When you move to a new house, it can be a bit of a juggling act to manage without a phone, with no electricity or without gas. One of the things I learned from the moves I have made is that it is better to connect and disconnect in advance, and to follow up a week before moving.

Many utility services require time to carry out the connection or disconnection, so do not wait for the last minute. Contact your service providers as soon as you can and find out how long in advance they need to know. Schedule in your diary to contact them on time. For example, if the phone company needs 1-3 weeks notice, give them 3 weeks’ notice.

Bills are a good place to find who your service providers are. Bank statements also help, especially when your bills are automatically charged to your account. If anyone provided a service, that means I paid them, which means that the charges will show up on my bank statement. The list may include

• Phone
• Gas
• Electricity/power
• Childcare
• Club memberships (gym, golf)
• Kids’ activities
• Insurance

You may have regular deliveries on a direct debit plan, like milk, newspaper or catalogues. They may also need a few weeks’ notice to be deactivate, so be sure to cancel them enough time ahead of your move.

Make sure you pay all your bills on your last day in the old house. It can become very complicated when the new tenants start arguing about who paid what.

Join me next time for some tips about change of address.

Happy moving,
Ronit