MoveAdmin Move checklist Move Checklist · USD 19
Six weeks, 47 tasks, and 19 organisations to tell
The admin of changing address, in the week each thing has to happen.
This is the admin, not the plan. Forty seven tasks from today to move day, the nineteen organisations that need a new address, and the order that stops you sitting in a new flat with no internet and a parcel delivered somewhere else.
Forty five of the 47 tasks are comfortable in six weeks. Broadband installation is quoted at 14 to 21 working days and is the only item that will not wait, because it is the one thing you cannot do after you arrive.
Countdown
Week by week
- Today
Book broadband at the new address
Fourteen to 21 working days. Book it for the 15th, not the 12th, so somebody is there. This is the only task in the document that cannot be recovered by doing it later.
- Week 6
Confirm the move date and book the van
A Saturday in December. Vans go early. Also tell your landlord in writing if you have not already.
- Week 5
Start the notify list
Nineteen organisations in section 02. Do five a day for four days rather than all nineteen in one miserable evening.
- Week 4
Book the end of tenancy clean, and declutter
Anything you would not pay to move, get rid of now. A van is priced by size.
- Week 3
Utilities: closing and opening accounts
Energy, water, council. Give them the move date, not today's date.
- Week 2
Start packing the things you do not use
Books, out of season clothes, anything in a cupboard you have not opened since you moved in.
- Week 1
Post redirection, and pack the rest
Redirection takes five working days to start, so ordering it in the final week is correct rather than late.
- Day before
First night box, and charge everything
Section 04. Put it somewhere the van cannot take it.
- Move day
Meter readings, keys, photographs
Both properties. Photograph every meter and every room you are leaving.
Notify
The nineteen
| Category | Who | When | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | Bank, building society | Week 5 | Do this first, others verify against it |
| Essential | Employer, payroll | Week 5 | |
| Essential | Council, both old and new | Week 3 | Two separate contacts |
| Essential | Energy supplier | Week 3 | Readings on the day |
| Essential | Water | Week 3 | |
| Essential | Driving licence | Week 5 | Legal requirement in most places. Check yours |
| Essential | Vehicle registration | Week 5 | Same |
| Essential | Electoral register | Week 4 | |
| Essential | GP and dentist | Week 2 | Registration at the new address may take time |
| Insurance | Contents insurance | Week 4 | Cover may lapse if not told |
| Insurance | Car insurance | Week 4 | Address affects the policy |
| Financial | Credit cards, two | Week 5 | |
| Financial | Pension provider | Week 4 | |
| Financial | Tax authority | Week 4 | |
| Services | Broadband, mobile | Today and week 4 | |
| Services | TV licence or equivalent | Week 4 | |
| Services | Gym | Week 3 | Check whether the new flat is in range |
| Deliveries | Online retailers you use | Week 1 | The ones with a saved default address |
| Personal | Friends and family | Week 1 | The only enjoyable one |
The two insurance rows are the ones people leave until after the move. Both contents and car insurance are priced on where the property is, and in both cases not telling them can affect whether a claim is paid.
Packing
Room by room, in order
| Week 2 | Week 1 | Day before | Leave out | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom | Out of season clothes | Most clothes | Bedding | One outfit, bedding for one night |
| Living room | Books, decor | Media, cables | Sofa cushions | Nothing |
| Kitchen | Rarely used | Most of it | Remaining | Kettle, two mugs, one pan |
| Bathroom | Spares | Most | One of everything | |
| Storage and cupboards | All of it | Nothing | ||
| Documents | Into one box | Carry these yourself |
Documents travel with you, not in the van. Passport, tenancy agreements, insurance and anything you would struggle to replace. It is the one box that should never be out of your sight and the one most often packed by accident.
Move day
The hour by hour, and the box
- 07:30
Final pack, strip the bed
Bedding into a bag, not a box. You will want it first and find it last otherwise.
- 08:30
Van arrives, load
Documents box and first night box into your car, not the van.
- 11:00
Meter readings and photographs, old flat
Gas, electric, water. Photograph each one with the date visible, and photograph every room empty.
- 11:30
Keys back, or agreed handover
Confirm in writing that they were returned and when.
- 12:30
Arrive, meter readings at the new flat
Before you unload. It takes two minutes and it is the only chance you get.
- 13:00
Unload
- 17:00
Make the bed first
Before anything else is unpacked. Every experienced mover does this and every first time mover does it at midnight.
- Broadband booked for the 15th
- Van booked
- Documents box packed and travelling with you
- First night box: kettle, mugs, tea, toilet roll, soap, towel, charger, bedding, painkillers
- Meter readings photographed at both properties
- Deposit return chased in writing within seven days