Moving into First Home Tomorrow (26/5/17) - HELP

DaleyThompson

Hi,
My partner and I are moving into our first house tomorrow, we have exchanged contracts etc so are ready to complete and pick up the keys...

The bit I a struggling with is what to do with the various service providers and if I have to have an account with anyone in particular.
The old owner has stated they were with Virgin for TV/Broadband etc, EDF for Gas and Electricity and Northumbrian Water for- you guessed it - water.
So do I need to contact each of these and make an account, or am I free to just shop around and go with who ever?

The main ones I guess are the Gas, Elec and Water as I don't know how it works - do the companies each have their own brand of gas and electric, do they have to come in and do something to the house to change from one provider to another? The house is on a meter for gas and elec so I am hoping they will just be ready to use when I get in.

The last thing is, does anyone have any recommendations/advice on what else I should probably have in place or should I wait until I am actually living in the house to sort out TV Licence & Council tax? I do have Buildings/Contents insurance but that is all for now.

I have tried looking online but struggled to make sense of the things I was reading! So any help on the matters would be hugely helpful!

Thankyou in advance,

penguingirl

Water you won't have any choice for, so just set up an account with Northumbrian

Gas/electric- let edf know you have moved in and set up an account with them and give them meter readings. If you think you may change suppliers make sure you don't sign up for a contract with exit fees. You can then shop around, but it takes several weeks to change suppliers although no one will need to physically attend your property. The actual gas/electric connections are the same regardless of who you pay.

Decide if you want virgin or a traditional (BT installed) line. If you get a BT one you don't have to have an account with them, you can use talk talk, plus net, sky etc. It is likely that there is no active phone line if they had cable (virgin) so you may have to pay a connection fee to bt for this. Some suppliers will cover this if you ask.

TV licence and council tax need to be done ASAP (do them today!) and won't take long online. Make sure you update your car registration details as well as your insurance.

Update any banks or credit cards- you may not be able to order stuff online if your delivery and billing address do not match.

Good luck with the move.

Tewdric

Don't forget to change things like store accounts/amazon prime accounts if you have any. My OH managed to get their Mum's Christmas present sent to our old address because they hadn't updated their online account details.

G_M

read all the meters (gas, leccy, water etc) then contact the current suppliers, give them the readings and set up an account.

You can shop around and switch at your leisure later if you wish.

Google 'new home list' or similar - there are loads of lists on the www of all the people/organsiations you may need/want to inform of your new address.

david1951

If you drive, you should update the address on your driver's licence, otherwise you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000.

LadyGMadameToThee

Wow - sorry to say this but it doesn't sound like you know much about running a household. Have you come straight from your parent's house to buying your own? Did they not teach you about balancing a budget and running a household? My 10-year-old son comes to the bank and Post Office with me and watches me on price comparison websites to learn about the inner workings of financial matters.