Mail forwarding, and the rest of the list

Mail forwarding is not a local utility, and it is not one of the services Utility Connect sets up on the call. Local utilities are gas, water, trash, and electricity in a regulated market. We research those and send you the information so you can enroll. Internet, TV, security, insurance, home warranty, and movers, and deregulated electric are set up with you on the call. The Postal Service change of address is a third thing: you file it with USPS yourself, the same week, so the bills have somewhere to go.

What a forward does

A change-of-address order asks USPS to redirect first-class mail for a limited time. It does not update your bank, your employer, or the utility accounts. Those organizations keep the address you gave them until you change it in their system. Forwarding is a net. It expires. It is not a list of address changes.

File it on the Postal Service's site or at a post office, in your name. They run their own identity check. That check is why we do not file it for you. If they charge a fee, you pay them on their page.

Do it the same week as the other two lists

File the forward when you make our call, so the new address format is already settled
On our call, the services we set up should carry the right service address and the right mailing address
When you enroll a local utility, ask where the final bill and any deposit refund will be sent
Update the bank and the employer the same week, because those do not follow a forward reliably
Set a reminder for the month the forward ends

People file the forward and assume the water department will "get it." The water department mails the address on the account you opened. If you typed the new house into the enrollment, you are fine. If you left the old mailing address, the forward might catch it slowly, or it might miss a bill printed before the forward was active.

The rest of the list

Parking permits, HOA gate lists, prescriptions, and subscriptions are yours to update. They are not in the local-utility notes unless they are tied to a service you asked about. They are easier once power and internet are confirmed. Internet confirmation comes from the call. Local utility confirmation comes from your enrollment. Do not start the noisy list until both of those exist.

What we will not call it

We will not call mail forwarding a utility we connect, and we will not call it a local utility we only research. It is your filing with USPS. The local-utility email can include a reminder line. It will not ask for the identity documents USPS uses, and it will not create the forward.

Common questions

Can Utility Connect submit my change of address?

No. File it with USPS. Do it the same week you enroll the local utilities and the same week we set up the other services.

How early should I file?

A few days before mail needs to move, matched to the day you leave. Very early forwards sometimes start before you want them to.

What if I do not know the new mailbox yet?

You can still set up services and enroll local utilities at the service address. For mailing, use an address where you can receive confirmations, then update it. Do not invent a unit number.

The same week, on the utility side, is the week you get the keys.