So, you’ve survived your first year as a uni student. Well done! The assignments are completed, your blood alcohol levels are increased and you have a new, very awesome group of friends. Your snug little cupboard in halls will soon become an adult-sized room in a shared house and it’s time to deal with scary things like rent and utility providers.
Glide are experts in providing utilities and student broadband deals. We offer a fast, efficient setup, knowledgeable staff, friendly 24/7 service and support and, more importantly for those who gaming or binge-watching boxsets, reliable fast internet.
The Glide Student team take great pride in keeping our customers informed and happy so we’ve put together this guide to utility providers, their services and how to get your shared house ready for moving in day.
What to do first
- Check with the existing tenants who their utility and broadband providers are. Potentially, if they are students, they are using Glide already. If not, take a note of the companies so you can compare with your housemates and decide whether you want to swap.
- Discuss rent and bills with your new housemates. Do they seem like responsible people who will pay each of their bills on time? Who will take care of which bill? It’s not fair for one person to do everything – though many shared student houses do rely on one good-hearted person who maintains spreadsheets and will chase up late payers. This is the opportunity to consider whether having shared bills from a national, trusted company such as Glide may be suitable.
- Read your gas and electricity meter at the first opportunity. Take careful note of the numbers and give them to your new utility provider or Glide so that you are only charged for the energy used after you moved into the property. After all, you’ll want your bills to be as accurate as possible.
- If you have chosen to use separate energy and water suppliers rather than Glide, then contact them with your meter readings, register with them at the address, choose your energy tariff and set up a payment account. It’s a faff so it’s a good idea, and a fair one, for each tenant to be responsible for a bill each. Remember, if you must nag a housemate to do this then do so – don’t end up paying for someone else’s bill.
How do we pay for our utility bills and student broadband deals?
Time for another house meeting! Payment of each bill on the time agreed is vital. Late payment charges, interest and final demand letters need to be avoided. If these bills aren’t paid promptly, then the person who has their name on the bill may be subject to legal action and a bad credit history. And that, believe us, is the moment for arguments which can be easily avoided.
There are various ways to pay your shared bills.
- Direct debit. Each bill will need a separate direct debit set up. That’s gas, electricity, water, student broadband and TV licensing. The electricity company will not split the direct debit so choose a housemate to have one (or two) bills paid automatically from their account each month.
- Paying the bill when it arrives in the post. You will have the choice to pay monthly or quarterly. Choose monthly as it will be easier to budget.
- Pre-payment meter. Some properties will have a meter that needs topping up when the lights go out. This can be done either online or buy taking the payment card to a local shop or the nearest Post Office.
Each of these will need to be paid with the help of lots of communication, organisation and juggling of money. Hopefully, this will be a smooth process and no-one will kick off about not having enough money, paying too much or the general unfairness on having to pay for anything other than beer or takeaway.
- Shared bills. Glide Student can provide all the services that a shared house needs including great student broadband deals. We will set up the utilities, connect your broadband, split the total of all the bills and then direct debit one monthly payment from each housemate. That takes all the responsibility and hassle of organising and paying the bills every month away from you and your housemates.
How much will I pay per month?
The cost of your monthly bills depends on your postcode, the size of your house, how many tenants there are living there and how energy efficient you are determined to be. These bills will vary between houses even in the same street so don’t be fooled by student neighbours who claim to be paying a lot less than you – their bills may be estimated by the utility provider or they simply use less gas and electricity than you and your housemates do.
Budgeting and planning for your utilities and broadband is very important. Remember your rent too! (We know, ‘adulting’ is rubbish!)
We like to be honest with our customers so we should say that Glide Student works out ever so slightly more expensive than setting up utilities individually. However, it’s only the cost of a double cheeseburger per person per week extra and when you look how much faff, paperwork, arguments over money and stress you save, we think that it’s an absolute bargain.
If signing up with Glide Student sounds like a good idea, and why would you not? Head to the Glide homepage and enter your details for a free quote to arrange your student utility providers and broadband connection.