Change of Address: The Ultimate Guide

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Moving house is stressful enough, lining up the move-in date at the new house to coincide with your move-out date. Packing boxes. Removals. And we haven’t even started with the added complexity of kids or animals (some might say they are one and the same). Thankfully, you’ve sorted your storage out with Stashbee - seamless and convenient - dream!

The last thing you are thinking about is changing all of your addresses from your old house to the new one! Stashbee is back at it again with a handy guide for all the people you should contact. We’ve even created a handy file for you to download and use as a checklist.

From moving to university aged 18, I moved 9 times in the subsequent 10 years, including one move over 200 miles, from rental property to rental property. So I feel pretty well qualified in giving out some helpful advice and tips.

 

Handy checklist

Good news! We've created a handy downloadable template checklist for you! It includes rows for all of the below items and space to add more!

Change of address checklist Stashbee.pdf

 

The “man” (the government)

Unfortunately, unlike in Norway (and some other awesome countries, I’m sure), our governmental departments don’t like speaking to each other too much. This means you will need to notify them individually of a change of address. In Norway, you update your address, and they’ll update for all of the public sector departments - #efficiency.

There are 4 main government bodies you need to notify – DVLA, HMRC, the Council and Healthcare – and we will break them down for you below. 

The DVLA

Driving Licence

• How: Online or by post
• Speed: Instant, just delivery time
• Requirements: Your current Driving licence; addresses for past 3 years
• Price: Free (unless you have lost it)
• Link: here

This is a big one, hence why it’s first on the list. One of the 2 main types of ID - the other being a passport - and this is the only one with your address on it. You're going to need this piece of ID in order to prove to companies and organisations that you've actually moved - so prioritise this one first!

BEWARE: The government don't mess about - you can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not infor the DVLA of a change of address!

You can change the address on your licence free of charge online or via post. You can find details on both of these methods here; you will need your current licence and previous addresses for the past 3 years.

If you lose your licence and need a replacement with the same address, you will be charged £20 for the privilege.

Also, if you had your driving licence photo taken when you were 16 while in your punk stage with piercings and a massive pink mohawk - and wish to stop having to get it out at parties for everyone to have a chuckle at - you can renew your licence and change the photo at the same time. If your licence is valid for less than 2 more years, you can change the photo when you update your address for free, otherwise, you will pay £14 to do so here.

BEWARE: There are websites out there that charge you to change your licence address - all they do is pass on the information you give to the DVLA. Via the DVLA, this service is FREE, so always do it through the .gov website.

Vehicle Log Book (V5C)

• How: Online or by post
• Speed: Instant, just delivery time
• Requirements: Your current V5C, proof of new address – utility bill or driving licence
• Price: Free
• Link: here

 

 

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Your Vehicle Logbook or V5C document is the document that informs people, and the DVLA, that the car is registered to you - you own it. And it includes details about you and the car, including your address.

You can change your address online here - again on the .gov website. Alternatively, you can fill in section 3 of the logbook itself and post it to the DVLA in Swansea! If you are changing your name at the same time, you cannot use the online service. Instead, you must fill in the form.

BEWARE: This is another important one with up to £1,000 fine for not telling the DVLA!



If you’ve lost your logbook AND need to change your address, that’s a whole other process - and not an easy one, believe me! Either updating your address, or acquiring a new one is a simple enough process, but having to do both in one go - nightmare. Do your best not to lose it. I have before, and it did not go well…

  You can find details about replacing a lost logbook here.

HMRC

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Government gateway ID
• Price: Free
• Link: here

You’ll need to let HMRC know about your new address, which you can do directly here. This is important to ensure you are receiving correspondence from HMRC relating to Income Tax, State Pension, National Insurance and Tax Credits (if you get them). You’ll need your government gateway ID and password for this one.

The Council

Register to vote!

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Over 16, British citizen, National Insurance number
• Price: Free
• Link: here

Despite relating to your local council, the central government deal with the electoral roll and so you’ll need to let them know you’ve moved. Head here to the .gov website again to register your new address. Once you have, you should receive a letter confirming your address on the electoral roll has changed from your local council. Not doing so can negatively affect your credit score!

As usual, the government coming in hot with the £1,000 fine for not keeping things up to date!

Council Tax

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Depends on who your local government are
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your local council

You will also need to register for your council tax for your new council. Always best to reach out to them and set up your direct debit first. They sure will be in touch with you if you don’t contact them - and they are not the friendliest when you owe them money.

Healthcare

Your GP + Dentist

• How: Depends, usually online
• Speed: Depends
• Requirements: Depends on the provider
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

Don’t forget to let your GP and dentist know - or even register with a new one if you are moving far enough away. More on insurance later, but don't forget to update your health / medical insurance records.
 

