There is so much to remember when moving home that changing your address sometimes gets overlooked. Our guide will help you to make sure you tell all the important people.
Those who supply your gas, electricity, water, telephone & broadband. Check out our guide to switching service providers for more information.
You will need to update your local authority for Council Tax. The new area may differ from where you are moving from, in which case both local authorities will require updating. If you are buying a property from a seller who is MoveReady, information about the local authority is included on the MoveReady Property Profile. If not, You can use this service to find your local council details. You will also need to re-register on the Electoral Roll to make sure you remain eligible to vote - link here.
The DVLA should be a priority, you could incur a fine if your driving licence or vehicle log book (V5C) have an incorrect address! Also don't forget your car insurance company and any vehicle breakdown cover you have. Here's DVLA's step by step guide.
If you have children it is imperative to notify the school that you are moving, not only for them to update their records but also to keep an eye on your child, as moving can be an anxious time for children. If you have older children who are at university they will also require updating.
Doctor, dentist and optician are the main parties to notify but if you have a pet their healthcare is important too, don’t forget to update the vet!
Although some insurance policies aren’t reliant on where you live they will all need new contact details for you and it’s best to be on the safe side. Here’s a list of some to consider:
You immediately think of banks and building societies however make sure you don’t forget the rest! It is important to notify any finance related company to ensure your information doesn’t make its way into the wrong hands. Pension, ISAs and investments, premium bonds, loans, credit cards, store cards and anything else you make a regular payment to, double check your bank statements to make sure you've thought of everyone.
Your TV licence won’t be valid when you move to a new property, update your information up to 3 months in advance on tvlicensing.co.uk.
It may be stating the obvious but I’m sure we all have friends and family that we don’t see or speak to on a regular basis but remember to send a Christmas or Birthday card? Go through your address book and drop a line to those who don’t already know. You can also go through your contacts on social media if you don't have an address book!
Remember to update any clubs, societies and gyms of which you may be a member but also any subscription or regular deliveries you receive such as magazines or newspapers - and of course Amazon!
Your employer will need to update your contact details and notify payroll but most importantly you need to notify HMRC who take care of your income tax, national insurance, state pension and any tax credits. You can update HMRC online here.
Think of anyone else who provides you with services that may need to know you’ve moved, for example: cleaner, gardener, window cleaner, accountant, solicitor, milkman, hairdresser…
It takes a while to notify everyone of your change of address, luckily Royal Mail offer a redirection service for a small fee - link here. It takes 10 working days to put into place so don't leave it until the last minute, but this buys you a little more time to inform everyone that you’ve moved.