Setting up your gas and electricity for the first time

There are a lot of new, fun things to do when it comes to moving home, and while setting up your utilities may not seem like the most exciting thing, it is an essential part of moving home.

If you are a first-time buyer, you may not have found yourself in this position before, so our guide aims to answer all your questions about setting up your gas and electricity when moving home.

How to set up gas and electricity for the first time?

The first thing you need to find out is who supplies your energy. If you are moving into an older home, the easiest thing to do is ask the previous owner who their supplier is. If you are moving into a new build home, the best person to ask is the developer, and you can include this when you do your snagging check. If the information isn’t available, your meter will have a unique serial number on which you can use to trace the supplier by calling the Meter Number Helpline. Once you know who your supplier is, you can then sort out your rates and payment plan.

How to deal with your energy supplier when moving house?

When you have your moving date, call your current energy supplier to give them your new address and date of your move. They will either organise a meter reading, or ask you to take a meter reading so that they can send you a final utility bill. You should make sure you do this anyway, to avoid being overcharged. If you are renting, it’s a good idea to let your landlord know the final meter reading, as well as who your energy supplier is. If you are selling your home, let the new owners know this information too.

When you arrive in your new home, if you know the supplier, call them up to give them the current meter readings and your move-in date so they know when to start your account from. Generally, you will be placed onto a standard tariff, and it will be up to you to negotiate your new tariff and contract.

Setting up gas and electricity in a new build

Setting up your gas and electric in a new build property should be fairly straightforward. However, as your home is new, your supplier will not know what the energy usage for the property is like, so it is important to take regular meter readings in your new property to avoid paying too much or too little. There is no ‘default’ energy supplier for new builds, but the developer should be able to tell you who the supplier is, and then you can decide if you want to remain with the current supplier or switch to another. If you choose to switch, there is no need to inform your current supplier, the new one will do this for you.

Setting up gas and electricity in a rented house

The first thing to find out is what type of meter you have – a credit meter or a prepayment meter. If you are renting the entire property, then you can arrange your utilities as you would elsewhere – find out your supplier, get a meter reading from the date you move in and make sure you change the name on the account if you are choosing to stick with the same supplier, so you do not end up paying the bill of the previous tenant.

What if your new property has a prepayment meter?

It is not uncommon for rented properties to have prepayment meters, as it means that tenants must pay in advance for their electricity, and so landlords will not be left with debt from tenants. This does tend to be a more expensive way of paying for your energy, so it is always worth asking if your landlord is willing to switch to a credit meter, but if not, there are still cheaper prepayment tariffs, so it is always worth shopping around.