You can sign a property up to iO Energy in advance of moving in so long as you specify the future date that your electricity supply contract should start. If you do this we will create your customer account and prepare to supply your electricity, but will wait until your move in date before actually doing so.
We consider you to be 'moving in' to a property if in future you will be taking over responsibility for that property from another person or organisation. For example, if you are moving into a rental property or will be purchasing a home from someone else. We do not consider you to be moving in if you somehow already have control of the property. For example, if you are moving into a home that your housemates already live in, or your home purchase has already settled. In those cases you can sign up with us effective immediately.
How can I ensure a smooth move-in process?
To avoid any problems when moving in, do three things:
- sign up as early as possible,
- provide an accurate move-in date, and
- provide the earliest move-in date that you can.
You should sign up as early as possible so that we have sufficient time to prepare. As a rule you should provide us with at least 3 business days notice, and ideally you will provide us with as much notice as possible.
You should make sure to provide an accurate move-in date so that you are sure to have electricity when you actually need it. Sometimes customers cause difficulties for themselves by providing a later date than they should, and if this happens we will likely not be able to act fast enough for you when you realise your mistake. For example, sometimes customers ask us to provide electricity from the date that they intend to start living in a home rather than from the date that their removalists arrive to drop off their furniture—and it's hard to carry furniture upstairs in the dark!
Finally, you should consider providing the earliest move-in date that you can regardless of when you actually need to use electricity on-site. This is because the person who is moving out of your future property may ask to disconnect the property from electricity instead of simply asking to close their electricity account, and that has the potential to complicate your move-in by creating extra work. For example, we may need to send someone out to reconnect your property to the electricity grid as well as simply creating a customer account for your electricity supply. Note the trade off behind this decision is that you will start paying a daily supply charge earlier than you otherwise would have.
What if I'm an existing iO Energy customer who is moving to a new property?
In this case complete a sign up form for the new property as described above, and then contact our Energy Locals customer support team (1300 693 637) to let them know the date that you are moving out of one property and into another.
If you fail to do this you will end up with two accounts at one time, which will not only increase your daily supply charge but also risks someone moving in after you and using electricity at your cost.
I need electricity urgently—what can I do!?
Call our Energy Locals customer support team (1300 693 637) if you intend to sign up with less than 3 business days notice, or have already signed up and later realised that you gave the wrong date. Our team can make no guarantees, but will endeavour to help you fast track your electricity supply.
Note you are more likely to get a fast result if you have a smart meter that can be remotely controlled. If you have a basic meter that requires manual intervention, it may take extra time to send someone to your property to connect the property to power.
Does moving into a new build count as a move-in?
No. This is a more complicated process yet again, and we cannot help you in this case. If you wish to sign your brand new home to iO Energy you should ask one of the Big 3 energy companies to do it for you, before switching out and back to us.