Our moving house notification checklist will prove ideal to tick all the boxes when you are moving home.

A house move is a “life event” and it is important you notify all interested parties of your new address. As well as notifying friends and family, you will need to notify all of your service providers.

There are so many organisations to though that it can be challenging to remember everyone. Expert Moves have put this guide together to help you through the process. We hope you find this moving home address change checklist invaluable, and if you can think of anybody else to notify, please message us!

1)   Central government

Several central government departments form our moving house list of addresses to change. These are all important to remember and are detailed below:

Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

If you are receiving benefits from DWP, they will need to be notified. This includes benefits such as (but not limited to) Child Benefit, Disability benefits (Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance or Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, and Universal Credit.

DWP can be notified by calling the relevant benefit helpline or in some cases online. All the information you will need is at this link.

HMRC / Inland Revenue

It is crucial when you move to notify HMRC (Inland Revenue). This is essential so that all your communication goes to the correct address. Inform HMRC of an address change for child benefit, income tax, National Insurance, state pension, and tax credits at this link.

National Insurance

You need to also notify the HMRC about an address change to update the associated address with your National Insurance number. This number is important and used by other government agencies (e.g., DVLA) as well as employers. Update your NI number here.

V5C Vehicle Log Book

When moving address, you need to update your V5C (Vehicle Log Book). In their own words “You can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA when your address changes.”, so it is necessary for you to do this! As long as you are the registered keeper of a vehicle, you can learn how to update the associated address here.

2)   Courts

If you are in the midst of an ongoing legal case, it is important to notify the court. The Ministry of Justice, Procedural Rules, section 6.24 says “Where the address for service of a party changes, that party must give notice in writing of the change as soon as it has taken place to the court and every other party.”

3)   DVLA

Another task you will need to complete is updating your driving licence address. Your driving licence needs to be updated ASAP after your address change (but not before!) Simply visit https://www.gov.uk/tell-dvla-changed-address to notify the DVLA, this is another place where you can update your V5C Vehicle Log Book address.

4)   Employer

Although this sounds obvious, many people forget to notify their employer of a change of address. Notifying them is naturally important, it is probably in your employee T&Cs and is needed for a smooth relationship.

5)   Finance related

Numerous finance-related organisations feature in our moving house checklist change of address contacts; these include:

Banks and Building Societies

It is important to notify a bank or building society as close as possible to your moving date. Paperwork from these (especially statements) is widely used in identity fraud. Our advice is to 100% ensure you notify your bank or building society and have a Royal Mail redirection in place. Most of their websites will allow online address changes, also this can be changed by phone or visiting in person, some proof of a change of address will be needed.

Companies House

If you are a Director of a Limited Company, you have a legal responsibility to provide accurate personal address details. Click this link to update your personal details on the Companies House register.

Credit card companies

You will need to notify credit & debit card companies of your address change. Naturally, you may owe them money and they need to know your whereabouts and they will charge you if they need to trace you.

Insurance companies

Any company you insure with will need details when you move home. They will need to contact you and for some insurance moving house can alter premiums.

Car insurance

Naturally, upon moving address you have to inform the car insurance company, this applies to both general car insurance as well as breakdown recovery insurance. Failure to do will be failing the terms and conditions of the insurance policy and is likely to invalidate any insurance claim.

Moving address changes the risk to the insurer (maybe for the better or worse) and insurance premiums are likely to change. Most car insurance companies allow changes of addresses online, or you can phone through the information.

Health insurance

If you have any form of health insurance such as BUPA, Nuffield Healthcare, or insurance such as critical illness coverage or for certain health conditions, notify your provider.

Home and contents insurance

It is essential when you move home that you notify your home insurance provider of the change of address. They will inform you of any change in premium and you can be covered on the last day at your old property and from the first day of your new property.

If you continue to pay premiums on your old property, you are wasting your money. You must notify the insurance company to be covered at your new property.

Pet insurance

With pet insurance, it tends to travel with the pet. Even if you fail to notify your pet insurer of an address change, the pet is highly likely to be covered. It is always wise though to change address information.

Travel insurance

If you have an upcoming trip, update your travel insurance company with your new details.

Loan companies

If you have any outstanding loan finance, it will be a condition to notify your loan company. This can be completed online, by phone, or sometimes by email.

Mortgage Company

There is almost no possibility you can move home without notifying your mortgage company. They will be intrinsically involved in the move, having financed it!

Pension

Similarly, if you have a private pension plan it is in your interest to update your contact information. Although this is unlikely to benefit your pension eligibility it is important for address records to be accurate. Contact your pension provider in the usual way.

Premium Bonds

If you have premium bonds, you can inform NS&I of an address change through this link.

Store cards

If you have store cards such as M&S, Tesco, or Asda it is always wise to change the address information using the usual contact methods. This is particularly important for your next online order, as you will want this to your new address.

