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

This post is part of the series Moving House Made Easy:

Moving House Made Easy: Moving Day

When you and your family are moving house, the moving day itself is one of the most exciting days for everyone. The day also brings up a mixture of anticipation and fear. You will often find yourself consulting your to-do list to make sure you remember everything without feeling overwhelmed.…

September 9, 2014

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Moving House Made Easy: The New Place

Moving to a new place is very exciting and a great opportunity to start fresh. A helpful tip to make the move smoother for everyone is to prepare them for what it is going to be like ahead of time. How to prepare When we move, we are usually concerned…

July 22, 2014

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Moving House Made Easy: Food

One of the biggest challenges of moving to a new house is managing food. Even after everything else is done, in that last week of the move and your first week in the new place, eating becomes a bit problematic. You cleaned out your old fridge and pantry, so you…

August 12, 2014

In "Home"