Utility Bills and Council Tax Before Moving In?

lettucekl

I will be getting the keys for my new house this coming Friday (25/11/16) and not sure what the deal is where utility bills are concerned.

Is it down to the current owner of the property to inform their provider that they leaving the property or is it down to me to inform the same provider than im moving in?.

What if i want to use a different provider?, i take it its easier for the first month just to use the same company and then swap over in which case is it as simple as a name change on the current bill for that month and take readings on the day i get the keys?

I dont intend to move in straight away, as there's some decorating that need to be done and i dont have any furniture atm plus i would be spending xmas with family regardless, so i probably wont actually move in until the new year. With this in mind is there a discount i can take on paying the council tax or any of the utility bills like water rates etc?

Thanks for any help.

[Deleted User]

Utility companies: give readings from meter, ask to set up an account in your name. You will have to do this regardless if you change supplier. Easier if you ask vendor the name of the current supplier.

Then shop around for the best supplier, will take a few weeks (can't remember how long).

Phone council or check the local council's website.., what discounts they will provide on council tax for an empty property and for how long, varies from LA to LA.

lettucekl

Ok thanks for the info

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

With Gas and Electricity, you enter into a deemed contract with the incumbent supplier the day you take ownership of the property. You are then free to move elsewhere, however this takes between 1 and 3 weeks. Make sure you supply meter readings on the day you move in - the Energy sub-forum is littered with examples where people have not done this, and months down the line they end up with a huge estimated bill that they can't disprove. It is incumbent upon you, not the previous owner, to do this. If you don't know the supplier, follow these steps


https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/who-supplies-my-electricity-and-gas/


As for CT, each council sets their own policy. Some discount empty properties, others punish it. Every Local Authority sets it out on their website.

Mojisola

lettucekl wrote: »

I will be getting the keys for my new house this coming Friday

I dont intend to move in straight away, as there's some decorating that need to be done

i probably wont actually move in until the new year.

Get the locks changed as soon as possible.

I know of a young couple who did the same as you - someone used a key to get into the empty house and strip out everything of value, including copper pipes. It made claiming on the insurance much harder because the property wasn't broken into.

lettucekl

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

With Gas and Electricity, you enter into a deemed contract with the incumbent supplier the day you take ownership of the property. You are then free to move elsewhere, however this takes between 1 and 3 weeks. Make sure you supply meter readings on the day you move in - the Energy sub-forum is littered with examples where people have not done this, and months down the line they end up with a huge estimated bill that they can't disprove. It is incumbent upon you, not the previous owner, to do this. If you don't know the supplier, follow these steps


https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/who-supplies-my-electricity-and-gas/

As for CT, each council sets their own policy. Some discount empty properties, others punish it. Every Local Authority sets it out on their website.

Thats good to know.

Mojisola wrote: »

Get the locks changed as soon as possible.

I know of a young couple who did the same as you - someone used a key to get into the empty house and strip out everything of value, including copper pipes. It made claiming on the insurance much harder because the property wasn't broken into.

Damn!!, yeah i guess there are some people in the world that go to these lengths. Though its a family currently living there with 2 kids and they seem like law-abiding citizens, so i would have thought there the type to do such a thing!

Is this good standing practice to always change keys and locks on purchasing a new property then?

G_M

its a family currently living there with 2 kids and they seem like law-abiding citizens, so i would have thought there the type to do such a thing!

Is this good standing practice to always change keys and locks on purchasing a new property then?

What a wierd question!

You do not know the sellers so have no idea how trust-worthy they are.

Nor do you know their cleaner (who had a key) or the gardener not to mention the odd-job-man who repainted the bathroom last year and never returned the key they gave him and which he passed to his mate down the pub in exchange for 3 pints.

The elder kid, a teenage girl, had a boyfriend who only last week was released from youth detention for drug offences. She'd given him a key so he could sneak into her bedroom at night.

And as the sellers never changed the locks 3 years ago when they bought the property themselves, the previous owners still have keys (as do all their relatives).