We can all agree: moving is a pain. It’s never just packing your things up in one place and unpacking them in another.
Instead, there’s plenty to fill up your to-do list; one of the items being your change of address checklist, an item that you can’t just skip over and leave undone.
So, what does your change of address checklist entail?
Telling the post office that you’re settling in somewhere new? Yes and no.
Although you will need to let the post office know about your move, your checklist is comprised of a few more important people you need to make aware of the change.
Make sure you check off everything on our change of address checklist before moving day!
Where to begin
The first thing you should do when dealing with a change of address is to make a list of all the places you receive mail from over the course of about a month. Jot down each business or company that sends you snail mail, and that will be your first list of places to call and change your mailing address.
Family & friends
Let your family and friends know what your new address is by sending out an email blast to your contact list or sending an official change of address postcard to their homes.
If you receive a lot of mail around the holidays, you’ll want to make sure everyone knows where to find you! Don’t wait for someone to ask you what your new address is—send it out proactively, and it’ll save you both time and energy.
Your employer
Let your employer know about your new address about a month ahead of your move.
This will give them enough time to update your personnel file and any forms they manage, like your retirement funds and health insurance.
Plus, if you’re moving far away, your taxes may change with your new home address—so your employer can help you make any changes that are necessary to your tax documents. Make sure your employer knows about your new address ahead of the beginning of the New Year: duplicating important tax documents because your copy got lost in the mail can be a huge headache.
Notify the utility companies
You may be keeping some of your current utilities, and simply moving them with you to the new address, however, even if you’re staying with the same cable company, you’ll need to notify them of your address change so that they can update your account.
You may also need to schedule time for someone to come out and hook up your new home to your existing services.
If you’ll be using different utility companies at your new place, you’ll need to call your current companies to have them close out your current accounts and pay any remaining balance that there might be for the services.
You will definitely want to make sure that your old accounts aren’t left open by accident—otherwise, the new tenants at your old place may be getting free gas and electric that you’d end up paying for!
The post office
A simple task that’s easily forgotten in the hustle and bustle of a move is filling out a change of address form at the post office. (Some post offices will allow you to do this online.)
You may have to pay a small fee, but it’s a good idea to set up mail forwarding so that anything that slips through the cracks and heads to your old address will bounce back to you at your new place, instead of being sent back to the sender.
Keep in mind that mail forwarding typically only lasts for about a month: to ensure that everything is accurate, let your mail carrier know that you’ve moved so that he or she doesn’t continue to drop your mail off at your old place.
The bank
Next, give your bank a call and let them know that you want to update your contact address on your account. (You likely won’t be able to change this information online.) Ensuring that your bank is aware of the move will prevent sensitive information from making its way to your old place instead of your new space.
Subscription services
Often forgotten, your subscription-based services won’t follow you to your next home unless you tell them to!
You’ll need to inform any subscription services that you’ve changed your address, including magazines, newspapers, newsletters and any similar materials that you receive in the mail. Not updating these services means that the new tenants of your old place will enjoy your subscription, while you continue to pay for it: not cool!
Finally, when everyone on your change of address checklist is crossed off and you’re ready to make the move, you’ll need a trusted team of professional movers to get you from point A to point B. Give us a call at Highland Moving & Storage Vancouver at 604-581-2300 to get a quote for your moving and storage needs!
