Energy Guides

Moving house: Sort out your energy supply in four easy steps

Wednesday 22 December 2010

By dominic.welling@consumerchoices.co.uk

There are a lot of things to remember when you move house, but cancelling and setting up your gas and electricity accounts should be a high priority.

When you’re moving home there’s a lot to do and a million lists, but it’s vital that you sort out both sides of your energy supply - to make sure your current contract is terminated and your new supply set-up in time.

1. Moving out

When you move home, make sure you inform your current energy suppliers that you're leaving the house.

Take a note of your final meter readings and a note of the serial numbers of the meters. Keep these in a safe place and email or post the information to your current suppliers. It’s important to get this right, so you only pay for the energy you've used.

When you contact the supplier you should also request a final bill and settle up with the provider.

Also consider writing to the new occupants of your property enclosing your final meter readings – so they have them handy, can check them and there’s less likely to be mistakes made.

2. Moving in

Firstly, you should find out who your new energy supplier is for both gas and electricity.

For electricity you can do this by calling local distribution company. Here is a list of local distribution companies and their phone numbers:

• Eastern England - EDF Energy: 0870 196 3082
• East and West Midlands - Central Networks: 0845 603 0618
• London - EDF Energy: 0845 601 4516
• North Wales, Merseyside, Cheshire - Sp Power Systems and North Shropshire: 0845 270 9101
• North East England - NEDL (part of CE Electric UK): 08454 702 703
• Yorkshire - YEDL (part of CE Electric UK): 08454 702 703
• North West - United Utilities: 0870 751 0093
• North Scotland - SSE Power Distribution: 0845 026 2554
• South Scotland - SP Power Systems: 0845 270 9101
• South East England (Kent & EDF Energy parts of Sussex and Surrey): 0845 601 4516
• Southern England - SSE Power Distribution: 0870 905 0806
• South Wales - Western Power Distribution: 0845 601 5972
• South West England - Western Power Distribution: 0845 601 5972

Gas

To find out who supplies your gas, you will need to contact your local gas transporter.

If you give the transporter your address and/or meter serial number it should be able to confirm who the registered gas supplier is and provide you with its contact number.

The meter serial number is usually located on a sticker attached to the meter.

For the vast majority of consumers, gas is transported by National Grid, Northern Gas Networks, Scotland Gas Networks, Southern Gas Networks or Wales & West Utilities. To contact any of these companies call 0870 608 1524.

If they cannot find any details it may be that the supply is via an Independent Gas Transporter (IGT). To obtain information about Independent Gas Transporters you need to call Envoy on 0845 055 6199.

3. Contact your suppliers

Once you're in your new property, notify the existing energy provider and inform them of the current meter readings - this will prevent you having to pay for energy you have not used. Also, request that future bills to the property are sent in your name.

It is likely that you'll be put on the energy provider's standard tariff, but be warned, these plans are usually more expensive, as energy companies tend to reserve their best deals for new customers.

If the electricity and/or gas have been cut off, you may have to pay a connection charge to have the supplies reconnected. Your supplier should be able to tell you how much this will be.

4. Compare and switch energy suppliers

Make sure you do an energy comparison as soon as possible after you have moved in and find out how much you could save by switching.

The longer you take to do this, the longer you could be stuck paying over the odds on a standard tariff.

Also remember that it could take between four and six weeks for your new plan to come into effect, so try to get on to it as quickly as you can.