6)   Friends and family

Contacting friends and family is also important. Of course, many will know anyway as they share everyday life with you! Failure to notify friends and family may mean some of your Christmas cards do not arrive this year. Effective methods include:

• In-person – the friendliest method is definitely to notify them in person
• Phone – if you cannot meet in person, perhaps the next best method is to call them!
• Email – you can bulk email any friends and family left. The use of blind emailing (BCC) is recommended to notify everybody about your move
• Text – another alternative is to notify anybody left by a personalised text message

7)   Health agencies

When changing address, you may have to change Doctors and your local NHS trust.

If moving very locally you will be able to keep your own Doctors. Moving increased distances though will mean a change of Doctors. When you speak to your new Doctor, they will request all your medical information from your previous practice. Informing your new Doctor should update all NHS addresses, but you may need to check this if you use other specialist services.

You will also need to inform your Dentist, Opticians and Vets about any address changes. In the same way as Doctors, they will all retrieve information from previous practices (where this is available). With pets, there will also be a need to update the pet microchip database (where this applies).

8)   Household services

Maintenance support

If you use maintenance support services for your property (e.g., cleaners, gardeners, window cleaners, etc.,) you will need to let them know of an address change. Perhaps if you are moving locally, you can retain their services.

Professional services

If you have professional contacts (e.g., tenants, accountants, estate agents, solicitors, etc.,) you need to notify them of your address change.

9)   Landlord

If you are moving home, we imagine your landlord would know well in advance and that any arrears are settled, or an agreement is in place. It is always best to leave on good terms and provide a forwarding address for future contact

10)    Leisure

All of the following leisure-type contacts need to be notified:

• Charities
• Health Clubs and gyms
• Newspapers and magazine subscriptions and
• Clubs & societies

11)    Local Government

Council tax

Updating your Council Tax is important. Different houses are in different bands, so you may save money or have extra to pay when you move house. Council tax varies by the local authority, so if you are moving to a different authority you need to cancel your existing direct debit and make a new one. Moving within an authority means you need to change your address and potentially the amount you pay.

Electoral roll

This is separate from notifying your council about council tax. Upon changing address, you need to re-register on the Electoral Roll with your updated details. Visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and keep your eligibility to vote in upcoming elections.

Schools

If you have school children, you need to notify the school of your revised address information.

12)    Postal redirections

Royal Mail

Above all else do not forget to redirect your mail to any UK or overseas address with the Royal Mail postal redirection service. Some notice is required, as it takes ten days to implement, but you can apply up to three months in advance. Not only does redirection ensure you receive your mail it also critically reduces the risk of intellectual property theft, which is at risk if other people have access to your details. Click here for details of this service.

Amazon

Don’t forget to delete your old address from all online retailers (such as Amazon). There’s nothing worse than realising your package has been delivered to an old address.

Other online companies

You may have potentially a large number of other online companies who you order from. If so, it is worth

13)    TV Licensing

Even if you continue to pay for a TV licence, you will not be valid if you fail to update your address. Avoid a dreaded knock at the door by revising your information on the TV Licensing website.

14)    Utility companies

Updating utility companies moving home address change checklist is also important, we strongly advise you carefully manage electricity, gas, phone, broadband and water provider accounts.

Electricity and Gas

Although we group these together you may have to notify two providers if you buy them separately. For both electricity and gas, we would advise taking a photo of both the gas and electricity meter around the move date. This will be timestamped (through metadata) and prove what the reading was at the time of your move.

Notify both electricity and gas providers of your address change to avoid problems with meter readings and pay more later on. Carefully managing your account also maximises the chance of getting the best deals.

Phone

For landline phones, you will need to inform your phone company of your address move. They may be able to transfer the number if you are moving locally. If you have the same provider for Broadband this can be done at the same time.

For mobile phones, contact your provider in the usual ways to amend your address details.

Broadband

You will naturally change your broadband service when you move address to guarantee continuity of delivery. In many cases, you can keep the same provider, but it is worth checking with them before you move to avoid delays. Also, book any engineer visits in for ASAP after the move to avoid service disruption.

Broadband providers will also want to know of your change of address for billing purposes.

Water

Your water provider will need to know the dates you left the previous property and when you moved into the new address. In most cases, they will keep any direct debits in place where you do not need to change the water company.

15)    University and private schools

If you or a child are at a university or a private school, they will need to be notified to update their records. You may also need to notify alumni associations you might be a member of.

Contacting Expert Moves about our moving house notification checklist

We have reached the end of our moving house notification checklist; this should prove of great value when you plan a move. The Expert Moves who to notify when moving house checklist contains a list of everybody we can think of, if you know of any important omissions, please let us know!

If you need to hire a removal company, why not call Expert Moves Ltd on 0333 090 7997 (landline) or 07405 648478 (mobile)? Complete our contact form on our contact page. View our social media posts here. Receive a FREE customised quotation, by completing our instant quote removal form.

 

Image Credits: Mohamed Hasan, Wikimedia, National Science and Media Museum Events, Sheikh Tuhin, Royal Mail and Coffee Bean Works