Too often when we move house, we just ring our existing suppliers and give them our new address for them to move us – but do you realise this is costing you money??

 

What we all seem to do, is to leave everything  to the last few days – maybe a week before at the most on average – before we think about organising to get the telephone and broadband installed, move our pay cable or satellite television service and set up our new electric and gas supplies.

 

We just tend to ring our existing suppliers as the bill is to hand and it’s also just as easy to ring them and ask them to move us. Yet the scary thing about all this, in the majority of cases, we actually don’t even ask if they can do us a better deal!

 

WE JUST SAY, MOVE US PLEASE…..

 

but……..why don’t we ask?

 

The simple answer is that we all believe our suppliers are looking after us and have our best interests at heart when they clearly don’t. Just put yourself in their position where you are say charging someone £20.00 per week and that person says “please move us to new address” and you can still charge them £20.00 per week instead of your latest prices of £15.00 per week, what will you do?

 

Of course you aren’t going to mention you can save them money when you can increase your profit from that customer by an extra £5.00 per week!

 

So, to help you save money, I’m going to take you through a few simple steps to save you money - not only save you money in the short term but also in the very long term too!! I hope these simple tips below will provide you points to consider as to why and what you should do when moving house. And before you switch off from reading further because you aren’t moving house, the points below are just as relevant to you too.

 

Telephone:-

 

  1. Ring the competitors of your telephone provider and give them your new address to see how much they charge to put in the phone line and what the on-going monthly contract price will be
  2. Once you have the above prices, go to your existing supplier and say that you are moving and much will this be and the on-going monthly price be.
  3. Once you have this price from them, compare this to the prices in a) above and say that you cheaper prices from other providers but you want to stay with them and what prices will they offer you to beat the other companies and stop you moving supplier?
  4. You will be surprised how soon they change their prices and in many cases, will even offer free transfer of services and free installation which in the majority of cases didn’t offer in b) above

 

Broadband:-

 

  1. Ring the competitors of your broadband/internet provider and give them your new address to see how much they charge to provide new service and what the on-going monthly contract price will be
  2. Once you have the above prices, go to your existing supplier and say that you are moving and much will this be and the on-going monthly price be.
  3. Once you have this price from them, compare this to the prices in a) above and say that you have cheaper prices from other providers but you want to stay with them and what prices will they offer you to beat the other companies and stop you moving supplier?
  4. You will be surprised how soon they change their prices and in many cases, will even offer free transfer of services and free installation which in the majority of cases didn’t offer in a) above
  5. Also, ask for a new router as ideally you should change your router every 2 to 3 years but your broadband supplier want tell you this and no doubt you’ve had your existing for as long as you’ve had the service. Or, if you have ever had a fault, have you noticed how quick they are to say they will send you out a new router? This is why as routers don’t last long due to the changes the way devices connecting to them operate plus the speed of the internet supply increasing also.
  6. You will also see what deals they are offering as many providers are providing money back cashback cards or technology products.

 

Note –
  1. if you are using the same company for your telephone and broadband provision, the deals on offer will be much better for you. Also, it’s worth speaking to (if you have cable or satellite television) your television provider as a combined triple play option could save you even more money and the incentives can be much better too
  2. make sure you do this as soon as you exchange contracts as the supply of the new service can take up to around six weeks and also, it’s easier to push back the insulation than ever trying to bring it forward
  3. also, make sure when agree the contract, take two months off the contract and set that date in calendar (whether this is on your computer or mobile phone). Once you get that date alert two months before the end of the contract, revisit this exercise of speaking to other companies to get their prices before going to your existing supplier to see what offers they will offer for the new contract

 

Television:-

 

  1. If you have Virgin Media, ring Sky (or vice versa) to give them your new address to see how much they charge to install their television offering and what the on-going monthly contract price will be
  2. Once you have the above price, go to Virgin Media (or Sky) and say that you are moving and much will this be and the on-going monthly price be.
  3. Once you have this price from them, compare this to the prices in a) above and say that you have a cheaper offering from Sky (or vice versa with Virgin Media) but you want to stay with them and what prices will they offer you to beat the other companies and stop you moving supplier?
  4. You will be surprised how soon they change their prices and in many cases, will even offer free transfer of services and free installation which in the majority of cases didn’t offer in a) above

 

Note –
  1. if you have your television service from Virgin Media or Sky, also ask them what deals they will offer if they could also provide your telephone and broadband provision too as the deals on offer will be much better for you under a triple play option
  2. also, as stated above, make sure you do this as soon as you exchange contracts as the supply of cable services can take up to around six weeks. Once again, it’s easier to push back the insulation than ever trying to bring it forward
  3. again, make sure when agree the contract, take two months off the contract and set that date in calendar (whether this is on your computer or mobile phone). Once you get that date alert two months before the end of the contract, revisit this exercise of speaking to other companies to get their prices before going to your existing supplier to see what offers they will offer for the new contract

 

