Who sets up accounts with utilities for new home?

[amz155]

I always thought it was the lawyer who arranged for the transfer of utilities from the builder to the new homeowner on the date of closing.

But lawyer's clerk is telling me to set up the accounts on my own and builder is telling me that lawyer should take care of it.

This is our first time moving into a new home so I'm not sure. We've already let our current utility companies know when we will be moving our of our current home.

I know that in the area of my new home, Power Stream and Enbridge are the utility providers.

So do I call and set up an account on my own?

How do I ensure that it will be pro-rated after I move in so that I only pay for the utilities used after the possession date?

[yyz2hkg]

I've called up the utility companies myself just to be sure and if not, it should be set up already by your lawyers.

[ukgirl]

I closed on a house in sept. my realtor gave me a list of all the utlitilty companies and I had to call them myself. I was worried it would be complicated but to be honest it seemed like they do it all the time, I just gave them my close date and they all came in and read the meters then.

[rems]

I called both gas and hydro myself. Wasn`t hard. They asked for the address and for my info.

[mocha'n'me]

Best to call them all and double check. It only takes a minute and you don't want to find out on moving day that you have no hydro!

[LondonTown]

Just call and do it yourself. It's pretty simple. You could get your lawyer to do it for you at $250 an hour if you really want.

[coolspot]

My lawyer included it as a standard service part of my closing fees. But there was a stipulation that certain municipalities the owner will have to call themselves.


Anyhow, when I moved into my house (resell) everything was all transferred.

[onlineharvest]

I think you can call the companies yourself. As mentioned, it is not difficult.

PLEASE BE AWARE! You will probably have visiters claiming to be from the utlity company. DO NOT GIVE THEM THE TIME OF DAY! They have no interest but to scam you. See the ongoing thread on Summit Energy. They may have different names but their motivation is the same.

[woof]

Did it myself. Why would I want to pay a lawyer to do that?

As a side note, I made sure that I carefully spelled my last name to each utility company and yet every single one of them screwed it up as I found out when I got my first bills. It took two more calls to the phone company to get it straight but by then it got into the new phone book wrong.

[Mayoo]

You have to do it yourself .. i see ur from Brampton .. so call the below numbers as i did .. the only thing lawyer did was sent letters to the utility companies saying that as of X date you will be the owner of the house

HERE (http://www.cindymcgoldrick.com/Utilities-Companies-Utility-Contact-Information.htm)

The front door guys are sometimes fun .. u can play with them if ur bored like go out with the recorder, ask them questions like FBI .. lol .

[amz155]

Thanks everyone. Looks like we will just do it ourselves. And we DO know to beware of the guys that come to your door asking to see your bill. I'm almost looking forward to it as I'll plan something to really screw with them...he he he.

[Mayoo]

Since i am from brampton ill tell u some charges ..

Our is a new house .. we got

$30 welcome fees from City of Brampton
$25 welcome fees from Reliance Water rental
$70 welcome fees from Region of peel ( water and waste water)
$180 security Deposit from Enbridge ( i faxed my university days utility notice.. hope they will waive this soon

waiting for for the welcome fee from Brampton Hydro. However they waived the security deposit when i faxed my equifax credit report

[amz155]

I'm not moving into Brampton, I'm thankfully moving OUT.

[marketb]

My lawyer called all the utilities for me.

I got welcome fees from water and sewer, hydro and electric company.
BTW, i also got my property tax at the same time.

[Mayoo]

I'm not moving into Brampton, I'm thankfully moving OUT.

haha .. cool i am thankfully moving IN :D

[little_happosai]

My lawyer called all the utilities for me.

I got welcome fees from water and sewer, hydro and electric company.
BTW, i also got my property tax at the same time.

Same with mine. Lawyer took care of it all as part of his services.

[Keigotw]

I always thought it was the lawyer who arranged for the transfer of utilities from the builder to the new homeowner on the date of closing.

But lawyer's clerk is telling me to set up the accounts on my own and builder is telling me that lawyer should take care of it.

This is our first time moving into a new home so I'm not sure. We've already let our current utility companies know when we will be moving our of our current home.

I know that in the area of my new home, Power Stream and Enbridge are the utility providers.

