Home movers’ guide to gas and electricity

Amid the excitement and chaos of moving home, it can be easy to overlook some of the smaller details such as sorting out your energy bills. It might seem quiet insignificant when there are mortgage documents to sign and deeds to hand over, but every penny is precious when you’ve a new house to pay for, so you don’t want to wasting money by overpaying for gas and electricity.

Here are the things you need to take into consideration regarding your energy supplier when moving home.

What to do before you move house

Before you move, make sure you take readings from your gas and electricity meters on the day you leave your soon-to-be-old house and let your suppliers know you’re moving – when you move house, your electricity supplier needs to know your usage up to that date, so you’re only charged for the energy you’ve used.

Ideally, the new residents will do the same when they move in, but that doesn't always happen, so if you've done it yourself, you’ll have peace of mind that you’ve done your part.

It might even be possible for you to take your energy tariff and account with you to your new property, and you may want to do this if you signed up to a good deal and you want to keep your fixed rate. If this is something that would suit you, you should speak to your existing energy supplier before you move.

What to do when you move into your new property

Once you’ve moved into your new place, take meter readings as soon as possible, and get in touch with the energy supplier at your new home to let them know that you are a new resident. Again, this will ensure you aren’t paying for any of the previous occupier's energy usage.

If you’re not sure who supplies the energy to your new home, swing over to our Who is my gas and electricity supplier? page for help in finding out.

If you haven’t moved your plan across from your previous property, it’s highly likely you’ll be on the suppliers’ standard variable tariff, which is usually the most expensive plan they offer. If this is the case, you need to compare energy tariffs to find a better deal.

How to switch to a better energy deal in your new home

The last thing you want is to pay more than you need to for gas and electricity. Changing gas and electricity supplier when moving house may feel like a huge effort but it doesn’t need to be.

Follow the steps below to make sure you are on the best and most efficient tariff for your new home.

• Identify the current supplier(s) of your new property. Note: If you don’t know who supplier is, check out our 'who supplies my gas and electricity?' page.
• Take a meter reading on the day you move in – this is important to ensure that there is no overlap with the previous tenants on your first bill.
• Run a comparison to identify the best tariff for you.
• Switch onto the best deal and start saving!

What if your new home has a prepayment meter?

In some properties you may find that a prepayment meter is installed. This is especially likely if the house has previously been a rented property. If this is the case, it's worth getting the prepayment meter removed, as ‘pay-as-you-go’ energy is the most expensive way to pay for gas and electricity.

If you have bought (as opposed to rented) the house you are moving into then it should be simple enough moving gas and electricity meter – just call up your energy supplier and request it to be taken away.

If you are renting the property then it may be a little more tricky. Many landlords like to use prepayment meters to stop tenants building up any debt on the property energy bills, so you’ll need to discuss the possibility of getting the meter changed with your landlord. Explain your situation and they may be more receptive to change.

For more information, check out Everything you need to know about prepayment meters.

Energy advice for first time buyers

For more useful first time buyer tips, go to our first time buyer gas and electricty guide.