Some people find moving to a new house an incredibly stressful experience. Not only do you have to sort out all your personal belongings and pack up your life in boxes, but there’s a ton of red tape and paperwork to do, such as changing bills into your name, setting up direct debits and arranging electricity supply agreements.
What’s the best way to organise a move?
First of all, schedule a date and time for the move. You will need to do this before you can arrange things with the removal company. It’s also a good idea to avoid rush hour if you are carrying heavy loads.
Hire a removal company that not only offers good services, but also guarantees you will receive your precious objects undamaged. What’s more, the company should advise you about transport and how to package each object according to its fragility and size.
Once everything is packed up, you have to decide whether to take it to your new home, put it in storage, or just donate it, as Merca2 also suggests in its article. It is important to know the order in which objects should be packed, in other words, the things you use most frequently should be the last you pack, so that the move causes as little interference as possible with your daily life.
Lastly, before you move, you should start sorting out the red tape. Start by setting up direct debits for your bills and find out about the tariff you want to sign up for in your new home to avoid any unwanted surprises.
What about electricity, gas and water supplies?
You should preferably organise utilities and set up direct debits before you move into your new home. This type of arrangement usually takes between 15 and 20 business days to take effect. That’s why it’s important to find out whether or not there is a supply at the property and, if you are moving into a rental property, change the bills into your own name.
If you need to put the bills into your name, you will be asked for a number of documents, particularly the identity document of the current supply holder and that of the new occupant.
If there is no existing service at the property, you will need to contact the distributor and complete additional formalities as well as several documents. It is important to find out which distributor is responsible for the electricity service in your area.
You will need the following documents to sign up for an electricity supply:
- Current, valid passport or national identity document.
- CUPS [Universal Supply Point Code] number. If you do not have this, it must be requested from the company.
- Your postal code.
- Bank account for paying the bills.
- Electricity bulletin.
A safe move
Security during a move is essential to your peace of mind. That’s why it’s important to take out the insurance offered by the company to cover any loss or damage to your belongings.
Some of this advice also appears in this article in Diario Digital de Asturias.
