (if you have one), and don't forget to give your phone and internet companies the required notice - if possible, make sure they terminate services by noon on the day you move.

You also need to advise your GP of change of address - your usual doctor if you're moving within their practice area, or sign up to a new practice if necessary.