Working out who to notify when moving house is not hard, it is just long, and the length is what makes people put it off until something breaks. The list below is split by urgency rather than alphabetically, because two of these have actual deadlines and most of the rest do not. My crew and I hand this over often enough that it is worth writing down properly.
Who to notify when moving house first, by deadline
Your driving licence and your vehicle registration document both have to be updated with the DVLA when you move, and both are free to change online. Not doing it is an offence, and the reminder for the second one arrives at the old address, which is exactly how people find out they have forgotten.
The electoral roll is the other one. It matters for voting and it matters more than most people realise for credit checks, because lenders use it to confirm you live where you say you do. Register at the new address as soon as you have moved, and do not assume the council does it for you when you tell them about council tax.
Council tax itself is two conversations: closing the account with the old authority and opening one with the new. If you are moving between authorities, neither one will do it for you. Around here that could mean Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Hertfordshire districts or Milton Keynes depending on the two ends, which is worth checking if you are moving between Dunstable and St Albans, for instance.
Utilities and the meter readings
Take a photograph of every meter at the old house on the day you leave and every meter at the new house on the day you arrive, with the date visible. Electricity, gas and water. That single habit settles more billing disputes than anything else on this list, and it costs thirty seconds.
Then tell the suppliers you are going, with the readings and the date. You do not need to switch supplier at the same time, and it is usually easier not to. Broadband is the one to start earliest, because installation dates run weeks rather than days, and it is the utility people most often find themselves without. It belongs on the four week list in the moving checklist rather than the moving week one.
Banks, insurance and anything financial
Bank, building society, credit cards, pension, any investments, and the student loan if that applies. Most of these are a two minute change in an app now.
Insurance is the one to take seriously rather than tick off. Buildings and contents cover has to be in place at the new property from completion, and contents in transit is a separate question that your removals cover answers rather than your home policy. Ask both, and check what the limits are. Removal quotes should state the transit position in writing, and if yours does not, ask before you book.
Doctor, dentist and schools
If you are staying in the area, your GP may not need changing at all, and it is worth checking the practice boundary before you go through the hassle. If you are moving further, register at the new practice as soon as you can rather than when you first need it, because that is when the wait is longest.
Dentist, optician and vet the same. School admissions are their own process on their own timetable and they need starting well before the move, not after it, particularly if you are moving between counties.
Redirection, and why it is not optional
Set up a Royal Mail redirection for at least six months, and preferably twelve. It is not there for the letters you expected, it is there for the ones you forgot, and those are usually the ones that matter: a renewal, a statement, a card you did not know was being reissued.
Redirection is also a straightforward identity protection measure. Post arriving at an address where you no longer live, containing your name and your account details, is worth a small annual fee to prevent.
What can genuinely wait
Subscriptions, loyalty cards, online shopping addresses, the gym, magazines, anything that will simply reach you late rather than cause a problem. Do these in one sitting a fortnight after the move when the house is straight and you can think.
Trying to do everything in the week of the move is how the DVLA and the electoral roll get missed, and those are the two that actually matter. Get the deadline items done, photograph the meters, set the redirection running, and let the rest arrive in its own time. My crew and I move people across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and the ones who find the first fortnight easiest are always the ones who split the list this way.
Want this priced properly?
Send us the two postcodes and a rough idea of what is coming, and we will give you a fixed price in writing. No obligation, and no follow-up pestering if you decide to go elsewhere.