There are so many urgent tasks to keep in the front of your mind and emotions to process when you’re moving that it's only natural for a few of the important things to be forgotten. However, when it comes to changing your address, forgetting to inform the right authorities could result in unpaid bills, lost mail or an essential service being cut off. The last thing that you need when you’ve finally moved into your new home is to have the electricity turned off.
To help you stay on top of everything during the moving process, we’ve created this helpful list of people and organisations that you should notify when you relocate. This essential change of address checklist covers the fundamental government and personal services that require notification of your new location. To simplify things further, we’ve broken the checklist down into four distinct categories: service providers, financial, vehicle and personal. We highly recommend completing this address change checklist before your move to ensure that there is no delay in receiving mail or other services in your new home.
Service Providers (Public & Private)
One of the most important reasons to inform authorities of your new address is to ensure that you can continue to receive important services. From getting your mail and sending your kids to school, to essential utilities like water and electricity, each of these authorities require timely notice of your change of address. This is so they can update their systems and continue providing you with these important services.
Post Office
One of the most important authorities to inform of your new location is, of course, the Post Office. Forgetting to let the postal service know about your change of circumstances can have trickle down effects that could result in a wide range of issues. Changing your address with New Zealand Post is not just important, it’s simple too. With the
mail redirect tool on their website, you can easily inform the national postal service of your address change.
Healthcare
Keeping your information up to date with your healthcare provider is essential for ensuring that you can access quality medical assistance that is informed by your medical history. Informing your provider of your new location as early as possible means that there will be no issues when you do need to seek medical care. It is also recommended that you inform your family doctors and dentists that you will be moving. They may even have recommendations for local medical specialists in your new neighbourhood.
Schools
Education is one of the most important services there is. If you have school-aged children, informing your old and new school of your change of address is important for your child’s enrolment. While a change of school might be one of the primary reasons for your relocation, among the stress and emotion of moving it could easily slip your mind to let the school know.
Ensure that education is a top priority by informing your old and new schools about your change of address as soon as you can.
Voter Registration
While it may not seem like an urgent matter, it is highly recommended that you update your voter registration as soon as possible when you move. Failing to do so could mean you are registered to the wrong electorate when the next election comes around. Updating your voter registration is easy, simply
follow this link to check or update your details with the electoral commission.
Gas, Electricity & Water
It should not take much to convince you that changing your address with your utility providers is an important task. In your new location you may wish to choose new providers or to stick with your current ones. Either way, at an absolute minimum we recommend doing this a week in advance of your move to guarantee there will be no delays or difficulties in supplying your new home with essential utilities.
Phone/Internet
Depending on your circumstance you may have your internet connected through your landline, or you may have no landline at all. Regardless you will want to inform your internet provider of your change of address to ensure that you have internet access in your new home. Failing to inform your internet provider in time can mean relying on expensive mobile data or, worse still, living without the internet (gasp)!
Financial
Finances are always front of mind when moving. However, failure to notify your bank, insurance agency or the tax office about your move can make your financial situation a lot more complicated. Putting this task off for too long could result in a lack of insurance coverage for your home or the tax man coming knocking at your door - neither of which are a pleasant thought. Change your address with these authorities as soon as possible to avoid any of those repercussions!
Inland Revenue Department
Informing the Inland Revenue Department of your change of address means that you will be able to continue paying your taxes without any hassle. The process of updating your details with IRD NZ is very easy. Simply login to ‘myIR’ on their website and select the ‘Names and Addresses’ tab to edit your main address. Don’t put this task off, because no one likes garnering the attention of the IRD.
Home or Renters Insurance
Moving into a new home without home insurance is a recipe for disaster. Protect yourself financially and save yourself some undue stress by changing your address with your
insurance provider well before you’ve actually moved. As some insurance plans may not be able to move with you, it’s a good idea to look into your options early to give yourself enough time to make smart insurance choices.
The Bank/Financial Institutions
Keeping the bank up to date with your address is important for financial security and privacy. Notify your bank of your change of address to make sure that your financial statements and personal financial information does not end up in the wrong hands. Once you’ve done this, make sure that you inform any other financial service providers such as loan institutions of your change of address.
Vehicle
Whether you’re driving to your new home or simply want the freedom to explore the neighbourhood once you arrive, ensuring that your vehicle is legally registered and insured under the correct address is vital. If you forget to change your address for registration and insurance purposes, one of your first memories in your new home could be getting fined by a police officer or paying out of pocket for a traffic incident. Don’t let that sour your moving experience, notify the following authorities of your change of address before you move.
Driver’s Licence & Vehicle Registration
Updating your driver’s licence and vehicle’s registration is important for legal reasons, but it can also help you to feel at home in your new location to have a local licence. Check or update your licence and vehicle registration by visiting the NZ Transport Agency website and hitting the ‘Get Started’ tab.
If you need to change your vehicle registration but don’t have a New Zealand licence you can do so by following this tab on the NZ Transport Agency website.
Insurance Providers
Driving your vehicle without updating the details of your insurance plan could void your insurance coverage. In the unfortunate event of an accident, you might find yourself paying for repairs that could have been covered by your insurance provider if you had simply informed them of your change of address.
Personal
Once you’ve notified all of the important authorities of your change of address, it’s time to start informing the people and organisations that are important to you. This category includes things like sporting clubs, social groups, subscription services, friends and relatives. While failing to notify friends and family of your address change probably won’t result in the loss of vital services, it may sour the relationship so it’s best to let them know!
Sporting Clubs
Now that you’ve covered all of the administrative chores, you can turn to the more enjoyable tasks. Informing your sports club of your new address can save them time and effort by not having to mail out newsletters or other information twice. It also means that you won’t miss out on the latest news from your club.
Newspaper/Magazine Subscriptions
Newspaper and magazine subscriptions are easy to change but equally easy to forget about. Make sure to add this to your change of address checklist to avoid paying for someone else to get your newspapers or magazines.
Friends/Family
Although we’ve put this at the bottom of the list, it is probably one of the most important for helping you to settle into your new place. Letting your friends and family know of your change of address can help avoid awkward pop-ins at your old home and also allow them to come and celebrate your successful move.
If you have any questions about any of the topics covered in the Essential Change of Address Checklist, get in touch with us to speak with one of our friendly removal specialists. You can contact us via phone on 0800 255 433 or by filling out the online quote request form.