Why you need to let your energy supplier know you are moving house!

Moving home can be a particularly stressful exercise – it is not just trying to remember to pack everything into the removal van but also the upheaval of moving to a completely new property – it is a big step for anyone to take. With all that going on it is very easy to forget to get final energy readings from both your electricity and gas meters read and notifying the energy supplier that you are vacating the property.

Notifying your energy supplier that you are moving though is actually quite important – especially if you have a hefty credit balance with them and you are owed some money!

Are you moving home in the next few weeks?

If you are moving home shortly you should notify the energy supplier as soon as possible – ideally well in advance of your move date. At this point the energy supplier will ask you for a new address and contact details as well as request the final meter readings so that final bills or rebates can be issued in plenty of time.

If you are on one of those direct debit energy price plans you will probably be paying an estimated monthly amount through your account. The payment amount will be the same every month and so during the summer balance you build up a credit balance and then during the winter this balance gets used up (this is because you use more energy during the winter because your heating is on). For many people though there will be a balance at the end of the moving date. If you are moving at the end of the summer – it will likely be a credit balance – i.e. the energy company would need to issue a refund. If you are moving at the end of winter it might be that you leave the house with an outstanding balance that you will need to settle. Energy companies are used to non-payers and so very quickly bring the debt collectors in, so our suggestion is to settle up either way in advance of moving out – that means you could either be in line for a refund or you might need to pay an amount to them.

Obviously it would be nice to move house and not pay them an outstanding balance, but this can destroy a persons credit rating and also the debt collectors can add a huge ‘admin fee’ to the amount owed – so definitely worth settling it if you can.

Taking the meter reading

When you are moving out of your home take a photo of the electric meter and the gas meter so you can easily make out the readings on both of the meter. Photos tend to be date stamped, so it will allow you to prove to the energy companies when you took the energy readings – it will also act as evidence in case you are in rental accommodation and you have some disagreements with the landlord. The landlord should then easily be able to inform new tenants of their opening readings

Once this process is finalised and you have informed the energy company of the final readings they will prepare a final invoice / statement to your new address OR the landlord will know what to charge you at the end of the tenancy.

What is the energy supplier to my new home?

When you move into your new home it is important to establish who supplies the electricity and the gas supply to the property – you will be on something called a ‘deemed contract’, where you inherit the supplier that has been supplying services to the property at that point. It is important to do this for the same reasons when you are leaving your current home – to make sure you are starting at the correct position. Therefore you should take the readings of both the electricity and the gas on the day that you move in and provide it to both of the suppliers. They will then be able set your bill accordingly – we also recommend taking a photo of the meters just for your own evidence in case it is questioned at a later date.

Checking who supplies the electricity to the property

To check the electricity supplier in your property you should contact the appropriate UK electricity network that is for your region as they will keep a record of who supplies electricity to every home in that area.

If you would like to contact your local distribution company you can do so by using the numbers below:

When you ring them they will normally ask you for an electricity point administration number (MPAN), which can be found on a sticker on the electricity meter.

Checking who supplies gas to the property

There are only 4 gas distributors – National Grid, Northern Gas Networks, SGN or Wales & West Utilities. To find out who supplies your gas to the property, you can do so by calling the Meter Point Administration Service on 0870 608 1524.

Move to a new, cheaper tariff!

As a final point – once you have established who your suppliers are, you will be on the ‘deemed contract’, which will automatically put you onto the standard tariff.

The standard tariff will be quite expensive and your current suppliers may tempt you to go onto their long-term fix deals. The best thing you can do is to go onto one of the switching websites like u-Switch and compare the best tariffs for your area. It may well be tricky to get a decent comparison initially as you won’t have the usage figures for that particular property, so you would have to estimate based on a property of a similar size.