You’re finally moving house and it’s time to let everyone know about it! But who exactly do you need to tell about a change of your address?
Moving your residence is never going to be easy, but being well prepared with a checklist can be the key to keep your stress to a minimum.
There are so many things to think about when moving house, who to inform, what moving company to hire and where all of your stuff will go! Ideally, everyone who sends you mail should know about your new address, but there are a lot of companies, personal contacts and services in particular that you should notify when you move house.
Even if you use the Post Office’s mail-redirection service, it’s a good idea to inform important companies, such as banks and utility companies, directly.
Licence and the vehicle registration
Update your address with the DVLA for both your licence and the vehicle registration, but not before you move. Under current UK law, if you hold either a provisional or a full UK driving licence and you are stopped by the police, then you could be fined if you have the wrong address on your driving licence!
Changing this address can be done online on the gov.uk website, or via post. It doesn’t cost anything to change your address and while it does take around 2 weeks for your new licence to arrive, you can still drive while you are waiting for it.
Government offices
You’ll need to ask your local authority for a final statement of your council tax and also you will need to update your details on the electoral roll.
Contact Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Electoral Roll.
Redirect your mail
It’s always a good idea to redirect your mail when you move into a new address. Make sure your information is protected and identity theft is prevented by getting your mail redirected by Royal Mail. It’s important you make sure you continue to receive your mail when you move home.
Why? Important documents with your personal details on them could fall into the wrong hands, causing you to become a victim of fraud.
Regular services bills
Any company that provides you with a service for which you pay a regular bill for such as a mobile phone, telecoms, subscriptions, etc, will also need to know about your change of address.
For landlines, you’ll need to inform the phone company that you are changing address as you’ll receive a new phone number for the home that you move to. You may also want to cancel your broadband subscription as you may be able to get a better deal when you move to your new home.
Your TV licence won’t be valid when you move to a new property so you will have to change this information on the TV Licensing website.