New Energy Provider after Housemove

[Deleted User]

Will be hoping to move home in the next month or two and am wondering whether the experiences of those that have moved recently and are what they should be. Namely:

(1) The ease of setting up an account with the incumbent provider.
(2) If you did switch from your new provider were there any barriers put up initially by the incumbent supplier?
(3) How soon after setting up the account did you initiate a switch?
(4) How long after moving did the old supplier provide final billing?

The supplier of both gas and electric at the new house is Bulb and their website does have some detail:

https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115003438031-Moving-into-a-home-that-s-supplied-by-Bulb 

In their particular case Bulb state they say they would take out payment at 10 days after account set up if their infomation is taken as gospel.  Rest assured I will be taking photos of all the meter readings at both old and new properties and informing both old supplier (Avro) and new supplier (Bulb) what they are, and the date moving in/out. 

niktheguru

My last house move was about 5 years ago.

The only benefit I can see of "moving your account" from an old supplier  to your new property is if they would allow you to take your legacy fixed rate (which would no longer be available if you were to start afresh) or to avoid paying an early exit fee.

If this is the case, it would be advisable to do the "switch" only 1-3 days before your house move. Then you will have a 14 day cool off period in which nothing happens, and after this your switch occurs.
During that 14 day period you need to have registered with bulb, give them your moving in meter readings and date of moving in (technically it should be the date you exchange contracts and the house is owned by you, not just the day you actually move in) and advise them that you will be switching to another provider. (ideally if you can do this before you switch the older provider thats better, but if no it should at least be in the 14day cooling off period)

Then, let your switch take place. Ensure a couple of days before your switch you give an up to date meter reading to bulb. Then on the day of the switch give the latest meter reading to your newer supplier. They will then pass that on to the "third party" who then will give it to bulb and your account should be closed and you'll get a final bill.

(Make sure the direct debit agreed with bulb is a small one so you dont have a massive credit balance from one direct debit)

The final billing from the old supplier varies between providers. It can be 14 days (i've experienced this with british gas) or it can be months (symbio anyone?)

As you said, take photos of the meters and note down the exact dates. You should only pay for energy and standing charges from when you owned the property.


Usually the problems arise when people think they're moving their energy like they can move their sky or broadband, don't contact the original company for the new property, and try to be clever and get the switch date for "move in date".....then their old supplier messes it up, the switch doesn't go successfully yet they're paying the new supplier all the while the old supplier is actually providing the property and charging high deemed rates, and then its a surprise a month or so down the line.

MY advice is don't do this. Let the old supplier supply the property for the first week you are there, and let the switch occur whilst you are living there (using that 14day cooling off period as your wiggle room)

Hope that helps.

PRAISETHESUN

I moved house fairly fairly recently and my experience was fairly straightforward. On the day I became responsible for my new property I took meter readings and called the incumbent supplier (Shell) and registered as the new occupant and gave meter readings. No option to do this online like other suppliers presumably so they can get you to sign up for something on the phone. They tried to give me the hard sell (fixed term tariffs, bundles with broadband, etc) but eventually it was made clear I wasn’t interested in staying with them and they put me on their standard variable tariff whilst I started the process to switch elsewhere. Later that day I initiated a switch to my new provider. I gave meter readings to my new supplier about 2-3 weeks later when requested and Shell are currently in the middle of sorting my final bill out so we will see how that goes. 

As for my old property, I notified my supplier (Bulb) a few weeks ahead of my move out. They asked for meter readings in the final 5 days before I moved and sent me my final bill fairly promptly. I’m about £20 in credit so I’m waiting for that to get sorted but it’s been relatively straightforward so far.

You could in theory tell your current supplier about your house move and have them facilitate everything but then you run the risk of the incumbent supplier not knowing when you moved in and stuff up your billing. Probably easier to get in touch with them to set yourself up with an account, and then separately initiating the switch from your current supplier in that instance.

jbuchanangb

When I moved a couple of years ago, I called Scottish Power (the incumbent supplier) on the day I moved in, provided meter readings and took their standard variable rate. On the same day I initiated a switch to the same supplier which I had been using at my previous home. Switch took 17 days. Received final (and only) bill from SP 2 weeks later and settled it by credit card. All pretty painless.

[Deleted User]

I should have made it clear that I probably won't be staying with Bulb when I move in.  As for AVRO (the supplier at my current address), at least I know what to expect (or not expect) should I decide to switch to them when I move in.

Thanks for your input