The Costs of Forgetting to Update Your Address When Moving House

Forgot to Update Your Address? The House Moving Mistake that Could Cost You Big Time

The Consequences of Not Changing Your Address

A whopping 1 in 5 people have problems with mail when moving home.

There’s no doubt that moving house can be stressful. For most, it means a significant investment of time, effort and cost. In fact, according to data obtained by Which, in 2021 households were spending nearly £12,000 when moving home.

We understand that it can be tricky to remember everything that needs doing during the moving-house process – from assigning a conveyancer and getting a mortgage to arranging property searches and hiring a removals firm.

So, updating your address with all the essential institutions and services can soon drop to the very bottom of your to-do list. But, don’t let it! Forgetting to update your address can prove extremely costly.

In this article, we’ll highlight the importance of changing your address when moving home, and the potential costs of forgetting to do so.

So, here’s everything you need to know when it comes to the consequences of not updating your address when moving house.

Why is it Important to Change Your Address When Moving House?

If you’re moving house soon, you might be wondering “why do I have to go to all the effort of changing my address when I have so many other things to do?”.

Well, the answer is fairly simple. You need to remember to update your address with all your accounts and services to avoid a number of serious consequences.

Failing to update your address when moving home puts you at a whole host of risks. So much so that out-of-date addresses have cost us as much as £523 million in penalties, missed compensation and lost gifts, according to Direct Line estimates.

So, let’s find out what costs you could face for forgetting to update your address.

Lost Mail

The first potential cost of forgetting to update your address when moving home is losing mail and missing out on important correspondence from institutions like the Council, the DVLA, the NHS, or your pension provider.

Data from Citizens Advice revealed that roughly 1 in 10 people did not receive or experienced delays in receiving important mail when moving home. That was even higher amongst certain groups, including people with disabilities and those on benefits.

This can often lead to further, even more destructive problems, such as having to ask for important post to be redelivered or being late paying a bill.

Hefty Fines

Another reason you need to remember to update your address when moving house is to keep in line with the law. If you don’t, it could end up costing you a whole lot of money.

Each year, thousands of home-movers risk a £1,000 fine simply by not updating their address with certain essential institutions.

In fact, many more people were in line for a hefty fine in 2021 as they rushed to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, and many renters moved back in with family.

For example, forgetting to update your driving licence when you move house could cost you £1,000 fine on the spot.

However, the DVLA isn’t the only service you need to inform of your change of address – you’ll also need to update your vehicle log book (V5C) details.

Trust us, it’s always better to air on the side of caution when it comes to updating your address – especially in this unpredictable climate. No one wants to be £1,000 down when house prices, energy bills, and everyday costs are on the way up.

Fraud

Even more serious is the risk of identity theft and fraud. New evidence from Cifas, the fraud prevention service, indicates that the risk of identity fraud is increasing, and this appears to be higher among younger and disabled people.

In particular, previous occupier fraud is a concern if you don’t update your address when moving home. Previous occupier fraud is when a former resident’s identity is used to apply for credit or loans, and now accounts for almost 1 in 10 identity fraud cases in the UK.

Despite many people now managing their lives online, many still receive vital and sensitive information by post, such as bank statements, utility or phone bills and medical appointment reminders.

A few pieces of mail sent to an old address may be all a fraudster needs to steal your identity. With the information from your mail, they could access your money and even take out credit in your name.

To protect yourself against identity theft, it’s essential that you remember to update your address when moving home. To ensure you don’t forget any essential institutions, it’s a good idea to make a checklist of everyone you need to notify when moving. Don’t forget companies who may only contact you every now and then, such as your pension provider and TV licencing.

Also, after you move, keep an eye on all your bank statements for several months to ensure your cards aren’t being used fraudulently.

Why Don’t People Update Their Address When Moving?

So, with all the costs of forgetting to update your address when moving, why don’t people just do it?

Well, the answer is simple: most people don’t find it easy to have their mail forwarded.

Citizens Advice found that fewer than half of respondents said they found it easy to have their mail forwarded to their new address. That’s even worse than notoriously difficult moving-home tasks, such as setting up broadband.

One high-ranking reason for not using Royal Mail’s redirection service was cost, with 1 in 5 people stating that they had not used it because of price, and two thirds stating that a lower price would increase their likelihood of using it.

In fact, data also revealed that some people may face barriers to getting their mail forwarded to their new home. For instance, younger people, renters and people on lower incomes were less likely to think that redirecting their mail was a simple task.

When Citizens Advice looked at the reasons for not using the service, these groups were also less likely to have notified all relevant contacts of their change of address.

Moving house is expensive, and the upfront payment for mail redirection only adds to the cost. So, it’s unsurprising that many home movers, especially those on lower incomes, might risk not redirecting their mail.

This suggests that mail redirection needs to be accessible to all.

That’s where SlothMove comes in…

How Can SlothMove Help You Change Your Address?

SlothMove is an online moving home platform that enables you to update your address across all institutions, set up your new home and even receive rewards for doing so.

SlothMove is the more affordable alternative to redirecting your mail. With three pricing options to choose from, depending on the services you’d like to update, our costs range from just £20 to £45.

All we need to help you change your address with every single account and provider is a few additional details, such as where you’re moving from, where you’re moving to and when your move date is.

Next, all you have to do is select all the companies and services you’d like to inform of your change of address. Then, sit back and relax knowing your address change is in safe hands.

So, don’t risk losing important mail, being charged a hefty fine or having your identity stolen – simply update your address with SlothMove in under 5 minutes.

To get started with your simple online change of address, simply click below 👇

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Chloe Robinson

“I was dreading the hassle of having to update my address with all my accounts, but Slothmove makes this so so simple. I was amazed at how quickly I got everything sorted. Definitely worth the small investment, would 100% recommend. Thank you Slothmove!!”