Switch Energy Suppliers When Moving Home
Everything you need to know to switch energy suppliers when moving house
If you want to know how to switch energy suppliers when moving home (or have any questions around switching energy) this article will answer everything you need 😎
Switching energy suppliers when moving house
When moving home you should get everything organised sooner rather than later. When you move into a new home you automatically enter a contract with the home’s energy supplier – whether you like to or not. So, switching in advance means you can move in and pay less.
If you would like to get straight down to comparing energy deals and shaving hundreds off your bills you can click below to get started
Can you switch energy suppliers before moving home?
Usually, no. And that’s because in order to switch your energy you need to know certain information about your new property such as the meter type (prepayment, economy 7 etc…), whether it has gas & electricity, the meter number etc…
However, the good news is that you can actually setup and switch your energy before moving home 🎉
With SlothMove’s home setup service you can actually setup & update your council tax, water, gas, electricity, TV licence and more in one form for free.
Here’s how it works:
- 1) Enter your info (new address, previous address etc…)
- 2) Select who you’d like to inform you’re moving (council, water, loyalty cards, DVLA, HMRC, TV Licence etc…)
- 3) Select which energy provider you’d like in your new home
- 4) Select how you’d like to setup broadband
- 5) Click complete and SlothMove will get everything setup automatically 😎
If you just need to setup your energy you can do so here. We’ll help you find and stay on an amazing deal.
Do I need to setup my energy before moving in?
Energy is one of the utilities (along with water) that you don’t need to setup before your move.
When you move into a new home you will be on a deemed contract with whoever the incumbent supplier is.
This means, whether you signed an agreement or not you will be paying that supplier for every unit of energy you use at the rate they have assigned you. This must not exceed the price cap applied to it.
Whilst this will be expensive you are well within your rights to move in and just start using the energy.
Should I switch my energy before moving?
Absolutely, you should definitely switch your energy before moving.
As we’ve seen, when you move into a new place you will typically be placed onto a deemed contract or a ‘standard variable’ contract – both of which are notoriously expensive.
By switching your energy earlier, not only do you know who supplies your energy but you can relax knowing you’re on a great tarriff and deal from day 1 of your move.
Switching energy suppliers when in credit
Can you switch energy suppliers when in credit? What happens when you switch a supplier in credit? This is especially prevalent when moving home.
The great news (unsurprisingly) is that you can switch energy suppliers when in credit. If you are in credit your previous energy supplier will transfer the credit directly into your bank account when you complete your switch.
If you have a pre-payment meter you can contact your energy supply and they may be able to transfer the meter credit to your bank account.
If you have a debt on the account (an unpaid balance) you should clear this before switching energy providers. Your previous energy provider may stop the switch if you are in arrears.
Switching energy suppliers when in debit
According to Ofgem (the UK energy regulator) you can switch energy suppliers when in debt if you have been in debt for less than 28 days.
If you have owed that debt to the supplier for a period greater than 28 days you will need to clear the debt before switching energy providers.
If you’re in debt on your meter your supplier can block your energy switch, but only if it’s after those 28 days. Stepchange have excellent resources on combatting debt and Citizen’s advice have a helpful list of grants available to fight energy debt.
You can access cold weather payments, warm home discount schemes, winter fuel payments and even grants such as the British Gas Energy Trust.
So, what happens to your balance when you switch suppliers? If you’re in credit it will be paid to your by bank transfer. If you’re in debt you will need to clear the balance unless youve been in debt less than 28 days.
If you’re concerned about paying your gas and electricity bills, find out how to beat the energy price rise.
When should I switch energy suppliers?
If you are moving home it’s best to switch energy suppliers 2 weeks before you move home. And more generally you should switch suppliers under three circumstances:
- 1) You are moving home, in which case you should switch 2-3 weeks before moving
- 2) You are dissatisfied with your energy supplier’s service
- 3) You can reduce the cost of your energy bill
You can reduce the cost of your energy bills using our automatic energy switching service. You can see how much you can save with just your postcode – easy 
If you’re moving home you can setup and switch your energy using our home setup service.
When can I switch energy suppliers?
You can switch energy suppliers whenever you like, although there is an exception. If you are in debt on your account for greater than 28 days with your current supplier you may not be able to switch.
If you’re moving home you can setup your energy within 14 days of moving. You can’t do this on a comparison site usually because you don’t know any of the information about your meter yet (eg, is it prepayment? what is the Meter Point Serial Number? etc…).
