While you work in the NHS, you may need to relocate to different places for many different reasons. Changing places may be necessary when you change your non-training jobs, switch from non-training to training jobs or even within training jobs at different rotations/year. No doubt, relocating processes are always very stressful and if not planned well, may lead to many legal, technical/ non-technical hurdles or chances of identity fraud. Here I am going to make a checklist of things that you should not miss while you relocate to a new place.
1. Transportation
First and foremost, you need to sort out a transport van to move your furniture and belongings to the new place. There are many van companies that can offer you quotes for you to decide on the cheapest and most reliable ones. I used AnyVan for the transport services.
I used this link: https://www.anyvan.com
You can put all the details like pickup address, drop off address, things you want to move, if you need additional helpers, if it is ground floor to ground floor move or to move at different flooring levels, type of insurance you want for your belongings etc. Once done a quote will be generated and it will allow you to book the transport.
Transportation costs can be claimed as per the relocation policy of the trust. Hence always check the policy from the trust that you are about to join, to avoid frustrations in the end. My trust wanted me to give them three competitive quotes and the payment proof as well. You can always get the quotes by googling different movers’ companies in the UK and then attach them as proof of how you selected the cheapest one. They might also need the tenancy agreement of your previous and new address as proof of miles travelled. Be careful that there might be a maximum limit on how much you can claim in one move (in my case 500£), the minimum miles of transport for eligibility (in my case minimum 30 miles of movement), and the rate of expense for travel (in my case 28P per miles).
2. Storage facility
Many times, you might need to vacate the accommodation that you are staying at, without the new place being available to you. If there are such gaps of a few days to weeks, you can always use the storage facility offered by different companies during that gap period to store home furniture. You can google these companies for the quotes as well. Companies like Big yellow, Pick fords, Safe store, Britannia movers, Love space, Express movers, Pick and move, Fantastic removals, etc offers this facility. Do check out on them and also read your relocation policy or ask the relocation team whether this can be claimed as well. I didn’t use this facility as my new place was already ready at the time of my relocation.
You may need good quality storage boxes of various sizes to pack your stuff during the removal. For this, ask the pharmacy department of your trust for the boxes. They usually recycle this box and will always be happy if you are going to take them. You can get boxes of all sizes and types there.
3. Finding an accommodation
This is the most difficult part of the entire relocation process. Houses or flats near hospitals are always in high demand and expensive, but always keep such a place as your first priority as it will reduce your cost to commute and also take off a lot of stress every day to get parking space at the hospital. Check out websites like Right move, Spare rooms, Zoopla, Open rent etc to find new accommodation. Turn on the push notification on these websites to get email updates whenever the new property gets available. Also, google the local agent available on the place and get in contact with them as they might get more ads than the above websites. Ask your friends to add you to the Doctors mess committee of the hospital and drop your post there about the room you want or check on them daily to see if new accommodation gets posted. I got mine this way rather than through an agency. Agency would want to arrange in-person viewing before they can finalise the deal. Some relocation policy includes the cost of this visit to the place as well.
4. Utilities
Basic utilities you would need to sign up in the new place are Gas, Electricity, Water, Council Tax and TV/Broadband/Landline.
For Gas and Electricity check who the current supplier is and sign up for the new account or join the new supplier if you get cheaper quotes. Sign up for a smart meter if the property doesn’t have one, as they are always free and saves a lot of hassle rather than joining direct debits or prepaid top-up card system. For water, there will be most likely one supplier in the area. Go to their website, sign up for an account and provide your first-meter reading.
For council tax, google the local council website and create an account there as well. Keep your spouse's name in the council tax to help in the ILR process in future.
If you have a TV/Broadband/Landline subscription already then contact your provider for relocation. Contact them at least 3-4 weeks early so that your service doesn’t get disconnected. Don’t forget to change your address in the TV license as well to keep it valid at all times. If your new address has poor connectivity to your existing mobile network provider, you can change that easily to the different one. For this, you need to get the new provider’s sim and get the PAC (Porting Authorisation Code) from your existing network provider. Providing this PAC code to your new provider will allow you to keep the same mobile number while switching the network to the new one. The simplest way to get this PAC is by texting PAC to 65075. If you are not able to get it this way, call your network provider.
5. Changing address, workplace and role in your medical indemnity service
Your professional indemnity cover becomes invalid on changing your address and workplace. Hence get in touch with their customer service team and change your position, job role, address and workplace. You may do this online or via a telephone call.
6. Changing address in GMC and other areas relevant to your job
You will need an up-to-date address in your GMC online portal. Hence log on to their website ( https://www.gmc-uk.org/gmc-online-dashboard) and change your home address there. Also if relevant change your addresses in BMA membership account to avoid delivery of BMJ into your old place. Change the address of your eportfolio and ask your education program manager to change the address in your trainee information system if you are in a training job. Your HR also also need to update your record of your home address in your ESR account.
7. Changing address in your Vehicle Log book (V5C), Driving license, vehicle tax direct debit and Car insurance
This can be done online. You need V5C document reference number in hand for this. Use this link for the Vehicle Logbook address change https://www.gov.uk/change-address-v5c
Once done, destroy your old V5C logbook and new one should be posted to you within 5 working days. If you have not recieved anything within 14 working days recontact DVLA.
And this one is for changing address in Driving license
https://www.gov.uk/change-address-driving-licence
These are free of charge. You also need to break your old driving license into two pieces and send them to DVLA.
Your address on vehicle tax direct debit should also need to be changed. To do this call DVLA on- 0300 790 6802
Likewise, you will also need to change your address in car insurance. For this log on to the online portal of your car insurance company and update the personal details. Be careful, doing this may slightly change your insurance premium as well.
8. Changing your registered GP
Search for GP near you and also check their rating online. Either visit them personally or check online if you can get registration. They will need a copy of your passport and BRP for this.
9. Changing the address in your bank account
This should be a straightforward job. Just log on to your online banking and change the address there. If you have accounts on other online-based banks like Remitly, Monzo, Revolut, Starling, PayPal or Wise don’t forget changing address there as well. Also change the addresses of your credit cards.
10. Downloading Payslip, P60 and Total reward statement
You may lose access to the ESR account of your current trust a few days to weeks earlier than your last date in the trust. So, be proactive and download all these from https://my.esr.nhs.uk/
11. Get in touch with your payroll team early either via email or phone call for p45
P45 is a certificate given to an employee at the end of a period of employment, providing details of their tax code, gross pay, and the tax paid for that year, to be passed to a subsequent employer. If you fail to do this on time, your new employer may put you in an emergency tax code, that will result in a massive deduction in your first salary in the new trust.
12. Change the address in online shopping websites like Amazon or eBay to avoid your goods being delivered to the old address
13. Apply for mail redirection to the new address to avoid your mail getting to your old address. You can do this from this link: https://www.royalmail.com/personal/receiving-mail/redirection
This will cost money. In my case, I bought some envelopes, got some postage tickets from the post office, kept the labels of my new address and left it with new tenants on my old address for them to post mail coming in my name to that address. This is not a smart way but definitely will save you a few quids.
14. Changing Address in home office
This can be done from the following link: https://visa-address-update.service.gov.uk/ You will need proof of address like council tax or utility bills for this purpose.
You may need to change address separately in HMRC account as well
Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but hopefully, this will help you prepare your own checklist of things to do. Have a happy relocation.
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