Moving house? One of the most important pieces of admin you need to do when you’re moving address is to update your contact details. There are all sorts of agencies, organisations and companies who will need to know where you’re headed to — but moving is a stressful time, so it’s very easy to make an oversight and forget about it until months later!
So you might be wondering what addresses to change when moving. To make life a bit easier for you, we’ve put together this change of address checklist for you. Simply work your way through it while you’re preparing to move and you should be ready to go once you arrive at your new address.
- Post office
Worried that you might have items go missing in the mail when you move? Get in touch with the post office. They’ll be able to set up your forwarding address, so if any items do end up at your old place, then you’ll be able to get them easily redirected.
- Your financial institution
Whether you opt for a bank, a building society or a credit union, you must let them know about your move as soon as possible. You don’t want valuable correspondence — or personal items like new bank cards — being sent to the wrong address. This should be near or at the top of your addresses to change when moving.
- Driver’s licence
Another critical item on the list, your driver’s licence needs to be updated as soon as possible. There can be serious penalties for driving around with the wrong information on your licence, so make sure you get it updated as soon as possible. As it’s a crucial piece of photo ID, it’s also important to make sure it accurately reflects your information, too.
- Vehicle registration
Following on from your license, you’ll also need to update your vehicle’s registration to ensure that its details are accurately recorded.
- Medicare
Your Medicare address details (and any other details that need to be updated) can be easily updated through the MyGov website.
- Utilities
Gas, electricity and water will all need to be switched on at your new place — but they’ll need to be switched off at your old place too. So make sure you get in touch with the appropriate companies ASAP to facilitate the changeover. This can also be an opportunity to switch providers if you’ve been previously considering making the switch.
- Phone/Internet provider
Similar to your utilities, phone and internet services will also need to be switched over when you move house. The sooner you let them know, the smoother the transition will be.
- Emergency contact details
When you move house, it’s critical that you update your emergency contact details — so if there is some kind of incident, you can be assured that the right details will be ready to go. Some of the places where you may need to update your details include:
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- Daycare
- School
- Medical providers
- Office/HR department
- Spouse/partner’s workplace
- Sports clubs
- Religious organisations
- Community organisations
- Newspaper and magazine subscriptions
You don’t want to miss the next issue of your favourite magazine, do you? Make sure you get in touch with the publisher once you know you’re moving. Magazines and other periodicals often have a longer lead time on their address changes, due to the printing and shipping process.
- Memberships
If you belong to community groups like the Lions Club, Rotary, the Freemasons — or any other community group, fan club, reading circle or similar — you’ll want to update your contact details to ensure that you’re receiving all of the relevant communications.
- Insurance providers
Getting your insurance updated is particularly important — particularly if you need to make a claim on any of your policies! Additionally, moving house can be a good time to reassess your policies and see if any of them need to be updated to better reflect your changing circumstances.
- Superannuation
When it comes to taking care of your finances, it’s important to look after your superannuation details. Generally, you can update your address by logging into your account online and making the required changes there.
- Australian Tax Office
Your details can easily be updated for the ATO through your myGov account, provided you have your tax details linked to it.
- Accountant
Your accountant will also be keen to know that you’ve moved. And importantly, you’ll want to make sure that your tax return and other important documents go to the right house!
- Family GP, dentist and specialists
Assuming you’re planning to stay with your GP and dentist when you move, it’s important to let them know about any changes of address. If you’re seeing any specialists, you should also let them know too; in all instances, this can affect information such as appointment reminders, billing, invoices and emergency contacts. So it’s important to make sure they’re up to date on your details.
- Vet
If you’ve got furry friends around your home, you’ll want to get in touch with your vet to update them about your move. It’s not unusual for vets to use mail-based reminders to get in touch about upcoming appointments, vaccination reminders or other crucial services. So make sure that your animal companions are getting the best possible care by updating your details with the vet.
- Family and friends
Last — but definitely not least — you need to get in touch with your family and friends to let them know where you’re moving to! Though doubtless many of them will be aware that you’re planning to move, you’d be surprised at who can slip through the cracks in the lead-up. So make sure that you’re texting, emailing or posting out change of address details to all of your nearest and dearest.