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Informing People of Your New Address

By: Jeff Durham - Updated: 9 Jan 2013 | comments*Discuss
 
Changing Address Notifying Change Of

You’ll obviously want to let your friends know your change of address but there are many other companies and organisations who you’ll need to inform as well. However you should only start doing this once the house contracts have been exchanged just in case there are any last minute hitches with the buying and selling of property. Some of the people you’ll need to inform might not appear on this list and others that do might not be applicable to you so it’s important to go through things like bills, bank statements and any other official paperwork you keep so that you are able to draw up as comprehensive a list as possible.

Informing by Letter or Phone

Although informing a company or organisation of a change of address by phone would make life far easier, it’s important that you check each company’s own individual policy on this issue. Whilst certain companies will allow you to change your address over the phone, it’s often more the customary practice that you need to write in with this information and include your signature. Some companies may have provision to do this online or by fax as well in certain circumstances. However, if you are in any doubt, it’s better for you to choose the ‘in writing’ option and keep a copy yourself for your records as this may help you later should you find that regular items you received at your former address seem to have ceased at your new address or you find that you’re still getting charged for things at your old address.

Who to Inform

If you are in receipt of any state benefits, you’ll need to inform your local Jobcentre Plus or DSS office and you’ll also have to notify your local council. And, if you are moving outside of your local area, you’ll have to inform both the council from which you are moving from and the one to which you are moving so that records for council tax purposes can be updated. You will also need to inform your utility providers. I.e. gas, water, electric, telephone, internet service provider and cable/satellite TV provider. If you drive and have a car, you’ll also have to notify the DVLA. Any company which provides you with a bank account, mortgage, insurance policy or pension or credit or store card will also need to be informed. You should also contact the Electoral Register and TV Licensing. If you have children who are at school, you’ll need to notify their new school of your new address as well as letting your employer know.

Ways of Speeding up the Process

There are now a number of online websites which keeps address records of thousands of companies and other organisations on their internal database. By registering at one of these websites, you can simply tick the boxes of all of those who you need to inform and by just inputting your new contact details once, they will then send notifications to all of the companies whose boxes you’ve added or ticked. It might also be useful to sign up for the post office’s redirection service in case you have overlooked certain companies or organisations as the post office will then be able to redirect any mail that was originally destined for your old address and redirect it to your new one, whether that be in the UK or even overseas. You can sign up to have your mail redirected for one, three, six or twelve months for up to 2 years although there is a charge for this service. However, it can be worth it for additional peace of mind to ensure that all mail gets redirected to you as there may be bills which you have overlooked and you’re bound to forget to notify all of those companies from whom you request catalogues and brochures as well as, perhaps, distant friends and relatives who tend to send you Christmas or birthday cards whom you might have forgotten to notify.

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