When you move house, it goes without saying that you have to take into account many different factors. One of these factors is to indicate an address change. You must let your local council know about this whenever you move. Additionally, you need to alert the Inland Revenue service, the National Insurance office, etc. Read on and find what other obligations you may have to meet.
To whom should I report my change of address?
Many people fear that when moving house they will have to inform a large number of parties of the change of address. Fortunately, this is not really the case. There are only a handful of places you will need to alert of your move, so everyone, including the tax authorities, will have your new information. This includes:
- Your employer, who needs to be able to change your contact details, but also update your information for payroll.
- Inland Revenue – you can go to gov.uk and find out how change your information as it applies to your taxes.
- National Insurance, since your NI number is required by the DVLA, HMRC and your employer. It is important to call NI as soon as possible and change your information. Make sure to keep your number handy.
- Council tax; you can change this by surfing to the local gov.uk website for your specific move.
- Electoral roll, so you will be able to vote in local elections at your new address. This can be done by visiting https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.
- Department of Work and Pensions – If you receive any money from the government then you’ll need to change your address information with the Department of Work and Pensions as well. You can do this via the relevant website.
Additional checklist for change of address
Below, you can find our checklist, demonstrating who else you should consider informing about your move.
- Friends, family, acquaintances (NEVER do this via Facebook or Twitter, in public, but in closed groups or via a Whatsapp group)
- Neighbours
- Colleagues
- Business connections
- Your old town council
- Your new town council
- Utilities suppliers
- Internet/phone/tv supplier
- Water supplier
- GP
- Dentist
- Other (medical) specialist
- Hospital
- Pharmacy
- Health insurance
- Car insurance
- Life insurance
- Funeral insurance
- Bank
- Parking permit
- School
- Organisations (e.g. sports teams)
- Union
- Newspaper/magazine subscriptions
- Book club
- Church/mosque/synagogue
- Political party
- Fitness Club
- Online stores
Royal Mail post redirection
For your convenience, you can also ask Royal Mail to redirect your mail for 3, 6 or 12 months from your old address to your new address, from £33.99. This will ensure you do not miss any important mail, and can also help protect you from fraud (in case your personal details end up in the wrong hands). This can be arranged via the Royal Mail website, at https://www.royalmail.com/personal/receiving-mail/redirection/.