Electricity and Gas:-

 

  1. Like with telephone, broadband and television mention above, take the same approach but this time, speak to an Energy Broker (like Invictus At Home) over a comparison site as the savings you will make, will be much more
  2. Once you have got the best deal via your broker, notify them of your moving in date for your service to commence
  3. As soon you get the keys and start to move in, take your meter readings to provide to your new supplier so you only pay for your supply not the previous occupiers
  4. Again, as mentioned within the telephone, broadband and television above, make sure you speak to your broker around two months before your contract ends to get a better deal

 

Water:-

 

  1. When you have exchanged contracts, speak to your existing water provider to find out if they provide the water supply to your new property
  2. If it is them (or the new company who provides water services to your new place), ask them if the property has a water meter or not?
  3. If the property has or doesn’t have a water meter, ask them what is the cheapest option for supplying water services to your new place. You maybe surprised how much having a water meter will save you
  4. Also, if you are having a water fitted, most water companies will offer the service of removing the water meter if it works out more than you were paying before without a water meter – so, bare this in mind

 

Heating:-

 

  1. Whilst this is something many people don’t think about besides having the boiler serviced or checked, it is worth going a stage further here to save you money in the bigger picture
  2. With the way technology is improving in so many ways, it is worth getting a Plumber to look at the boiler and radiators to see how old they are and in what condition they are
  3. Once they have surveyed the boiler and radiators, see how much they would be to get replaced
  4. The reason for doing this, is that if speaking after speaking to the Plumber, the improvement in heating and efficiency is a considerable amount, the improvements in heating the house over the next five years, could be a considerable amount to save
  5. In some cases, the savings could cover the cost of up-grading the boiler and/or the radiators over a five year period
  6. Again, speak to your energy broker and/or plumber, as any Energy Broker (or Invictus At Home) and/or Plumber, will be able to tell you about any grants or funding towards new boilers etc from could be on offer
  7. Any grant or funding towards your heating is always an added incentive to help you save money in the longer term
  8. Another option is to also consider Ground Source or Air Source heating as whist the costs installing this may see high, once paid for, you not have to pay any heating bills again as these forms of heating are free moving forward
  9. (again, with Ground Source and/or Air Source heating, grants are available for these insulation, once more, speak to your Energy Broker (or Invictus At Home) or Plumber)
  10. It is also worth considering looking at what smart technology is available to help you run your heating more efficiently. Again, your Energy Broker (or Invictus At Home) or any decent Plumber will be able to help you here
  11. With Smart Technology becoming more and common place, these products will help to save you even more money in the longer term

 

Lighting:-

 

  1. As you know, when you are approaching your moving in date (or if this has been part of the mortgage survey), you will know the state of the Electrics and if the circuit board needs updating or not
  2. The reason for mentioning this, is that by speaking to your Electrician who is carrying out the survey, you will find out the state of your lighting and what condition it is in
  3. Whenever we move, we always change the light fittings to add our own personal touch to each room but more often than not, we never really consider the light bulb
  4. By speaking to your Electrician, you’ll be able to discover what the most efficient lighting is and how the addition of LED lighting will help you
  5. Whilst the cost of installing LED may be an expense you don’t won’t to spend, the savings on both replacing light bulbs and operating costs over the next five years or more, will be a considerable amount and make this cost, a cost worth spending
  6. Another point to consider, is also looking at what smart technology is available to help you run not just your lighting but other electrical appliances more efficiently. Again, your Energy Broker (or Invictus At Home) or any decent Electrician will be able to help you here
  7. With Smart Technology becoming more and common place, these products will help to save you even more money in the longer term

 

Windows:-

 

  1. This is something that could up on your mortgage survey as to whether they need replacing or not
  2. If the survey said that some or all need replacing, make sure you chose the most energy efficient ones as again, this will save you a lot of money in heating costs over the years ahead
  3. If your survey has said they don’t need to replacing as part of the condition of the mortgage, replacing the external doors and windows is something that should be considered. Again, the manufacture of windows and doors has significantly improved over the last few years, both the efficiency of these and their security offerings can affect not only the savings you will make on your heating but also possibly savings on your house insurance costs too

 

I trust that this article will show you why speaking to an Energy Broker such as Invictus At Home will help you to not only save money on your Energy Bills but also show how Technology and Future Technology will help save you money in the longer term by investing your time at looking your current utility costs and by making improvements to your home can offer.

 

 

This is series of articles for Invictus Utilities based on how Energy Savings can be made and the role of Technology can play in helping you save money when running your own home, written by Ian Calvert commissioned by Invictus At Home and Invictus Utilities. Ian Calvert is an independent Business Consultant providing advice and assistance to both individuals, organisations and businesses when it comes to Technology and #TheFutureOfWork. Ian also is an Huawei KOL, IBM Futurist and Public Speaker on #TheNewWayToWork and Technology. For more information about Ian Calvert, please visit www.IanCalvert.tel