So do I call and set up an account on my own?

How do I ensure that it will be pro-rated after I move in so that I only pay for the utilities used after the possession date?

When I bought my house from the builder, they gave me a list of number to contact. So yes you are responsible to seting up ultility accounts

[tjthemanto]

Since i am from brampton ill tell u some charges ..

Our is a new house .. we got

$30 welcome fees from City of Brampton
$25 welcome fees from Reliance Water rental
$70 welcome fees from Region of peel ( water and waste water)
$180 security Deposit from Enbridge ( i faxed my university days utility notice.. hope they will waive this soon

waiting for for the welcome fee from Brampton Hydro. However they waived the security deposit when i faxed my equifax credit report

Why don't you just buy out your Reliance Water Heater or Install your own & ask them to remove theirs ?

Trust me it will save you lot of money in the long run in rental fees .

You don't rent your furnace ( which is way more expensive & complicated ) so why would you rent the water heater ?

The water heater is extremely reliable & almost nothing goes wrong with it so renting it is generally a waste of money unless you are planning to move out soon .

[rems]

Oh do your own meter readings...
I let Enbridge estimate mine and they were WAY off. My next bill came and the meter is still under what they estimated it to be - and it`ll probably be lower than that when it comes to the next bill...

[amz155]

Oh do your own meter readings...
I let Enbridge estimate mine and they were WAY off. My next bill came and the meter is still under what they estimated it to be - and it`ll probably be lower than that when it comes to the next bill...

How do you set this up? Just let Enbridge know that we will do our own? Then we call it in monthly?

[onlineharvest]

How do you set this up? Just let Enbridge know that we will do our own? Then we call it in monthly?

You don't do your own reading. I think what he meant is that he tracks his readings. I do that sometimes as well since their estimated readings are often WAY off for me. There's no need to panic though, since whenever that happens, there is an adjustment when they DO read it, and it results in a credit the following month.

I believe if the number is MUCH higher, Enbridge would allow you to pay less for that month. That happened to me one month where they billed me for an estimated read, nearly $300, when the actual bill should have been closer to $70. If its close, they wont.

[onlineharvest]

Why don't you just buy out your Reliance Water Heater or Install your own & ask them to remove theirs ?

Trust me it will save you lot of money in the long run in rental fees .

You don't rent your furnace ( which is way more expensive & complicated ) so why would you rent the water heater ?

The water heater is extremely reliable & almost nothing goes wrong with it so renting it is generally a waste of money unless you are planning to move out soon .

What does a typical HWT go for? Since a rental is only approx $20 tax in per month (with Reliance, billed every quarter), what is the break-even point? Personallu I don't see it as that much of a concern in the grand scheme of costs and utlity bills. I'm sure personal accounts would differ, but my parents had to get their HWT replaced in year 7. Since a rental, it cost them nothing. YMMV

[rems]

How do you set this up? Just let Enbridge know that we will do our own? Then we call it in monthly?

Online there`s a link where you can submit your own meter readings. You can also call in to do it. But they do an actual reading as well (They tell you when the next one is).

[onlineharvest]

Online there`s a link where you can submit your own meter readings. You can also call in to do it. But they do an actual reading as well (They tell you when the next one is).

Really? Wow, didn't know that. How often do they read the meter?

[rems]

Really? Wow, didn't know that. How often do they read the meter?

Every two months...

[Mayoo]

Every two months...

+1 . yes they have online tool to report ur meter readings..

[Mayoo]

Why don't you just buy out your Reliance Water Heater or Install your own & ask them to remove theirs ?

Trust me it will save you lot of money in the long run in rental fees .

You don't rent your furnace ( which is way more expensive & complicated ) so why would you rent the water heater ?

The water heater is extremely reliable & almost nothing goes wrong with it so renting it is generally a waste of money unless you are planning to move out soon .

I asked them .. its $1281 to buy out now .. i dont have finance ready for that now .. i am gonna buy next year as the price goes down .. also my rental is for both water heater + motor on top

[coolspot]

How do you set this up? Just let Enbridge know that we will do our own? Then we call it in monthly?

You submit your readings through Enbridges website.