 

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Other (boring) companies

Banks

• How: Mobile app, usually
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Nothing
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your provider’s app

Next up we have the banks. Again, a pretty important one - your billing address for online purchases and correspondence address are crucial. Thankfully, banks have just about joined the 21st century, and you can now do this on most banking mobile applications / online portals. Just head to the ‘Profile’ or ‘Settings’ section of your app or online banking portal to change this.

For the banks that are in the same group (Halifax and Lloyds for example), if you change on one account, the change should pull through to the other account. Always good to double-check though.

Utilities

Gas + electric

• How: Online
• Speed: Depends on whether you are newly registering or moving
• Requirements: Who is the current provider
• Price: Free (usually)
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

When moving into a new house, you will obviously need to get set up with your new electricity / gas provider. A bitter pill to swallow with the prices soaring at the moment and the constantly increasing energy cap! However, a pill that must be taken.

DON’T FORGET: Submit meter readings for your old property the day you move out, and inform the providers you are moving and these are your final readings.

TOP TIP: Take meter readings the day you move into your new property – you don't want to be charges for gas / electricity you didn’t use.

Broadband

• How: Online or in-store
• Speed: Sometimes a couple of days, could be weeks if a new connection needs to be made
• Requirements: None
• Price: Depends – you may have to buy out your old contract or pay a ‘moving fee’ ~£20
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

This is one you probably want to get ahead of - not every home has the right connections for all providers. In fact, most won’t. Why they can’t all just share like good children, I don’t know. So, it’s worth checking ahead of time whether your switch will be simple or not.

Most broadband providers do their utmost to get you to stick with them - whether it’s massive buy-out fees for cancelling your contract or low ‘Moving home’ fees. This, coupled with your new address possibly not being wired in, makes this one a priority. Especially if you work from home or are a hardcore gamer needing high-speed internet.

Insurance

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant or longer
• Requirements: Any other changes to your policy
• Price: Depends on the insurance – sometimes there will be a small admin fee, for home insurance you will need a new quote
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

We are all insured up to our necks these days! From car insurance and life insurance to pet insurance and phone insurance - all of these are going to need updating. Hopefully, you have, like me, a massive stack of papers or an overflowing Filofax full of insurance policies and schedules - so get stuck into that!

Most companies now will allow you to change your address online, so head to your provider’s website to update. Remember, they are all looking for a reason not to pay out, and having the wrong address is a biggie for them.

Your employer

• How: Email, usually
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Nothing
• Price: Free
• Link: n/a

Don’t forget to tell your employer! Gone are the days of a brown envelope containing cash or a cheque, but payroll systems and HMRC need to have your correct address. Sometimes you can do this yourself, but get in touch with HR to let them know. If you are self-employed or a sole trader, then make sure you head to HMRC’s website here to update.
 

 

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The fun bits

Subscriptions

• How: Online, usually
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Nothing
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

Don’t forget to update all of your planet-friendly subscriptions, like these:

• Smol - Sustainable cleaning products
• Fiils - Sustainable, plastic-free beauty products
• Milk & more - Your 21st-century milk-person
• Who gives a crap - Sustainable toilet paper, delivered to you

NOTE – We don’t work with any of these companies, they are just companies whose services we use and love!

Tickets

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Nothing
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your provider’s site

Again - speaking from experience; if you have booked tickets to a gig or an event sometime in the future, don’t forget to update your delivery address on the ticket seller’s website. I have had to drive frantically cross-country the day of a gig, to collect tickets from an old address! Thankfully, most sellers provide e-tickets these days, so not so much of an issue.

The last thing you want to do is actually manage to get Glastonbury tickets for once, only for them to get delivered to your old address.

University / College

• How: Online, usually
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: Nothing
• Price: Free
• Link: Head to your university site

STUDENTS, first off is to let the university / college know your address. They understand a lot of students move each year, so they’ll prompt you to keep your address up to date.

Also, some of the companies / institutions above will allow you to keep your ‘home’ address on your account - because they know how difficult it is to keep up with all of the sites you are signed up to.

So keep an eye out if they ask for a ‘permanent address’ and ‘term-time address’. Obviously, these are usually websites / services aimed at students…
 

 

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Don’t get caught out!

You can also redirect your post

• How: Online
• Speed: Instant
• Requirements: New address
• Price: £33.99+ 
• Link: here

If you know you have something important being posted, don’t get caught out! You can pay for the Royal Mail to redirect your post. If they are not on strike that is… In hindsight, this could have saved me the whole clamping debacle (check above if you skipped over storytime).

You can set this up with the Royal Mail here - there is, of course, a fee involved. You can choose to have a redirect on for 3, 6 or 12 months and your mail be redirected within the UK or abroad.

The cost to have a 3-month redirect in the UK is £33.99 for the ‘Lead Applicant’ - the main person - and is just an additional £8.00 for additional people at the same address.

DON'T FORGET: if you have some spare space at your new address, you can list it on Stashbee and start earning.!
 

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