One item on every moving list carries a £1,000 fine
GOV.UK does not hedge about it: "You can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA when your address changes", and "It does not cost anything to change your address with DVLA."
A free job, done online in about five minutes, with a four-figure penalty attached for not doing it. That is the most mispriced item on any moving list, and on every list it appears somewhere in the middle between the dentist and the gym membership as though it carried the same weight.
And it is two jobs, not one. The driving licence and the V5C log book are separate updates, and doing the licence does not do the log book. People update the licence, feel they have dealt with DVLA, and stop. The V5C is also where your tax reminder is sent, so an out of date one causes problems that surface later rather than straight away.
The order matters more than the list does
Most moving checklists are one long undated column of forty things. That format hides the only two items that cannot be done late.
- Redirection has to be set up before you go. It needs at least five working days to start. Leave it to moving day and there is no version of it that works.
- Meter readings can only be taken on the day. Once the keys are handed back the opportunity is gone permanently, and the account closes on an estimate instead.
Everything else survives being done a week late. So this list is sorted into before, on the day and after, rather than alphabetically or by how much anybody cares.
Photograph the meters. All of them. Both properties
Gas, electricity and water, at the place you are leaving and the place you are arriving at. Take the serial number as well as the reading, because the supplier will ask which meter it was and there is often more than one.
It takes ten minutes on a day when you have none to spare, and it is the entire evidence base for every billing dispute that follows. Suppliers argue with customers routinely and they do not argue with a dated photograph.
The electoral roll is a credit item
It is on this list for a reason that has nothing to do with voting. Lenders use the electoral roll to confirm that you live where you say you live, so being absent from it at your current address is a quiet mark against your file.
Quiet is the problem. Nobody writes to tell you. It surfaces months later when a mortgage application, car finance or even a phone contract is declined for no reason anybody will explain, and by then you have an unexplained refusal on the record too.
What redirection does not do
Worth knowing before relying on it as a safety net. Post addressed to "The Occupier" is not redirected at all, and a business redirection is a separate service from a residential one, so a company run from a home address is not covered by the household redirection.
Treat redirection as the thing that catches what you forgot, not as a substitute for telling people. Anything you cannot afford to miss gets told directly.
Two more that get skipped
Your insurers, before you move. Car insurance is priced on where the vehicle is kept overnight, so the address is a rated fact rather than an admin detail, and not telling them can leave a policy voidable. Contents cover on the new place needs to start the day your things arrive rather than the day you do.
The microchip register, if you have an animal. Not the vet, the database. A chip registered to an address now full of strangers is no use whatsoever, and it is the only thing that gets a lost pet back to you. It is five minutes online, and nothing else on this list gets forgotten as often.
Print it and carry it
The PDF has a tick box against every line and the reason it is there next to it, because a checklist without reasons gets skimmed and a checklist with them gets followed. Items with a real consequence attached are marked separately: a fine, a voided policy, a lost deposit, a damaged credit file, or an animal nobody can return to you.
Common questions
Can I be fined for not changing my address on my driving licence?
Yes. GOV.UK states it plainly: you can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA when your address changes, and it does not cost anything to do it. A free five-minute job carrying a four-figure fine is the most mispriced item on any moving list, and it is always buried in the middle between the dentist and the gym.
Is updating my licence the same as updating my log book?
No, they are two separate jobs and doing one does not do the other. People miss this: they update the driving licence, feel they have dealt with DVLA and leave the V5C. The log book is also where your tax reminder gets sent, so an out of date one goes wrong.
How far in advance do I need to set up mail redirection?
At least five working days, so it cannot be done on moving day. It is also the main thing standing between you and identity fraud at your old address, because a bank statement landing on a doormat you no longer control is exactly where that starts.
Does redirection forward everything?
No. Post addressed to "The Occupier" is not redirected, and a business redirection is a separate service from a residential one. Anything you cannot afford to miss should be told your new address directly rather than left to the forwarding to catch.
Why does the electoral roll matter if I am not bothered about voting?
Because lenders use it to confirm you live where you say you do. Being missing from the roll at your current address quietly damages your credit file, and it is usually discovered months later when a mortgage, a car finance application or a phone contract is declined for no obvious reason.
What is the one thing I should do on moving day itself?
Photograph every meter at both properties, readings and serial numbers. It takes ten minutes on a day you have none to spare, it can only be done then, and it is the entire evidence base for every billing dispute that follows. A supplier arguing with a dated photograph is a short conversation.