Moving house should be exciting. You’re about to start your new adventure in your new home, whether that be with your family or going solo. The last thing that you want to be worrying about is your energy bills, but unfortunately, there is a couple of things that you need to sort out before and after you leave your current property. This shouldn’t, however, be any cause for concern, as if you know what you’re doing, it’s extremely quick and simple. On this page you’ll find everything you could possibly need to know when switching your energy tariffs when you move home.
Before you move
- Call your provider at least 48 hours before you move to let them know that you are going to be moving to another address. At this point you may as well actually let them know what that address is, as you’re going to need to do it at some point anyway. Depending on your supplier you might even be able to do this without picking up the phone: some providers now have a live chat function that allows you to carry out account issues online. Look into providers (similar to Aggressive Energy) who can help you out in your quest to save energy and transfer your connection.
- Take a meter reading on the last day that you are in your current property. Make sure you keep these details just in case your supplier has the reading wrong. It is likely, unless you have a smart meter, that you’re going to have to provide your supplier with the details of your meter reading in order to avoid crossover between you and the new tenants. It’s also possible that they’ll come round to your property themselves and take their own reading; however, it’s still advisable to carry one out yourself so you can contest any crossovers you may feel have occurred.
- Supply your new address to your current supplier if you haven’t done already. This needs to be done so that they can send you your final bill. It can also be helpful for if you have any outstanding balance on your account that needs to be sent to you. They will most likely still send this through to your bank, but they may need a current address on your account for administrative purposes.
After you move
- Pay the final bill from your previous property. Depending on your payment type, this will either be sent to your address or taken direct debit. Either way, it is likely that you will receive some form of letter detailing your bill through the post as it is your final bill. If you notice that your bill is exceptionally high and there may have been an error in the crossover of tenancy, you should give your supplier a call with your meter reading to hand. This should clear up any issues that you have.
Who is your new supplier?
With a bit of luck, the people who were in your new property before you, or the company in charge of getting the house ready for when you move in, will have left details of your supplier, perhaps in a welcome letter, which would make things ten times easier; however, this is not always the case. If not, don’t worry! You can pretty easily find out your supplier by giving your distribution network operator (DNO) a call for electricity and your gas distributor for gas. It is likely that the same company who supplies your electricity, will also supply your gas, but it is definitely worth checking, as some people have their supplies with separate companies.
It is worth noting, that as soon as you become the legal owner of your new property, you will become responsible for your property’s energy supply. With some luck, you would’ve likely done enough research about the city you’re moving to (note that there are plenty of realtor websites to get the right info from-Visit their website to read up on it), and already know the steps to take regarding your energy bills. As such, it’s important to make sure that you’re not going to be overpaying on your energy from the get-go. It is highly likely that due to the previous tenants cancelling or transporting their fixed tariff, you will have been left with a standard variable tariff, which is generally the most expensive tariff an energy supplier will have to offer. So, it’s probably time to get thinking about switching to a cheaper tariff!
Switching tariff
In 99% of cases, switching your energy tariff from the one that is currently in your new home is the right way forward. Standard variable tariffs through any of the big six energy companies are generally the most expensive that they have to offer, which means you’re definitely going to want to either change your tariff through that company or switch to another. The likely case is that you are going to want a fixed tariff, which will not only be much cheaper, but will protect you from price increases for your term and allow you to budget more effectively. The only downside is that if you wanted to terminate your contract early, you may be subject to an exit fee.
If you’re already quite switch-savvy, but moving to another area of the country, you may realise that there is a pretty noticeable difference in prices, for better or for worse. This is due to distribution and other static costs that each energy supplier is subject to in different regions of Great Britain. As such, your postcode is really important when getting your quote. For example, if you were with Npower in Sheffield, but you moved to Wrexham, you’ll probably see that Npower prices in Sheffield were a lot cheaper than now you’re looking in the North Wales area. This pattern will most likely follow across all providers; however, that is something that you just have to live with unfortunately.
Can you keep your old supplier?
If you would like to keep the fixed tariff you had in your previous property, you will usually be able to. Most suppliers now allow portability on their fixed tariffs in order to prevent the loss of custom. You can do this by giving your supplier a call and telling them about your situation. You should, however, still carry out a full market comparison just to check the latest prices, as although you will most likely have an exit fee to deal with, you may benefit much more from switching completely.