Moving Out & Utility Bills

kennyb3

We are looking at moving out at some stage next month, and upgrading to a house from an apartment.

What is the situation with bills. We have ESB, Bord Gais & UPC ones.

Do we just ring them and cancel from date of departure? switch them over to new address? Or get them changed back into landlords name (although the landlord is in nama)

Advice appreciated. Just never done it before and don't want to get stung down the line.

Giblet

Some require 30 days notice, others, like UPC will allow you to transfer an account to another address.

SligoLady

Be careful with the electricity providers as they are very quick to disconnect a property if there is no one registered to the address, generally between 1-3 weeks after you take your name off it. By all means, cancel it out of your name but you MUST tell your landlord or whoever is looking after it to put it into their name to avoid disconnection and paying €80+ to reconnect. You don't need to give notice with the electricity providers, just a meter reading from the day you're closing the account. If you're moving to another property, you can give them the meter reading of your new property and MPRN number and simply move your account.

Grolschevik

Also, gas and ESB may try to sting you for a deposit (€200 to €400) if you don't sign up to direct debit.

I literally -- yes, really -- moved next door to my old place, kept the same account number, and they just added the deposit to my bill when I refused to pay it.

ProudDUB

UPC will let you transfer service from one address to another without any transfer fee. You just bring your equipment from address A to address B, plug it in, hook it up and off you go. You do have to give UPC your move out and move in days as they will only allow you to have active service and active equipment at one address at a time. They will deactivate your equipment at address A and reactivate it at address B based on the dates that you give them. However if there has been no service at the new address (for example, the previous residents there used Sky, not UPC) than it may require a visit from a tech to turn your service on from the outside and activate the outlets on the inside. There will be a fee for that per service.

The UPC customer service dept that takes care of moves and transfers are very hard to get in touch with. Odds are when you call up to arrange your transfer, you'll be told that that dept is busy but that someone will call you back. They never do. When I moved last summer, it took 10 days and numerous phone calls from a very, very pi$$ed off moi before I finally got to talk to someone who could arrange my transfer of service. A neighbour of mine had a similar problem. So call them up as soon as you know your move dates.

The ESB will also let you transfer service from address A to address B. Give them your meter reading on move out day. They will calculate your final bill and send it out to you, or deduct it from your account if you have direct debit. Your account at that address will be closed when you pay your bill. Even though you have only transferred service and you are not a "new" customer you will be treated like one when it comes to the bill. You will have a new account number & MPRN numbers. You will need to go onto their website and sign up for direct debit again within 10 days of moving, otherwise you'll be hit with the 300 euro deposit.

I wouldn't worry too much about any disconnections that take place after you have moved out and paid your final bill. That is the landlords problem to deal with, even if he is in NAMA. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that between your moving out and a new tenant moving in, he is liable for any electricity used there, not you.

Rory1

Grolschevik wrote: »

Also, gas and ESB may try to sting you for a deposit (€200 to €400) if you don't sign up to direct debit.

I literally -- yes, really -- moved next door to my old place, kept the same account number, and they just added the deposit to my bill when I refused to pay it.

I recently had same problem but after much complaining and phone calls they cancelled the deposit. I had never once missed paying bill on time in 7 years for both gas and electricity and they wanted 400 - no way guys. When I threatened to switch to other provider, eventually got through to manager who waived deposits.

n900guy

kennyb3 wrote: »

We are looking at moving out at some stage next month, and upgrading to a house from an apartment.

What is the situation with bills. We have ESB, Bord Gais & UPC ones.

Do we just ring them and cancel from date of departure? switch them over to new address? Or get them changed back into landlords name (although the landlord is in nama)

Advice appreciated. Just never done it before and don't want to get stung down the line.

Meter readings for electricity and gas at your time of exit and register these with the companies. They will then sort it out with the landlord. Best way is on the day you depart to meet with the landlord and check the readings together.

UPC is your own as it depends on the contract you signed.

Grolschevik

Rory1 wrote: »

I recently had same problem but after much complaining and phone calls they cancelled the deposit. I had never once missed paying bill on time in 7 years for both gas and electricity and they wanted 400 - no way guys. When I threatened to switch to other provider, eventually got through to manager who waived deposits.

You're lucky, and the moral of the story is try and sort it early. I wrote and phoned repeatedly. Ultimately I refused to pay the deposit, and it was simply added to my gas bill. For the guts of a year, I just paid the usage part of the bill, leaving the equivalent of the deposit alone.

Turns out, however -- when they finally sent me a disconnect warning and I phoned them yet again -- that they'd paid the deposit out of what I'd given them for usage and, in their eyes, I just owed them arrears on gas used. They wouldn't budge; talked to supervisors and all. No joy.

Paid the deposit. Just got it back, though!