Change Local Accounts

Somewhere near the top of one’s To-Do List for a household move should be “Transfer utilities.” Electricity, water, gas, phone, cable, Internet, trash pickup – whatever services you and your family had set up for your current home will have to be set up for your new home. And the services at your current home will have to be terminated.

Yes, it’s a nuisance; one of those little details that can’t be avoided no matter how attractive avoidance might look, especially given everything else your move requires of you. But you know you’ve got to do it. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be a hassle.

For one thing, you almost always have the option of hiring out your utility transfers to qualified utility move providers if you really, really can’t face handling them yourself. Why pay for that, though? Follow the guidelines we offer here, and transferring utilities yourself can be a relatively simple, painless procedure.

The first rule of transferring utilities is to pay attention to timing.

• Have a plan for transferring utilities worked out well in advance of your move. The essential dates? The day you depart from your current home and the day you arrive at your new home.
• Always give adequate notice when cancelling a service. Contact the utility company as early as possible to find out exactly how much advance notice that provider requires. Failing to meet the requirement may have you paying more on your final bill or incurring punitive fees. Besides that, you’ll want to keep the lights lit, the heat going, and the taps, toilets, and phones working in your current home until you’ve locked the front door for the last time and waved your movers goodbye.
• You should also give adequate notice when setting up services at your new home. If they’re not fully operational when you move in, you may find yourself unpacking boxes by flashlight, without heat or air-conditioning or without flushable toilets for bathroom breaks!
• When you first contact a new service provider – or a current provider for a new service – ask if a security deposit is required to turn the service on. That way, you can budget for it well beforehand. (You might also want to ask if there’s a refund timeline for deposits.)

Know what your providers need from you when transferring utilities and services.

• Some utilities, such as Internet or cable, can be activated only when an adult – either you or someone else at least 18 years old – is present in the home at the time of activation.
• Other utilities, like water service, can be set up without you being present.
• Ask each provider about its setup process and what that provider expects of you. And, again, ask well in advance of Move Day and well in advance of each provider’s required notification date.

Here’s what else you should know to cancel or set up utilities and services smoothly.

• When moving your household, you have one of two ways to deal with utilities, depending on the circumstances and distance of your move: you’ll either transfer your existing utilities to your new home, or you’ll set up new accounts. Of course, you may wish to add services you didn’t have before. And you may decide to drop one or two of those you did have.
• If you’re moving across town, you should be able to keep all the utility service providers you have now. This is a cinch to arrange. Just request the last day of service for your current home and the first day of service for your new home. Your providers will take care of it.
• Accounts won’t be transferrable, obviously, if you’re moving to an area not serviced by your current providers. In this case, you’ll have to cancel your current home’s accounts after requesting a last day of service and set up new accounts with new providers in your new location.
• Make sure you’ve paid any overdue bills prior to the last day of service.
• Once you’ve given notice, ask your providers if you can collect any refunds offered on your accounts or if you can transfer any required utility deposits to your new accounts.
• Gas, electric, phone, and cable companies each have their own lead time requirements for connecting and disconnecting services. That said, you’ll generally want to contact each provider’s customer service department at least two weeks prior to your physical move. This gives you time to arrange for those same services to be set up and operational at your new home a day or so before you occupy it.
• You can arrange most water and sewer services directly through the local community’s utility department. Many communities also roll garbage pickup and recycling services into the water and sewage utility bill.
• In order to close out your old accounts, know exactly what your final bills will be, and pay them in full, see that your current utility companies do a final reading of your gas, electric, and water meters. Then make sure you get copies of your final bills as well a receipts of payment and hang on to them.
• If you’re moving into a rental home or apartment, keep in mind that some landlords require proof that new utilities have been set up before they let you move in. Ask your landlord which utilities, if any, must be turned on and what documentation is considered sufficient proof.
• Supply your current service providers with a correct forwarding address where they can send their final invoices. Otherwise, you might find yourself the recipient of unnecessary late fees, punitive charges … and a lower credit rating.
• When you’re actually traveling to your new home, make sure you have the contact information of your former neighborhood’s service providers readily at hand. Take your old phone directories with you. Bookmark these providers’ web pages on your computer browser. Or, better yet, log their contact information on your smartphone. This will enable you to get ahold of them quickly should you wish to dispute any final billing matters.

What if you have a choice of service providers in your new neighborhood?

Do some research online. It's easier now than ever before to find out about local providers’ rates, services, and customer satisfaction levels. Visit utility company web sites to determine what they offer and how they stack up against their competitors. Read customer reviews or opinions on blogs or sites like Yelp.com.

To keep track of what you’ve researched, create a simple Pros and Cons list for each kind of utility; one for cable companies, Internet providers, phone companies, and so forth.

When it comes time to make a choice, many companies make it possible for you to sign up with them online. Of course, you can do so by phone or in person as well.

If at all possible, try to talk with your new neighbors before you move to learn about the companies providing their utilities. Ask about their satisfaction with their providers, their rates, the quality of the service they’re getting, what problems they may have had, how quickly those problems were resolved, and any deals or discounts that might be available to you.

Taking care of utility services shouldn’t be another household moving headache, whether you’re cancelling or transferring old services or setting up new ones. And it won’t be if you plan ahead.