DDL

I am American and my husband is British. We are in our 50s and recently moved back to the UK after 6 happy years in America.

I (and several others) had previously been sharing practical information about moving back to the UK on another thread that, unfortunately, became quite bogged down with off-topic posts, making it difficult (regardless of what may be said about the search function) to find answers to our questions.

After receiving quite a number of very nice messages from some very nice people (and with a nod from the moderators), I've decided to start a series of NEW informational threads on a variety of practical topics so those of us already back in the UK can share our discoveries, victories, challenges (and defeats) so that, hopefully, those of you still in the midst of planning your move can benefit from our experiences, and ask questions.

It is my desire for these threads to be fun and friendly and inasmuch as possible: stay on-topic.

I intend on posting some 'starter' comments, but you'll have to bear with me as we are still in the midst of moving into our new flat, and we both work full-time. In the meantime, please feel free to introduce yourself and fire away with any questions/concerns you might have.

Also hope to see some familiar faces back here - we're all in this together!

DDL

I have been surprised at the big difference between the US and the UK with regard to utilities when moving into a rental property. I assume it is this way everywhere in the UK. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

When we took possession of our property, all the basic utilities (water, gas & electric) were still turned on from the previous tenant. After a week or so, we received a Welcome letter addressed to us from British Gas saying that our first bill should arrive in 3 months.

Next, we received a letter and a bill addressed to us from the water company. The water/sewer bill covered a 1-year period that was based on our 'rateable value' - whatever that is. We were given either a month to pay the bill in full or 2 months to pay it in 2 equal installments. (All of this could be done online.) We can also set up a Direct Debit monthly payment.

We have yet to receive any type of electric bill.

I will address telephone, cable television and Broadband in a separate post.

Mummy in the foothills

It was all on at the house I rented too, I just called the electric, gas and telephone to tell them the day that I moved in. They also just turned the phone back on and I had the same number as the family who lived there before me, which I thought was strange they didn't move far but had to have a new number.
I put money aside each month or that 3 month bill seemed too big to contemplate.

Sally Redux

'Rateable value' refers to the old way of collecting what is now council tax. Each property's value was assessed on what it could be let for. This is still used to charge for water in properties which don't have a meter.

ANGIE1956

How much on average does a monthly electricity bill run? I live in florida and mine runs about $175 in summer and about $100 in the winter, thats a month.

Bluegrass Lass

Ok. So it's possible you don't pay based on what you actually use? What if you have 4people living in a 2 bedroom flat? They will use more water than 2 people in 2bdrm. Seems a bit unfair.

Is it possible for screw-ups to occur and accidentally get charged for utilities in the previous tenants name?

DDL

Hi Angie, I can't answer your question yet because we haven't received a bill. I will definitely keep everyone here posted, though.

Although it's June, our daytime temps lately have been in the 60s and it still gets chilly at night. Our central heating boiler is gas, so our electric bill will only be for lights and electric usage.

DDL

That's wild about the phone! I don't think I'd particularly like that. We got a new number here. We have our cable tv/Broadband/telephone all bundled with SKY, but each service was connected at different times. Cable tv one week; phone, the next; and Broadband last of all. Took almost a month before everything was working.

Mummy in the foothills

It was weird I used to get phone calls from his work after hours he was on call and would give them his new number (he was my landlord LOL)

anishq

Thanks for this initiative. I look forward to reading your threads.

Beedubya

You can have a water meter installed free of charge, and if after 13 months it doesn't work for you, then you can opt to go back to the original way of paying.

I am thinking of having one installed as I am 1 person in a 1 bedroom flat, and out at work all day, as you say it seems a bit crazy to be paying the same as others who would be using much more of the resources.

I don't know about DDL, but when I moved into this flat the estate agent informed the council, the electric and the gas people, and I had already arranged the phone/Internet, so I won't be paying anybody else's utility bills.

Funnily enough I was just onto the water people last night setting up a monthly direct debit which I have also done with the electric and the gas.

between two worlds

Hello DDL just want to thank you for starting these information threads. Very useful and interesting.

You may have addressed this already, but was SKY clearly the best choice, in your opinion, for TV/broadband/phone bundle? Or perhaps there isn't much to choose between the major companies?

Tina

DDL

Hi Tina, and thanks for your nice words.

In our research - and for what we were after and for our location - yes, SKY was best. The clincher for us/me was that for an extra £5 per month, I get UNLIMITED calls to U.S. landlines AND mobile phones (all 3 of my adult children have mobiles), which I think is a superb deal.

No problems whatsoever with our Broadband, either. However....

...we've had some major irksome issues with our cable, but it really isn't SKY's fault. The house we are living in is 3 stories tall and because it is built upon a hill, there is a lower-ground floor which means that we kind of have a 'moat' around the house. Well, we tied in to the existing satellite dish on the house but on a windy day (and there are plenty - we're high atop a hill) the tall trees on the property next door do a number on our signal and it's positively maddening with constant pixelation of the tv picture or the dropping off of satellite connection altogether. We finally had SKY come back out and were told that in order to get a good signal, the dish should actually be located on the chimney but that we would have to pay for an individual to come out and relocate it, that even SKY's 'special heights team' did not have a ladder that tall!

Well, hubby doesn't really want to shell out the extra money for that, so we are actually considering dropping the cable tv portion of our bundle and just sticking with Freeview - but we'll keep SKY Broadband and the phone.

Something for people to bear in mind with regard to a satellite dish ... the height of your house and any interference with tall trees!

Hope this helps.

Denise

DDL

By the way, here's a breakdown on cost for SKY:

Per month:

Sky Cable Basic £21.50
Extra Cable Subscription £10.25
Sky Talk £11.25
Sky Talk Unlimited £5.00
Sky Broadband Unlimited £12.50

Total per month £60.50 less £5 credit because of Sky Talk = £55.50/month

mikelincs

When you move into a property, PLEASE, PLEASE ensure you take a meter reading on the day for any utilities. In rental proprties this is SUPPOSED to be done by the agents, but not always. When you contact the utilities people to say you have moved in give them the meter reading, and refuse to pay any bills for dates before that, pass those on to the agents