Utilities

Telephone
The telecommunications market is an extremely competitive one with the companies involved continuously offering new and better deals to attract your custom. We strongly suggest you take the time and effort to shop around, as you will most certainly benefit from cheaper calls.

However be aware that some companies offer good deals to attract you to their services only for the charges to increase (quite dramatically in some cases) after an initial period.

In short, do your homework.

Below is a list of the major telephone companies across the country with contact numbers. When calling remember to discuss the Internet as this will also affect your call charges.

Water
Water companies are regional so you really don't have a choice as to which company you may use. Costs vary considerably from home to home. We strongly recommend calling your water company as soon as you move in to clarify prices, responsibilities, etc…

Electricity and Gas
There have been some major changes in the electricity and gas market over the past few years. Now most companies can offer both gas and electricity, and in most cases might be able to offer cheaper telephone calls as well. This has made the market extremely competitive and you should take the time to shop around. However you do need to be aware that if you decide not to use the current supplier of gas and electricity to your home it WILL TAKE TIME for the other companies to be able to supply your home. Hence you should start enquiring with the relevant companies BEFORE moving in so that you are not left short without gas or electricity. 

We suggest starting the process about three to four weeks before moving in. Any company you contact will need to know who is currently supplying the house so make sure you know!

Obviously if you decide to purchase all services from one company there are benefits in terms of savings.

If you smell gas or think you have a gas leak do not hesitate to call the Gas Emergency Number 0800 111 999.
 

TV License
With regards to the TV License there are a number of specific rules relating to students that you should be aware of. Mainly;

- If you are sharing a home or tenancy you only need one license for the home regardless of how many TV sets there are.
- If you are in halls or rooms let under separate tenancy agreements you will need a separate license for every TV set.

You should be aware that a License Inspector can give on the spot fines of up to 
£ 1000 without any prior notice or warning. It is not a good idea to wait for a warning letter to pay - it may never come or the Inspector may come first!
Students are a favourite target for the inspectors so pay up!!

There are a number of ways to pay for your TV License; you can pay in all the normal ways (cheque/ credit card/ debit card) and you can even pay by direct debit over the course of a year - but they will charge you extra for this privilege!


Council Tax
As long as everyone in your house is a full time student there is no council tax to pay.
However if there is even just one person living in the house who is not a full time student then council tax will become due. Be aware that in these cases the Council Tax is the responsibility of everyone in the house to pay NOT just the person who is not a full time student. (That's how the council will look at it!).

Generally students wait to be contacted by the council regarding their council tax. However we have heard stories of students who were not contacted for over two years and then made to pay full council tax liability since they had not notified the council that they were students!!

If all the students in your property are full-time you should contact your college/ university to obtain an exemption certificate and then pass this on to the Local Council.

Insurance
We shall begin with a short lesson in insurance!!
There are basically two types of insurance regarding the home. There is building insurance and contents insurance. Building Insurance generally covers bricks and mortar and anything attached to it in terms of fixtures and fittings. Contents Insurance covers anything else in the house and generally relates to anything that is removable. 

Your landlord is responsible for the building insurance and this is covered in your rent. It is also quite normal for the landlord to have some type of contents insurance but this will only relate to his personal goods within the house. 
If you take anything into the house it is your responsibility to insure it.

Our view is that insurance is one of today's necessities and we strongly recommend that everyone has contents insurance. Students' homes have always been fair game for the burglars and it is surely better to be safe rather than sorry!

Of course insurance rates vary dramatically and it in essential that you shop around.
Rates will depend on your location, your type of insurance (make sure you check what is included/ excluded from your policy and check to see what excess you may have to pay). However do not sell yourself short by giving yourself less insurance cover than you ideally need because if the worst happens you will not get paid out to the degree you expect.


Electoral Role
The law states that during an election you may only vote once. So you must decide if you would prefer to vote from your parents' home or your student accommodation.
Don't worry about contacting the relevant authorities - they will most certainly be contacting you. 

There is a delay in getting your name on the electoral role after you have passed over the relevant information - this is only a problem if there is an imminent election.
However you should be aware of the delays involved.

It is practical to remain registered at your parents' address since you can now vote by postal ballot. However the choice is yours!