Customers in the Midlands are meticulous about planning their moves in advance while those in Wales and the South West are happy to leave everything to the last minute, according to new research commissioned in the UK by Royal Mail Redirection.

According to the research performed by ICM who questioned 1,920 recent home movers, 38% of them organise key tasks such as booking the removal company a month before their move date. When the move is only seven days away, 35% of them take out a Redirection, 34% update their gas and electricity suppliers and 33% change the details on their TV licence.

In contrast, 10% of home movers in Wales and the South West admitted that they had been in their new home for over a month before they arranged for WiFi to be installed; 18% waited up to two weeks before giving their new address to their pension providers, 15% to their employers and 8% to their bank. Over a quarter of home movers in the region didn’t take out a Redirection until five days after moving, leaving their important personal and financial details at risk of falling into the wrong hands.

Jim Conning, Managing Director of Data Services at Royal Mail, said: “I know from personal experience that moving home is a stressful time, especially as you get closer to the move date. There can be as many as 30 companies and suppliers to tell, not to mention thinking about how you are physically going to move your furniture and personal items. While updating service providers such as banks and pensions companies or taking out a Redirection can seem like a small task, they are the only way to protect yourself against your personal information falling into the wrong hands leading to identity theft.”

In general, home movers across the country prioritised updating gas/electricity supplier, letting family and friends know of a new address and buying cleaning products before a move. They waited until they had moved to change their address on their driver’s licence, with their bank or building society and on their TV licence.

Over three quarters of those questioned admitted that they didn’t – at any point before, during or after the moving process - update their gym membership with their new address details. A further two thirds didn’t change their magazine subscriptions, while nearly half said they didn’t change their online shopping accounts meaning that personal details, magazines and even shopping would still be going to their old address.

Photo: 38% of movers book a removal company a month in advance, ICM’s research says.