Moving home?

According to Ofgem, the energy regulator, if you’re directly responsible for your own energy bills, you’re entitled to switch to a new energy company whenever you want.

Your landlord or letting agent can’t stop you unless they have a very good reason. Even if they’ve included a ‘preferred supplier’ clause in your lease or rental agreement, they can’t enforce it, and you don’t need to stay with the provider they’ve chosen.

The only time when a landlord can insist on an energy supplier is if they (the landlord) are directly responsible for paying the energy bills. For example, if they:

• Have included energy costs in your rent or charges.
• Pay the energy bills and collect the money from you later.
• Are responsible for paying the bills and keeping the property on supply between tenancies.

You can find out more about your rights as a tenant here.

If OVO already supplies your new home, we can look at the previous tenant or owner’s bills and energy use. Then we can let you know what your average monthly energy costs are likely to be.

If you’re switching to us, we’ll need to wait for some industry data to come through. This will tell us the Estimated Annual Consumption for your new home. If you’re paying monthly for your energy, we’ll base your new monthly payments on this data.

Yes, this is possible – but we can’t move it very far. For example, if it’s too low or high for you to read, we can move it up or down, but not more than a meter. We’ll have to charge you for this, but the amount will depend on what kind of work, and how much, we need to do.

If you get in touch with us, we’ll arrange for an engineer to come and check your property and explain your options. We definitely can’t:

• Move a meter from inside your home to outside.
• Move it more than one metre from its distribution fuse.
• Move meters from one wall to another.
• Move meters off the meter board  (this a board fixed to the wall, which also supports your main electrical fuse box).

If you want your meter/s moved away from the meter board, you’ll need to contact your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO).

You can find out more about moving meters here.

Even if you’re moving into a new-build, the gas and electricity at your new home should already be switched on.

The previous owner, or the construction company if it’s a new-build, should have left you documents showing which company is supplying your energy. You can then decide whether you want to stay with the same provider, or if you’d prefer to switch.

As soon as you’re financially liable for the property (probably on the day you ‘complete’ the purchase) you’ll start being responsible for the bills. Make sure the previous owner has contacted the energy company and given them a meter reading when they left – otherwise you could end up paying for some of their energy.

Even if you’re planning to switch to a new provider, contact the existing energy company right away to let them know you’re the new owner and when you moved in.

Find out more about moving home here.

We’ll email you as soon as we’re ready for your first meter readings. Once you’ve received our email, you need to send us your readings straight away in My OVO.

They’re important because we can match them against the closing readings from the previous owner or tenant to make sure you don’t pay for any of their energy. Find out more here.

If you’re an OVO customer, just log into My OVO to let us know you’re moving. We’ll need you to tell us the exact date when you’re moving out and give us your final readings on the day. We’ll then create a final bill for you.

If you’re a homeowner, you should also contact other utility companies, such as water, phone line, broadband, cable or satellite TV etc. They’ll need to know your moving date, and they’ll probably ask for details of the new owner or tenant.

If you’re a tenant, you only need to contact utilities if you’re responsible for the bills. For example, if your landlord pays the water rates, you don’t need to contact the water company.

You’ll find more useful info about moving home here.

No – but you can start a new contract once you’ve moved in.

Your current OVO plan only applies to your present address – which means you need to close your OVO account and re-apply to join us at your new address.

It’s possible we already supply your new home, which will make things easier, but you’ll still need to cancel your current OVO contract and set up a new one.

Find out more here.

That depends on why you want to change it.

If you’re leaving a rented home and one of the other tenants wants to take over the OVO contract, they just need to call us on 0330 303 5063 – or you can let us know in My OVO. Click on ‘Moving home’ in ‘My profile’ and follow the prompts. We’ll need various details, including the date they want to take over the contract, their name and date of birth, and their email address – you’ll find a full list here.

If you’re taking over the lease at a rented home where we supply the energy, just call us on 0330 303 5063, or ask the current account holder to let us know in My OVO. We’ll need to know the full address and postcode, plus various other details listed here.

If you’ve split up or separated from a partner and you’re leaving home, you need to update us in My OVO if you want your ex to take over the bills. Click on ‘ Moving home’ in ‘My profile’ and follow the prompts. You can only do this if you’re the named OVO account holder.

If a named OVO account holder has died and you need to take over responsibility for the contract, please call us on 0330 303 5063 or 01179 303 100. We’ll ask you for the name of the person who has died, their OVO account number, and various other details.

If you’re an OVO customer and you refer a new customer, we’ll be delighted to give you both a choice of £25 M&S, Argos or Amazon.co.uk gift cards* when they join. 

However, we can’t offer you any rewards if you’re not yet an OVO customer.

If you’re responsible for paying the bills in your new home and are the named account holder on your energy bills, you don’t need your landlord's approval to book a smart meter installation. However, you might want to let them know what’s happening first.

If your landlord pays the energy bills and they're the named account holder on the bills, they’ll have to approve the smart meter installation. You can tell them about all the benefits and explain that the government wants every home to have one by 2020.

If you're planning on switching soon, you might want to wait and get your smart meter installed with your new supplier. If you have a smart meter installed before you switch, it might keep its smart features with your new supplier depending on the kind of smart meter you have. You can find out more about the different generations of smart meters and what this means for your switch here.

We're currently installing smart meters for our customers across the UK. You'll need your OVO account number and postcode to book – click here to get started.

Your letting agent, landlord or previous owner should have left you documents with details of the existing energy provider. Or they may be in a legal pack from your conveyancing solicitor.

If not, try these checks:

• Look for energy statements in the info you’ve been given.
• Contact the letting agent, landlord or previous owner.
• If you’ve got prepayment meters, have a look for the brand name on either the meters or the electricity meter key/gas meter card.

If none of this helps, find your meter serial numbers and telephone the Meter Point Administration Service (MPAS) on 0870 608 1524 or get in touch with your Distribution Network Operator – you’ll find their details here.  

We’ve provided other helpful info about moving home in OVO Help.

Simply visit the PayPoint website and type in the postcode of your new home.