When you move house with Palmers Relocations you are assured everything is done to make your move an effortless and agreeable experience. We provide all the services you need. For instance, our team can pack, move then unpack your belongings at your new home. Moving overseas? Not a problem, we manage the customs documents for you and much more.
Still, there are a few things on your moving house checklist that only you can do, such as change your address for all your services and subscriptions. While people have to request a change of address themselves, we can use our expertise to make it much more convenient. To do so, we have compiled the ultimate change of address checklist you’ll ever need to when moving house.
Why You Must Change The Address When Moving?
Confidential Mails Received at Home
The obvious aspect is that you may miss important mail information from the government, bank, insurance and other companies.
Also, you sometimes cannot have automatic recurring payments. In that case, invoices are mailed to your address for you to pay. If when moving you do not change your address, you may face issues at some point. It can result in missing the billing cycle for a company and having penalties for late payments or even worth, they can cut the service you use.
Another aspect to consider is your privacy. We tend to forget that mails we receive are private and contain personal information. We don’t want them being opened and read by other people. Hopefully, most often people who moved into your old home will let you know and/or post them back to the sender.
All in all, it is always easier to change your address while you are still living in the same place rather than living on the other side of the world. You can also thank technology. Nowadays, more and more services and utility providers have a website where you can change and update your details 24/7.
Is Mail Redirection Service Useful?
Mail redirection is a great service that will help you not to miss any mail. Basically, redirection services such as the one offered by Australia Post in Australia redirect your mail for a certain period. All the mails are received and held at the post office. Then they are redirected to the new address of your choice.
For example, Australia Post offers several options from personnel/concessions to home office and business. It starts from 1 month and up to 12 months of mail and parcel redirection. If you are a family and people receive mail at the same address, the service allows you to redirect up to 6 names for the same price. The good news is that the Australia Post redirection service works within Australia as well as overseas.
Another great feature of this service is the option to notify banks, energy providers and telcos of your change of address automatically.
That being said, keep in mind that it’s a great short-term solution. You will still have to request and update your details with the organisations your need for a long term move. But that gives you a little time to do the procedures.
How to Keep Track of the Mail You Receive?
Our quick pro tip for keeping track of your important incoming mail is to put down a list of the names of companies or organisations they are from. By doing so, changing your address the D-day will be much easier.
Change of Address Ultimate Checklist
Here we are. This is the only address change checklist you will need. We have grouped under categories everywhere you need to change your old address over your new one. Let dive into the change of address checklist:
Government Organisations
The government needs to send you important and personal documents. This is particularly true for the Australians elections, for example. So, when moving house, make sure to start with government agencies such as:
- Australian Electoral Commission
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Concession Cards
- Department of Human Services which covers Medicare, Centrelink, child support, Veterans’ Affairs etc…
- Senior Cards
Other Non-Government Administrations
- Australian Post
- Charities
- Library
- Local councils
- Superannuation
Cars and Vehicles
- Car Insurance
- Driver licence
- Rego
- Road Assistance
- Road Toll
- Roads and Maritime Services
Banking and Related
- Bank
- Accountant
- Life insurance
- Loan company
Health and Medical Practitioners
Your medical information is very important. You must inform all the medical corps that you are moving house. They need to update your details and change your address in order to send them to a new practitioner or keep following your health.
- Hospital
- GP
- Specialists:
- Chiropractor
- Dentist
- Optometrist
- Orthodontist
- Osteopath
- Physiotherapist
- Health Insurance
Work and School
Same as health and medical practitioners. You need to inform schools, uni, etc. that you move. Your file needs to be transferred to the new place you or your kids will study.
- Childcare
- Employer
- Schools
- TAFE
- University
Leisure and Recreational
For some of the organisations below, you will need to cancel your subscription such as the sporting club. If you use a franchise gym club, you might still be able to go to a club in another city in Australia. For magazines, newspapers, etc. you can ask for them to be redirected to your new address
- Sporting clubs
- Gym
- Magazine subscriptions
- Newspaper subscriptions
- Store Cards
- Unions
Pets
Inform your pet vet of your move so he can pass on the health record of your cat, dog and other pets to his colleague. Besides, you will need to update your pet microchip. It’s super important because pets tend to be lost easily when they move into a new environment.
- Pet insurance
- Pet microchip registry
- Veterinarian
Utilities and Service Providers
In most cases, you can keep the same utility or service provider. You will need to let them know which date you expect to move, so you can enjoy hot water, electricity and the Internet straight after having moved into your new home. It can also be the best opportunity to look for the concurrence and compare prices for something cheaper.
- Electricity
- Gas
- Home and contents insurance
- Other types of insurance provider
- Internet provider
- Streaming services (Netflix, Stan, Foxtel, etc.).
- Telephone
- Water
Friends and Family
- And of course, don’t forget to give your new address to your family and friends. Yes, it’s obvious but it’s easy to forget. For example, last time I moved, I forgot to give my new address to a friend and She wanted to send me something via mail but she had to call me to ask what my new address was. Not a big deal, but I ruined her birthday surprise…
Now that you went through your change of address checklist, we have a few more tips to make it even more effective.
Unsubscribe From Old Mail Listing
Like everyone else, we all have in the past requested to receive mail-order catalogues or join loyalty programs from different companies. Maybe you don’t even open them anymore but you never took the time to remove our address from the listing? Well, the time has come to remedy it.
If you don’t want to remove your address from the companies’ listing, you can switch to an online version of the catalogue. It helps to reduce the consumption of paper which is better for the planet. Talking about the environment, we put some great tips on how to make your move more eco-friendly.
Keep Records of Your Request When Changing Your Address
Part of the process when you change the address on a website or in person is to keep a record of your request. This is important if you need to claim something later because you haven’t either received a parcel, an invoice or a fine for not voting. So make sure to keep a copy as it will be the only way you have to contest any error, late fees, fines, etc.