How do I set up post redirection?

Redirection is cheap insurance against two things: missing something important, and leaving a trail of mail at an address you no longer control. It is not comprehensive, and knowing what it misses is as useful as setting it up.

Safety

Step by step

1. Apply through Royal Mail directly.Online or at a Post Office. Several third-party sites charge a substantial fee to submit the same application, and they rank prominently in search results. Navigate to the Royal Mail site yourself.
2. Apply at least five working days ahead.That is the minimum processing time. Applying a couple of weeks ahead is better, and you can set the start date for moving day rather than immediately.
3. Choose the length deliberately.Three, six or twelve months. Twelve months is worth the difference for most moves, because annual items — insurance renewals, statements, tax correspondence — only arrive once and are exactly what gets missed.
4. Include everyone at the address.Redirection covers named individuals, not the address. Anyone in the household whose post should follow needs to be on the application, and additional people usually cost a little more.
5. Have the identity documents ready.Proof of identity and of the connection to the old address. The exact list is on the application, and having it to hand turns a stalled application into a ten-minute one.
6. Understand what it does not cover.Post addressed to 'The Occupier', unaddressed mail, some courier deliveries that do not go through Royal Mail, and anything addressed to a name not on the application. Parcels from couriers are a separate matter entirely.
7. Update couriers and retailers separately.Amazon, other retailers and courier accounts hold their own address records. Redirection does not touch them, and a parcel sent to the old address is not redirected.
8. Treat it as cover, not as the update.The point is to catch what you forget while you work through the list of organisations. Banks, GP, DVLA, employer, insurers, utilities, subscriptions and the electoral roll all need telling directly.
9. Watch what arrives and use it as a checklist.Every redirected item is an organisation that still has the old address. Update each one as it arrives — that is the most reliable way of finding the ones you forgot.
10. Extend it if things are still arriving.Redirection can be extended. If items are still coming through in month eleven, extending is cheaper than dealing with what happens when it stops.
11. Deal with the electoral roll and the old occupants.Register at the new address and remove yourself from the old one. Return anything arriving for previous occupants marked as not at this address rather than binning it.
12. Set a reminder for the end date.A diary note a month before it expires. That is the moment to check whether anything is still redirecting and to chase the organisations sending it.

Tips

• Twelve months costs relatively little more than three and covers a full cycle of annual correspondence. It is the setting most people underestimate.
• Photograph every redirected envelope before opening it. It builds the list of who still needs updating without any extra effort.
• If you are moving abroad, international redirection exists but works differently and costs more — check the terms before assuming.

Common mistakes

• Using a third-party website that looks official — They charge a fee to submit the application you can make directly with Royal Mail. Go to the Royal Mail site yourself rather than through a search advert.
• Treating redirection as having told everyone — It expires, and every organisation still holding the old address then starts sending post there. It buys time to update the list, it does not replace it.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask