Spreading the word
When it comes to buying a house there is a long list of people and organisations you need to inform of your house move and address change.
In some cases, this is crucial to avoid penalty fines or damaging your credit score.
Here is a list of some of the people or organisations you need to inform – if you want to be really organised you can contact them in advance so they are aware of your address change as of a certain date.
Employment
Firstly your employer will need to have up-to-date details of their employees, this will include home addresses.
Inland Revenue/HMRC will need to be aware of your change of address as they are responsible for tax collections and National Insurance contributions, so your information must be up-to-date.
Finances
You will also need to tell you bank or building society that you have moved, along with your credit card companies or loan companies to ensure that they have all your accurate information if they ever need to contact you.
Household
This is an important one for organisations such as your broadband provider, landline provider, TV license and television packages e.g. Sky TV, Virgin Media etc. The last thing you want is to be left without Wi-Fi or TV!
Insurance
As you are moving, all of your details regarding your insurance policies need to be updated. If not, you could find yourself in a situation where you are making a claim for something such as a car accident, and your insurance is void due to your details not being up-to-date, which can also be rather costly!
Consider all insurance policies you might have, for example:
- Health insurance
- Home insurance
- Life insurance
- Travel insurance
- Pet insurance
- Vehicle insurance
Vehicle
This is another important one that could be very costly if forgotten. If you do not tell DVLA when your address changes you can be fined up to £1000. You can let them know here.
In a nutshell these are the things you need to ensure are up to date:
- Driving License
- V5C log book
- Car insurance provider
Utilities
These are the main places you should probably tell about your change of address because if you don’t, you won’t have any lighting, heating or water.
It’s a good idea to also let Royal Mail know that you are moving house. If you don’t have enough time to change your address over fully you can set up postal redirect to give you a bit of extra time while also receiving all your important mail!
Local Authorities
You will need to ensure your details with the local authorities are correct as this will affect how much council tax you pay depending on the area you live in. In addition, make sure you update the electoral roll to be able to vote.
Subscriptions
This might be one for the bottom of the priority pile, but that’s ok – as long as it gets done!
You might have various subscriptions that you enjoy on a monthly basis, for example, a monthly car magazine, a beauty or make up box or even food suppliers such as Hello Fresh! The last thing you want is to miss out on a certain month because you haven’t changed your address!
Education
If you are enrolled in a college, university or similar, you will need to update them too. If you have children, it’s a good idea to update their current school if they are not moving, or give your new address to a new school as soon as you can so they can contact you if they need too.
Healthcare
If you are moving from one health practice to another, your previous doctor or dentist will have to forward on your medical information to the new practice.
This is also the case for opticians and pet care.
So now you’ve got a good idea on who to call when moving house, it’s also a good idea to let your friends and family know where you live too!