Complete novice at moving house!

[jaffacakesareabiscuit]

We are moving house and so far it's all going smoothly and we should be exchanging soon and moving at the start of December. I was a first time buyer last time so I'm discovering that there's a few things I'm not quite sure of.

Firstly... building insurance on our new house! Do I take out a separate new policy? Does my current insurance temporarily insure both houses from exchange? I have no idea 🤷🏼‍♀️

Secondly...On moving day do we turn off the electricity and water? Obviously will take a meter reading but wasn't sure if we need to actually turn off the fridge/freezer etc.

How do we get the keys to our new house? Everyone involved is local and we're actually only moving about 2 miles away, so do we just turn up and get the keys off the vendors? Or does it have to be done through the estate agents? I've read on here of people changing locks when they move, is this the done thing?

Thanks in advance!

Hi. I can't help you unfortunately, as I'm in the exact same situation. So following to find out! Good luck with your move :)

That's fine @VirginHouseSeller the more the merrier There's just so much to organise and sort out! And I'm currently up to my eyeballs in boxes that a toddler is doing his best to empty before I can tape them shut 🙈

Building insurance: Call your insurance provider, they'll need to know about the change of address and may be a change in the price (up or less likely down) but if you're doing a simple move out/move in you'll be covered.

Turning off: Only if your buyers aren't coming in for a while. If they're coming in same day, don't worry about it. Otherwise I'd turn off electric/water/gas.

EA should be providing the keys, or will arrange the handover from the sellers.

Changing locks is decent idea. We never have though.

Pack an overnight bag and a crate with kettle and provisions. Put them in the car.

You don't know when you'll find your belongings!

Buildings insurance - you need insurance on the new place from exchange of contracts, and on the old one until completion.

You only need to turn off the fridge if/when you take it with you.

Keys will be held by the estate agent until the money is transferred across.

Take photos of all the meter readings before you leave & when you arrive (in case supplier not notified).
Definitely change locks. Not necessarily immediately as you'll be at home sorting out having just moved in, but I would do in the first few days, you have no idea who else may have a key.

@HerNameIsIncontinentiaButtocks

Building insurance: Call your insurance provider, they'll need to know about the change of address and may be a change in the price (up or less likely down) but if you're doing a simple move out/move in you'll be covered.

Turning off: Only if your buyers aren't coming in for a while. If they're coming in same day, don't worry about it. Otherwise I'd turn off electric/water/gas.

EA should be providing the keys, or will arrange the handover from the sellers.

Changing locks is decent idea. We never have though.

Pretty much this!

I arranged home insurance from the date of exchange and did it on the day. Had to guess a load of stuff like types of locks but you can change it later.

We've always picked up the keys from the estate agent.

Just leave everything as is so water and electric on. It will be the new owners to worry about it, however if a request gets to you to turn it off then do.

You have to have buildings insurance in place from the date of exchange as you are legally bound to purchase the property at that point. You usually have to provide proof to the solicitor for the exchange. You can either use your current insurer or set up a new policy using a comparison website online. It wouldn't take more than 20 minutes.

Leave everything switched on at the property you are leaving. A fridge/freezer only uses a couple of units a day, mere pence. I agree with taking photos of meter readings and remember to do it at the new house too, usually the excitement takes over and people forget (I used to work for a utility company).

Keys can either be through the estate agent or given directly by the vendor, you need to think about how you will hand off your keys too.

I know you didn't ask for this next bit but when you are packing, label the boxes on all 4 sides so you can easily see which box is which. I did colour code mine and put coloured paper on the doors of the new house so they knew where the boxes were going.

Also either in your phone or in a notebook write in the contents of the box in regard to where it came from ie "top shelves of storage cupboard" because if you needed X and you know in the old house it would be on the top shelf of the storage cupboard, you now know where to find it in the boxes. HTH

Good luck with the move.

Re keys, you can just buy new barrels for the locks so you don't have to change the handles, just the barrels. Look on YouTube, lots of videos. Definitely do it at some point, you have no idea who has a copy of the key to your new house.

Definitely change the locks - we did as soon as we had got the decorating done and before we moved our stuff in. You have no idea how many people had the previous owners keys - cleaners, decorators, exes, neighbours, family, the owners prior to them etc.

Great advice, thank you all

We don't have an exchange date yet but our solicitor requested a signed contract from our buyer last week and apparently all is in place for our purchase so should be soon!

Will definitely look in to changing the barrels on the locks. And boxes are being labelled with the room they came from and rough contents, as well as the room they're going to in the new house.

Following with interest. Regarding insurance, I called mine (John Lewis) and they will insure both my house and the one I'm buying from exchange at no extra cost until completion. I just gave to give them the details and dates.

Oh that's good to know @NoToast. Must ring my current provider and see (nationwide)

We have a slightly different scenario, our buyers will be moving in to our house on the 4th Dec, and we will be moving in with my parents temporarily (a few things are slowing down our onwards purchase, but we didn't want to lose our cash buyer).

So I assume I can cancel our home insurance from that date and set up new insurance when we get to exchange with the new house? We are buying a listed building, so I want to make sure I get the best insurance deal available.

Also, stupid question, but do you just call up your gas and elec company and say we are moving out on this date and give them readings? Is it then up to the new owners to contact the companies with their details? Or do we cancel the contracts and let the new owners sort their own out? I don't remember what we did when we bought our current house.

Sorry for all the daft questions.

Definitely the box of things you'll need first - kettle, teabags,mugs, milk.
Make sure you have keys wallet and phone with you.

Mark boxes by room, and if you can,note what's in the box - you will want to unpack the duvet and pillows.