That’s why we’ve created technology to help you get energy setup before you move, as well as everything else like your Council Tax, Water, address changes and others.
However, if your move-in date changes you must let us know so we can process the switch correctly.
Can you switch energy suppliers when moving house?
So, can you switch energy suppliers when moving house? Changing gas and electricity providers when moving house isn’t a sexy topic but it could save you hundreds.
As we have seen, you can now setup your energy supplier up to 14 days before moving in with SlothMove’s home setup service. You can walk into your new home on a great deal and no hassle 
If you don’t setup energy before you move into your new home you can also do it once you’ve moved in.
Throughout the chaos of the home move it can be easy to forget to switch your energy supplier because you’re so busy.
You also don’t have to switch your energy supplier – you’re able to stay with whoever supplies that property. Although these ‘contractless’ arrangements are notoriously expensive and you’ll be overpaying 98.5% of the time.
What happens to my energy supplier when I move house?
If you are moving home you will want to know how to setup energy in your new home.
When you move house your previous energy supplier won’t automatically know that you have moved out. This means you will need to inform them and provide them with meter readings. if you are in a fixed contract you may also need to pay exit fees if you don’t wish to be with that supplier in your new address.
You can solve this problem with SlothMove.
With our home setup service you can actually select your previous energy supplier and we’ll update them about your move automatically.
You can also provide us with meter readings which we will pass onto your previous energy supplier. If you don’t have those to hand you can actually text us those on the day of your move and we’ll pass them onto your supplier.
Once you have left you will receive a final bill which will tell you if you’re in credit or debit – this will usually be via email. If you are owed a refund this will usually be processed with 14 days. If you are in debt on the account you will need to make arrangements to pay that when you leave.
How do I find my energy supplier for a new home?
You can find the energy supplier of your new home in a couple of different ways.
- You can use SlothMove’s setup service in which you can find out the new energy supplier for the address and setup your energy in one form
- Ask the landlord, letting agent or previous occupier who supplies the energy. This can be handy, but it’s not always a reliable source of information – they may remember incorrectly or they even be wrong.
- You can also find your energy supplier by calling your local Distribution Network Opertor (DNO) for electricity and Gas transporter (GT) for gas. you can do both of those things on the energy network association’s website.
When should you switch utilities when moving?
Electricity, gas, broadband and water are the four key utilities we consider when moving home. If you are moving, you will find our moving home utility guide helpful.
When should I setup my gas & electricity?
You can set up your energy as soon as 2 or 3 weeks before you move-in date. You ideally want to let your previous energy supplier know you’re leaving and setup your new supply at the same time. You can do this yourself by calling two suppliers or use a service like ours for free and do it within less that 5 minutes.
When should I setup my broadband when moving home?
You should try your best to setup your broadband about 2 to 3 weeks before you move in date. This is so that the broadband company (whether that be Sky, Virgin, TalkTalk etc..) have sufficient time to send out a router and get you setup.
If you do this a few weeks before you can be rolling with internet from the day you move in 🎊
When should I setup my water? 💧
Unlike broadband, you will have use of this utility from the moment you enter the property. That said, it’s best practice to let your previous water & sewerage supplier and your new one that you’re moving a couple of weeks in advance.
If you’re not sure who your new water & sewerage suppliers are you can find out with your postcode on our home setup service. You can also let them all know you’re moving home with a click of a button to save you time.
Can you change energy supplier as soon as you move in?
You can change supplier as soon as you move into your home. You can also set your energy supplier up a few weeks beforehand, but not through price comparison websites.
The only caveat to switching your energy supply once you move in is if you are buying a new build property. In some instances you won’t be able to change your energy supplier for a set period of time (usually 12 months).
You should check this with your developer before purchasing. The reason suppliers do this stems down to an agreement between them and the developer. The supplier agrees to cover certain costs associated with the meter and supply as well as paying the developer a commission for bringing you onto supply. To make this worth their while, they need to recoup their investment by having you on their supply for set amount of time.
How long does it take to switch energy?
It takes around 21 days to switch your energy from one supplier to another, if the supplier has signed up to the energy switch guarantee. When you switch you have a 14 day cooling off period within which you can cancel your switch. For this reason, most suppliers wait until the 14 day cooling off period ends before processing your switch.
How do you sort bills when moving house?
When moving home you will need to close down your accounts on your energy, broadband, council tax & water. You will want to set all of these up in your new home. You also want to update the address on your accounts such as your TV Licence.
You can complete this all in our home setup service for free. And that’s everything you need to know about how to change energy suppliers when moving home.