Moving House: Energy Meter Readings and Account Checks

At a glance

  • Tell the relevant suppliers when responsibility for each property changes.
  • Record and photograph accessible meter readings on moving-out and moving-in dates, including all relevant registers.
  • Register with the existing supplier at the new home and check the first and final bills.
  • Keep tenancy or completion records alongside readings. Moving dates, account dates and responsibility for charges need to agree.

Moving-day readings help separate your consumption from the previous or next occupant’s. The useful record combines the reading, the meter, the address and the date—not just a close-up number without context.

This is household guidance, mainly for Great Britain. Where a property has shared heating, bills included in rent or another unusual arrangement, establish who supplies and charges for the energy before assuming the usual separate-account process applies.

On this page

Before leaving the old home

Tell each supplier that you are moving and give the date your responsibility ends. Citizens Advice’s moving-home guidance recommends giving advance notice and providing final readings and a forwarding address. Check whether your tariff has any moving or exit conditions.

Find all relevant meters in good time, particularly in a block of flats or shared meter cupboard. Identify the meter serial numbers. If there are separate gas and electricity suppliers, notify both.

If you cannot safely reach or identify a meter, ask the supplier, landlord or managing agent for help. Do not climb into an unsafe space or interfere with equipment to obtain a photograph.

Make a useful moving-day record

On the day responsibility changes, record:

  • The property address and whether this is an opening or closing reading.
  • The date and approximate time.
  • The fuel and meter serial number.
  • Every relevant reading, with register labels where there is more than one.
  • Any access difficulty, fault or missing information.

Photograph the display clearly and, where practical, the serial number on the same meter. Keep an original copy with your moving records. A dated note and supplier submission confirmation make the evidence easier to interpret; photo metadata alone does not settle every dispute.

For a multi-rate electricity meter, record both or all applicable registers. Do not assume a register labelled “1” or “2” always means the same pricing period. Citizens Advice explains the main meter types.

Send the reading and keep confirmation

Submit the final reading through the supplier’s accepted channel. Save the confirmation, account reference and any message about closing the account. Ask how it will issue the final bill and deal with any credit or debt.

Check that the final bill ends on the correct responsibility date and uses the correct readings. Do not assume cancelling a Direct Debit closes an energy account or cancels an outstanding balance.

A smart meter is useful, but it is still sensible to keep your own moving-day record. Automatic readings may be unavailable or an account may use an estimate. Leave the property’s in-home display for the next occupant; it belongs with that metering system. Energy Saving Trust provides a moving-house energy checklist.

At the new home

Take opening readings when you become responsible for the supply, ideally before substantial use. Notify the existing supplier, give your details and agree the relevant date and opening readings.

Moving your preferred supplier or tariff is not the same as immediately ending the existing supplier’s responsibility. There can be an initial period with the incumbent supplier before a switch completes. Establish the account and check its terms rather than ignoring correspondence because you intend to switch.

If you do not know the supplier, ask the landlord, previous occupant or agent and verify the information through the appropriate supplier or network service. Check both fuels; they need not have the same supplier.

Responsibility is not always the day you carry in furniture

Tenancy, ownership and account arrangements can mean your responsibility starts before you physically move in or ends after you leave. An empty property can still incur charges.

Keep the tenancy agreement, completion statement or handover record that explains the dates. If responsibility is disputed, give the supplier the documents and ask it to explain its position. Do not assume either a photograph or a landlord’s informal statement determines the legal position by itself.

As a new occupant, you should not be required to take on another person’s energy debt simply because you moved into the property. If the account includes earlier charges, ask for a breakdown and provide evidence of when your responsibility began. Seek independent advice if the dispute continues.

If there is a prepayment meter

Contact the supplier before using an inherited key, card or account arrangement. It may need to reset the meter or issue new payment details so that previous-account deductions are not applied to you.

Do not use emergency credit as a long-term solution without understanding repayment. If you cannot top up, or the meter is unsuitable or inaccessible, ask for help. Ofgem explains prepayment support and access problems.

Check the first and final bills together

Compare the old home’s closing date and reading, the new home’s opening date and reading, and any later switching reading. These are different events and may have different suppliers.

Look for the wrong serial number, transposed digits, a missing register or an estimate that conflicts with your evidence. For gas, check whether the meter is metric or imperial. An opening reading error can affect several subsequent bills.

If you could not read the meter on the exact day, explain when the reading was taken and any energy use in between. Ask the supplier to agree a reasonable boundary reading instead of labelling a later reading as if it were taken earlier.

If there is a dispute

Send a concise chronology: the property, responsibility dates, account references, reading photographs, submission confirmations and disputed bill lines. Ask for the account to be corrected and a written explanation.

Use the supplier’s formal complaints procedure if needed. The Energy Ombudsman explains which unresolved disputes it can consider and when. Keep an organised copy of what you send, rather than repeatedly recreating the history.

Sources and further reading

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