When you move house, tell the government bodies, money providers, utilities, health services and everyday accounts linked to your old address. Start about four weeks before, and set up Royal Mail redirection. This guide gives a UK checklist grouped by who to contact and when.
The van is booked and the boxes are half packed. Then a letter from your bank lands at the old address three weeks after you have left, and you realise nobody told the bank. It is rarely the removals that go wrong. It is the admin.
We move households across Southampton and Hampshire, from flats in Shirley and Bitterne to family houses in Hedge End and Eastleigh, so the same list comes up again and again. This guide answers who to notify when moving house, grouped by who you need to tell and when. It keeps to notifications only. Packing, parking and moving day tasks are covered in our separate moving day checklist.
Who to notify when moving house: the five groups
Everyone who sends you post, bills you, insures you or needs to find you. That sounds like a long list, and it is, so it helps to sort it into five groups: legal contacts, money, your home, health and school, and everyday accounts. Work through them in that order of importance, although a few can only be done once you have moved, and the timeline further down shows where.
Our rule of thumb is to start about four weeks before your move date. That is our own guideline, not an official rule. It gives the slower contacts time to process and spreads the work across a month, so you are not on hold to a utility company the night before. If your move date is confirmed later than that, start as soon as it is.
Government and legal notifications
These are the ones with rules attached, so they come first in importance.
DVLA. GOV.UK says telling the DVLA about a change of address is a legal requirement for drivers, and that you can be fined if you do not. It does not cost anything to change the address on your driving licence, and GOV.UK says a new licence should arrive within a week if you apply online. Your vehicle log book (V5C) is a separate update, so do both.
Council tax. You tell the council you are leaving and the council you are arriving at. Southampton City Council's website has separate pages for moving into Southampton, within it and out of it. Moving out, it asks for your council tax account number and your tenancy end or sale completion date, and it says a change can take up to 21 days to process. Moving in, it says you need to register even if you do not pay council tax. Give exact dates, and keep your completion or tenancy paperwork to hand.
Electoral register. GOV.UK says you need to register to vote again when you change address. Online it takes about five minutes, and you will be asked for your National Insurance number, although you can still register without one.
HMRC. GOV.UK says you need to tell HM Revenue and Customs if you change your address, and you can do it online or through the HMRC app. If you file a Self Assessment tax return, your details are updated once you report the change. If you run a business, your business records need changing too.
Banks, insurers and money providers
Money contacts come second because a missed one can mean statements, cards or letters about your account landing with the next occupant. Work through your current account, credit cards, savings, loans, mortgage provider and pension providers. Many banks let you change your address in their app or online, but some ask for proof of your new address, so allow a little time.
Insurance needs more thought than the rest. Your home and contents cover for the new address should start on the day you get the keys, and your old policy should end when you hand yours back or complete on the sale. Check whether your contents cover applies while your belongings are in a van, because your home insurer and your removal company's cover are separate things. Every move we carry out is fully insured, and you can ask us exactly what that covers before you book.
Tell your car insurer too. Your address is part of how they work out your policy, and a wrong one can cause problems at renewal or when you claim.
Utilities, broadband and household services
This is where you protect yourself from paying for someone else's gas. Contact your gas, electricity and water suppliers, and your broadband, phone and TV providers. Give each of them your move date, and ask what they need from you on the day.
On moving day, take a meter reading at the old house and another at the new one, and photograph each with the date visible. It takes a minute, and if a bill is ever wrong, the photo is your proof.
Broadband is the one people leave too late. If the new address needs an engineer visit or a new line, the appointment can be a while away, so book it as early as you can, ideally before you move. If you have a TV licence, tell TV Licensing your new address too.
Health, schools and everyday accounts
Register with a GP surgery and a dentist near your new address in your first week, rather than waiting until you need an appointment. If you have children at school, tell the school as early as you can and check the admissions process with the council for your new area. If you have a dog or cat, update the microchip database with your new address.
Then comes the long tail of everyday accounts: your employer or payroll, your mobile provider, subscriptions, online shopping accounts, delivery apps, loyalty cards, your optician and any clubs or memberships. Each takes a minute or two, so batch them in one evening. A useful trick is to search your email for the words 'your account' or 'your order' from the last few months.
Royal Mail redirection and what to do on moving day
Royal Mail redirection is your safety net. Royal Mail's website says you can redirect your post to any UK or overseas address for three, six or twelve months. It says setting it up can take up to five working days, so apply well before your move date, not the week you leave. You can apply online, by post or at a Post Office branch, and Royal Mail's site has the current price.
Treat redirection as a backstop, not a replacement. It catches what slips through while you update everyone, but it does not stop companies sending letters to your old address, so the checklist above still matters.
On moving day itself, keep the admin to four small jobs:
- Photograph the meters at the old address, with the date visible.
- Keep your completion or tenancy paperwork and your keys with you, not in the van.
- Leave your forwarding address with the new occupant, your landlord or your letting agent.
- Tick off your notification list and note who is still outstanding.
Everything else, the loading, the driving and the unloading, is our job. We work seven days a week across Southampton and Hampshire, and we give free quotes.
A simple four-week timeline
- Four weeks before: write your list from the five groups, book broadband at the new address, and tell your employer and your landlord or letting agent.
- Three weeks before: tell your bank, insurers and pension providers, and apply for Royal Mail redirection.
- Two weeks before: tell your gas, electricity, water and phone providers, tell your old council you are leaving, and tell your school.
- Moving day: photograph the meters, keep your keys and paperwork with you, and leave your forwarding address.
- First week: tell your new council you have arrived, register to vote, update the DVLA and your log book, tell HMRC, and register with a GP and dentist.
Summary
- Start about four weeks before your move.
- Sort your list into legal, money, home, health and everyday contacts.
- Photograph the meter readings on moving day.
- Set up Royal Mail redirection early, as a backstop.
FAQs
Start with the DVLA, your council, the electoral register, HMRC, your bank and your insurers. Then move on to your utilities, broadband, GP, school and employer, and finish with the everyday accounts. Set up Royal Mail redirection as well, so anything you miss still reaches you.
About four weeks before is a good rule of thumb, and that is ours rather than an official rule. Some contacts only work once you have moved, such as registering to vote at the new address, so save those for your first week. Broadband and Royal Mail redirection are the two to start earliest.
Yes. GOV.UK says it is a legal requirement and that you can be fined if you do not tell the DVLA when your address changes. Changing your driving licence address costs nothing, and your vehicle log book (V5C) is a separate update.
Royal Mail's website says you can choose three, six or twelve months. Setting it up can take up to five working days, so apply well ahead of your move. Check Royal Mail's site for the current price and how to renew.
Yes. Tell the council you are leaving and the council you are moving to. Southampton City Council says a change can take up to 21 days to process, and that not telling it about changes affecting your council tax could mean a penalty charge. Give exact dates.
One Last Thought
Moving in Southampton or Hampshire? Call K2 Swift Removals on 023 8111 3116 or 07356 097791 and we will give you a straight, free quote.
