How to Connect Your Utilities

Your move is well underway and now you are only a few weeks away from leaving. That means this is the time to start thinking about your utilities and what services you will need or want to have at your new home.

Closing Out Your Current Utilities

Currently, you probably have many services in your name, such as power, water, sewer, and gas. If you have automatic drafts for these bills, be sure to have them stopped. On the day you plan to move out, you may want to have final readings done to make sure your final bill matches what you were expecting it to be. You will also want to make sure you have given your current companies your forwarding address to send your final bill to. If any are left unpaid, they may show up later as collection items on your credit report. You should schedule termination of your current service one or two days after your anticipated move date in the event of unplanned for delays. And, don’t forget that you may have paid a deposit to these utilities, so be sure to ask for a return on any deposits you may have paid.  

Contacting the Right People

For your new location, the easiest way to find out who to contact is through your realtor or property manager. These individuals should be able to supply you with a list of local utility companies and their phone numbers. Normally, this process can be accomplished by phone, but some smaller municipalities may require an in person visit from you before turning these services on. For power and gas, you may be required to make an upfront deposit before service is granted.

Setting Up Water, Sewer, Garbage and Recycling

City or town departments normally handle items such as water, sewer, garbage, and recycling services. Therefore, you will need to contact them directly in order to have these services started in your new location. If these services are handled privately, on the other hand, your real estate agent should be able to give you this information and may even be able to help you get these utilities set up.

Setting Up Satellite and Internet

If you use a national company for your satellite or Internet services, you may be able to have service simply transferred to your new location from your current home. Some companies even offer free hook up when moving in order to retain you as a client. If your move is only a short distance away from your current location, then your local companies may allow you to transfer services without requiring another deposit. For some locations, you may even be allowed to keep your same phone number, which will help reduce hassles because you won’t have to send out notifications of your new number.

Just remember to keep detailed records of your conversations regarding implementing or terminating services.  That way, if a dispute arises, you have all of the information at your fingertips, which generally makes a resolution to any problems much simpler. .