Moving Home - Changing Utilities
Making sure you change your utilities is one of the most important things that should be on top of your to-do list when moving to a new house. To remove all the stress involved in this process, we’ve outlined a few simple steps below that should make the transition as easy as possible.
2 minute read
Start early
Utilities like electricity, water and gas are the most important. You must have them in your new house before you start living there. This is why it’s better to start early. Start around two weeks before you actually leave. Try and get everything active at least a day before you start living inside the new place.
Where to start
You need to begin in your old home with a notebook and a pen, approximately two weeks before you plan on moving out. Write down all the utility services you have and their suppliers. Also, write down how much you pay for each service and other details if there are any. You could draw up a table and split it into sections; this way, when you come to compare providers, you’ll have all the information available in one document.
To start with, you must find out if your new place offers any utilities as a part of the lease or service charge. Also, contact utility services near your new home. There could be exclusive service providers for certain areas. Sometimes some providers offer discounts to residents of a particular area. Find out about the offers, payments and discounts available by calling different utility service providers.
Next steps
Now it’s time to ring the customer service department for each service provider in your old home. Most utility service providers have a time limit for when they connect or disconnect their services. These time limits might not match up with the days you plan on moving. Ask about these timeframes and plot them on your calendar. You’ll be able to see at a glance, along with everything else, how long the whole process will take. If you have more than a few utility services, colour co-ordinate them so you can avoid confusion and a messy calendar.
You should ask if there need to be any extra payments, advance deposits or appointments. Fix it all according to your schedule. Also, find out if the provider offers any discounts for installation in a new place. You might find some offers that will help save money. Some utility providers offer great discounts when you buy multiple services from them. Get to know how much time all the procedures will require and add them to your table, including any potential costs.
Final decision
By this time, you may already have a good idea about who you’ll want to go with. Your table will contain a list of all the utilities you need with a comparison between different providers. You should choose whichever best suits your usage. You might find that transferring your old utilities is cheaper, in which case you may have already plotted everything out on your calendar. If not, maybe getting a new connection is the better option. Figure this out by comparing the promotions and extra costs.
Make a decision on which providers you want to go with. If you put all of your services into a checklist, you can tick them off as you go so you don’t end up missing anything out. Once you’re happy with your decision, call the companies to confirm your installation.
Confirmation
Just a couple of days before you move in, make a call to confirm that the new utilities have been activated or are still in the process. Ask any questions you might have to remove any doubts. Keep your checklist with you to confirm when the utilities are ready so your new place is fully prepared when you move in.
