Guide to utilities transfer and change of address when moving house in WA
Guide to utilities transfer and change of address when moving house in WA
So you’ve found your dream house and are ready to make the move – congratulations!
But before you start packing and moving your furniture, or even start planning how you are going to decorate your new abode, you need to get the “admin” stuff out of the way. These are things like transferring your utilities, organising mail redirection and getting your internet set up.
While these jobs can sound like a chore when you are so excited to move onto the more fun things that come with upgrading your home, they are easier and quicker to do than you might think. Plus the sooner you get them done, the sooner you can enjoy your new home, without worrying about whether your internet is going to work or if your mail will get lost!
Let’s get started!
How to transfer your water account moving house
How to transfer your electricity account when moving house
How to transfer your gas account when moving house
How to transfer your Internet account moving house
How to organise mail redirection when moving house
Update your address when you move house
1. How to transfer your water account moving house
One of the most crucial things you want to ensure is done, is making sure that your water account has been set up correctly – imagine not being able to enjoy hot showers in your new bathroom because your water has been cut off!
Luckily in Westen Australia, Watercorp doesn’t cut off water supply when a home is vacated so you don’t need to worry about that at all. In fact, it’s very easy to ensure that your water account is set up correctly for your new home, in fact, it’s all done for you!
Moving into a new rental
If you are moving into or out of a rental property your agent or property owner will update the billing details and organise a meter reading with Watercorp.
Moving into a home you have bought
If you’re using a settlement agent, I have good news for you, you also don’t need to do anything! Your settlement agent will inform Watercorp of the sale or purchase details and organise a final water meter reading on your behalf to finalise charges, to make sure you are only charged for the water that you used, and then the charges will be settled/paid through your settlement agent.
And that’s it! Told you it was easy. If you want to learn more about the process, you can visit the Watercorp website.
2. How to transfer your electricity account when moving house
Transferring your electricity is another one of those essential items you need to consider when you move house. In WA, your electricity retailer will be Synergy and they will handle your billing transition when you move house. Make sure you get in touch with them well in advance of your intended move so that you can ensure that your lights will work at your new home!
Bonus tip: We recommend giving at least three days notice at a minimum before you move.
Simply call up synergy or head to their online form to get started – all you will need are your moving details and a copy of your bill.
Synergy will then contact Western Power to come and read your meter after your move date before any new account is assigned to the property, and then Synergy will send you a final bill for your old home.
For more details on the process, you can visit the Western Power website.
3. How to transfer your gas account when moving house
Whether you use gas for cooking, heating, or to make sure your showers are nice and hot, it is something you don’t want to forget about when you move house! No matter who your gas retailer is, getting your gas account transferred when you move house is very simple.
Most gas retailers recommend giving at least 1 day’s notice to book in your gas connection transfer. Simply head to your retailers website, log into your account and follow the prompts. Alternatively you can give your gas retailer a call and get the process started over the phone.
If you’re changing energy companies, you will need to contact your old energy provider to disconnect your old home and get your final bill.
Bonus tip: if you are with Kleenheat, they will take care of notifying your old gas provider for you, saving you the awkward phone call!
Here are some helpful links to get started:
Alinta Energy: https://www.alintaenergy.com.au/wa/residential/moving-home/
Kleenheat: https://www.kleenheat.com.au/movers
AGL: https://www.agl.com.au/business/small-business/moving-premises
Origin Energy: https://www.originenergy.com.au/moving/
4. How to transfer your Internet account moving house
Picture this: you are finally settled in, have unpacked all your boxes and decorated your new home so that it’s worthy of a #newhome Instagram post… but then you can’t connect to your home internet!
Don’t stress, we won’t let this happen to you! While dealing with internet providers can often feel like a huge hassle, most internet providers actually make it very easy for existing or even new customers to make sure that their internet is set up correctly. Most even have the option to do it online for free!
Check availability at your new address
Ensure that your new address has access to the same or similar broadband speed/NBN connection as your previous address. Most homes across Australia have access to broadband Internet but there are still blackspots across the country, particularly in more regional areas.
Thanks to the extensive NBN program roll-out, there’s a good chance your new place will have NBN available. However, if the NBN hasn’t rolled out to your new place yet, and you are moving from a place where you had NBN, you’ll most likely need to change plans. It’s important that you research a prospective provider’s NBN upgrade plans to avoid unexpected cancellation fees or loss of Internet access; since the old copper network is being disconnected as part of the NBN rollout, any non-NBN plan you sign up for will only serve as a temporary solution. Some providers will offer the option to upgrade you from the copper network to the NBN for free as soon as it’s available, so ask if your chosen provider can do this. You can check NBN availability at your new address here.
Bonus tip: If you do need to change your contract due to NBN availability, it is worth seeing if you can stay with the same provider and see if you can negotiate to avoid contract early exit fees.
Book your move
If you don’t need to change internet plans, then the next thing you will need to do is book in to change over your internet service to your new address. Most internet providers have an option to do this online, all you need to do is provide your new address and the date you will be moving. Most providers also have a free option, that you can do if you are comfortable setting up your modem, but you can select to pay a small fee for a technician to come to your home to set it all up for you if you prefer.
Plug and play
Once you have booked in your move or changed over to your new contract, on the day of the move you don’t really need to do anything! All the work will be handled behind the scenes for your internet provider, and you will normally receive some kind of notification (text, email or phone call) to let you know that your connection is now active. Then all you need to do is plug in your modem, connect your devices and you can Instagram away!
Here are some helpful links to some of Australia’s major internet providers to help get you started:
Telstra: https://www.telstra.com.au/moving-house
Optus: https://www.optus.com.au/broadband-nbn/home-broadband/moving-home
Belong: https://www.belong.com.au/broadband/moving-internet
Dodo: https://www.dodo.com/moving-house
IiNet: https://www.iinet.net.au/movinghome
TPG: https://www.tpg.com.au/moving-home-support
Aussie Broadband: https://www.aussiebroadband.com.au/nbn-plans/moving-home/
Bonus tip: Do you have Foxtel? Moving your foxtel connection is much the same as moving your internet connection, though unfortunately if your new home hasn’t had a Foxtel connection before, you will need to pay a mandatory connection fee as a technician will need to come to your house to set up your connection. You can find out more here.
5. How to organise mail redirection when moving house
Even though all we seem to get in the mail these days are bills or catalogues, redirecting your mail is still an essential step to moving that you don’t want to miss!
While one of the best things you can do is update your address with your bank, health insurance, superannuation etc, sometimes things slip through and the last thing you want is to miss a bill or for your new credit card to be sent to your old address!
Organising a mail redirection is done through Auspost, costs as little as $32 and is very easy, simply visit their website and follow the steps depending on how long you want to redirect for.
Bonus tip: We recommend redirecting your mail for up to 6 months if it is in the budget, that way you can monitor the mail you get and keep an eye out for the “redirected” sticker so you know that you need to update your address with whoever sent you the redirected mail!
6. Update your address when you move house
As we have mentioned, it is very important to ensure you update your address with all of your service providers. We have put together a handy list for your reference to make sure you don’t miss anyone: