Knowing when, how, and what bills to set up as a student can be scary. Luckily we’ve put together this handy guide to help you out! #GoodToKnow
As soon as you’ve secured your next student home, it’s time to start thinking about setting up your utilities. Now’s the time to get a quote and let Split The Bills do all the hard work. We set up and manage the whole process. Simple.
That’s why we’ve put together some top tips on setting up bills and broken down exactly when you need to set up each bill. So you can get back to worrying about more important things – like that assignment due next week!
Knowing how to set up bills when renting a shared house can be tricky – we’ve put together our top tips for setting up bills in a student house.
The first step should always be to know which utilities your new student house needs. You’ll have to pay three main bills: water, electricity, and gas.
However, not all houses use gas. So, make sure you check whether your home uses gas or not. You don’t want to go through the hassle of setting up a gas bill if your house doesn’t need it!
The other bill that’s essential for every student house is broadband. If you forget about this, it could mean you spend the first few weeks in your new house hot-spotting your phone and using all your data!
You should also decide if you’re going to need a TV licence. If one of your housemates plans on buying a TV, and you’re all keen to watch live football matches, you’ll need to pay for a TV licence. If you’re not sure if you’ll need one, you can check on the TV licence website.
Students don’t need to pay council tax, so if you’re living in a house with full-time students, that’s one bill you don’t need to bother with!
After the house is sorted and everyone’s signed the contracts, you should decide how you will pay bills as a house.
The easiest option is to use a bill-splitting service, like Split the Bills. They’ll set up and manage all the bills for the house. All you and your housemates have to do is pay one bill each month. Plus, you won’t have to chase anyone to ensure all the bills are paid on time!
If you decide not to use a bill-splitting service, you’ll have to set up and manage utility accounts yourself. This will involve contacting your water and energy supplier, setting up accounts, and paying monthly or quarterly direct debits. You can then use a bill-splitting app to determine how much everyone must pay each month.
We’ve got a guide on ‘where to start with student bills’, which covers how to set up each bill in more detail.
If you decide that you’re going to pay your bills yourself, you must share the responsibility. The best way to do this is to sit down with your future housemates and work out who will pay which bill. For example, one person pays the energy bill, one pays the water bill, and one pays the broadband bill. This ensures that one person doesn’t have to deal with all the stress and hassle of setting up all the bills.
You should also ensure everyone has their name on all bills. By law, you’re only responsible for paying a bill if your name is on it. So this will ensure that everyone is held equally responsible for keeping up with their payments.
So, when should you set up your bills?
Generally, you should get your bills set up as quickly as possible. We go over when you should set up individual bills below.
You should get your energy bills set up as soon as you move in – or even beforehand if you can. On the first day, you should take pictures of your electricity meters (and gas if you have one). Then you’ll need to send your meter reading to your current energy provider – you can find this out online or ask your landlord or agent.
Once you’ve given your meter readings and told them the date you moved in, the energy company will set up an account for you. Then, you can set up a monthly direct debit to pay your bill.
At this point, you can switch to another energy company if you can find a cheaper deal. However, the standard variable tariff you’re put on initially will likely be the cheapest due to the current energy prices.
For more information on setting up your energy bill, check out our guide, ‘How to set up your electric and gas bills’.
You should also set up your water bill shortly after you move in. You’ll be assigned one water supplier for your particular area, so it should be easy to find the supplier. Check if you’ve got a water meter or if you’re on a standard tariff. If you’ve got a water meter, you’ll need to take a picture of it and send it to your supplier to set up your account.
For more details on setting up your water bill, have a look at our blog, ‘How to set up your water bill’.
This is the one bill you set up shortly before you move in. Most broadband providers will send a router through the post or arrange for an engineer to install one. Either way, this will likely take a couple of weeks. If you want internet immediately, set up your broadband a few weeks before you move in.
Check out our guide, ‘How to set up your broadband bills’, for more information.
This should be done shortly after moving in (if you’ve decided you need one). You can pay for a TV licence online, and then you can start watching live TV immediately. Setting up a direct debit to pay it monthly like the rest of your bills is easy.
Our blog, ‘How to set up your TV licence’, covers it in more detail.
If all this sounds too complicated and you wish all your bills could be sorted in one place, then a bill-splitting service might be the best option!
Split the Bills are a bill-splitting service trusted by thousands of students. We handle all the stress and responsibility of setting up utility accounts, managing direct debits, and ensuring everyone pays their share! You don’t need to worry about when or how to set up each bill, you just need to create an account with us, and we’ll do the rest.
You can create a personalised package based on what your house needs. You can include energy, broadband, water and even a TV licence if you plan on watching live TV.
If you want to make your uni experience as simple as possible, learn more about how Split the Bills works or get a price today!
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.
The move from first to second year at university often comes with a lot of change as most students will have to start paying bills for the first time. In this feature we discuss how you can keep your finances organised and pay bills responsibly.