Moving home – dealing with your energy supply
If you’re moving or have just moved to a new home, make sure you contact your energy supplier. There are some steps you should take to make sure you don’t end up paying too much for your gas and electricity, or paying for energy you didn’t use.
There are extra things to do if your new home has a prepayment meter. You have a prepayment meter if your meter needs to have money put on it before you have any gas or electricity.
Before you move
Before you move home you should:
- let your electricity and gas supplier know that you're moving - you should give at least 48 hours’ notice
- read your meters on the day you move out and give the readings to your supplier - keep a note of the readings and the dates you took them, in case you don't agree with your final bill
- give your supplier a forwarding address so they can send you the final bill - you’ll have 28 days to pay
If your final bill says you're actually owed money (known as 'being in credit'), you should claim the money back.
If you’re on a fixed tariff
You might be charged to break your contract early. This is known as an ‘exit fee’. Check your contract or contact your supplier to find out how much the exit fee will be. If you break your contract, you’ll automatically go onto a standard variable tariff in your new home.
If you want to stay with your supplier, you might not have to break your contract. Ask them if you can stay on the same tariff in your new home. If your supplier lets you stay on the same tariff, you should check if your fixed rate is higher than the standard variable rate you’d pay at your new home.
The government has limited what suppliers can charge on standard variable tariffs. This is called the Energy Price Guarantee. However - the Energy Price Guarantee ends on 31 March 2023. If you move to your new supplier’s standard variable tariff, it might be cheaper than being on a fixed rate until 31 March 2023. It's unclear if this will still be the cheaper option after this date.
Check how the Energy Price Guarantee might affect your energy bills.
If you have a smart meter
It’s worth checking your smart meter’s working in ‘smart mode’ before you move. Smart mode means your meter sends automatic readings to your supplier.
You can check if your meter’s working in smart mode using our tool.
If it’s not working in smart mode, you’ll need to take a final reading from your smart meter and give this to your supplier. Find out how to read your meter.
After you move
You should contact the current supplier at your new home to tell them you’ve moved in. You’ll automatically be put onto a ‘deemed contract’ with your supplier - this will be for their ‘default’ or ‘standard variable’ tariff. Check who your supplier is if you’re not sure.
If you want to switch to a different supplier, you might not you might not find many deals on energy tariffs at the moment. This is because of changes in the energy industry. If you don’t find a better tariff than the one you’re on it’s probably better to wait until deals are available again before switching suppliers or agreeing a fixed tariff with your new supplier.
Read your meters on the day you move in and give the readings to the current supplier. This will help them give you an accurate first bill. Check how to read your meters if you’re not sure.
Pay your old supplier’s final bill when you get it or check if your supplier owes you money.
If your new home doesn’t have a gas or electricity supply, you can find out how to get your home connected to a gas or electricity supply.
Switching to a new supplier
At the moment you probably won’t be able to save money by switching.
The standard variable tariff you’re automatically on with your new supplier will give you the cheapest energy price you can get at the moment.
There’s a limit on what suppliers can charge for energy on standard variable tariffs. This is the Energy Price Guarantee - it started on 1 October 2022 and lasts until 31 March 2023. Check how the Energy Price Guarantee affects your energy bills.
If you’re struggling to pay your energy bills you might be able to get help. Check if you can get benefits or grants to help pay your energy bills.
If you still want to switch supplier or tariff, you’ll need to wait until the day you become responsible for the property. Switching won’t happen straight away so you’ll have to pay at least one bill with the current supplier.
Your new supplier should switch you within 5 working days.
You can find out more about:
Once you know your new supplier, ask to be put on their priority services register if you're over state pension age or disabled, or have a long-term illness. This gets you extra support, such as free gas safety checks.
If your new property has a prepayment meter
Contact the current supplier straight away if your new home has a prepayment meter. Try not to use a key or card, or put any money on the meter, until you’ve done this. Otherwise you risk paying extra for debts owed by the people who lived there before you.
If you do need to put money on the meter before you contact the current supplier, tell them this when you get in touch. They will pay you back for any extra charges you’ve paid, as long as you can prove when you moved in.
Ask the supplier to:
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take any debt off the meter so you don’t end up paying extra
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give you a new prepayment key or card so you can put money on the meter
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send you information about how the meter works and what to do if you have any problems
Once you start using your prepayment meter, tell your supplier about any difficulties it causes, for example if you can't easily top it up. They might be able to make it easier for you to use, or remove it entirely.
Think about replacing the prepayment meter
You’re likely to benefit from replacing the prepayment meter with a normal meter that lets you pay for energy after you use it rather than in advance. This is because:
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you pay more - even the cheapest prepayment meter deal costs you more than the cheapest direct debit deal
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you have the added effort of going to the shops to top up your meter
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you risk running out of gas or electricity if you don’t top up regularly
Read about how to change to a normal meter. You won’t usually need to pay for this, and you don’t need your landlord’s permission. Your energy supplier can’t make you keep the prepayment meter if you don’t owe them money.
Find your nearest place to top up
You can top up at a Post Office or Payzone, or any shop with a PayPoint logo.
Find a Post Office or Payzone near you on the Payzone website.
Find a PayPoint near you on the PayPoint website.
If your new property has a smart meter
If your new property has a smart meter, it’s worth checking that it’s working in ‘smart mode.’
Smart mode means your meter automatically sends readings to your supplier.
Check if your meter can work in smart mode after switching using our tool.
If it’s not working in smart mode, you’ll need to take regular meter readings yourself and send them to your supplier. Find out how to read your meter.
Further help
The Citizens Advice consumer helpline can give you advice on any issues you might have with dealing with your supplier when moving home.
You can also read our guidance on saving money on your energy bills.
If you’re struggling with living costs
If you’re struggling with money, there are things you can do to save on your regular living costs. Check what to do if you need help with living costs.
If you’re finding it hard to pay your bills, you can get help. Find out more about getting help with your bills.
You can also get help with debts.
If you're struggling to pay for food, find out how to get help from a food bank.