Closing electricity, water, gas and internet when you move out

Terms used

• Baja — The baja is the cancellation of a supply or service contract.
• Cambio de titular — The cambio de titular is the transfer of a contract to a new holder, keeping the supply connected.
• CUPS — The CUPS is the code that identifies your electricity or gas supply point, printed on the bill.
• Póliza — The póliza is the water contract number.
• Precintado — The precintado is the technician's sealing of the gas supply after closing it.
• Fianza — The fianza is the deposit a tenant pays the landlord as security for the lease.
• IBAN — The IBAN is your bank account number, used for refunds.
• NIE — The NIE is the identification number given to foreigners in Spain.

Key rules

• Who can cancel: Only the contract holder can cancel or transfer a supply, so a tenant needs the landlord's authorisation for contracts in the landlord's name.
• Gas notice: Gas needs a technician visit with someone at home, so ask at least a week ahead.
• Electricity notice: There is no legal minimum notice to cancel electricity, but allow a few days to two weeks.
• Final readings: Photograph every meter on move-out day with the date visible and send the readings to each supplier.
• Router: Return the router and decoders as instructed and keep the receipt, or you may be charged for them.

Start with who holds the contract

Only the contract holder can ask for a baja (cancellation) or a cambio de titular (transfer to a new holder). If the contracts are in your landlord's name, you cannot normally cancel them on your own. Either the landlord asks, or you act with a signed authorisation and a copy of the landlord's ID. For electricity and gas, you can also ask the retailer for a change of holder with the landlord's agreement. Before you leave, make sure no bills are left in the landlord's name for your time in the home.

The choice between baja and transfer is in the decision below. In short, transfer if someone is taking the supply over, and cancel if the home will be empty.

Electricity

There is no legal minimum notice. Ask your retailer (the company that bills you) by phone, email, web or at a branch. The retailer then asks the grid company to disconnect. Allow a few days to about two weeks.

• You can normally end the contract without a penalty. Some fixed-term free-market contracts have a permanence clause, so read yours.
• The grid company may charge a small regulated fee, often nothing for a simple baja.
• You will need your CUPS, the supply point code printed on your bill.
• Most homes have a smart meter read remotely, so the baja uses the real reading on the day and nobody needs to visit. With an older meter, send your own reading.

Water

Water is run by your local municipal body or a concession company, so the rules vary by town. Ask by phone, at the office or online. Most companies want a few days' notice, and some want the request in writing.

• Have your ID or NIE, the póliza (contract) number and the address.
• The company reads the meter on the closing date. Many accept your own reading with a dated photo. Otherwise a technician visits.
• The final bill follows the reading, and any deposit is refunded.

Gas

For piped natural gas, ask your retailer for the baja. The distribution company sends a technician to read the meter, close the supply and seal it (precintado). Someone must be at home.

• Visits are usually booked within about 5 to 10 working days, so give at least a week's notice. Ask for the date as soon as you know when you are leaving.
• A fee for the visit or closing can apply. Ask the amount when you book.
• You need the gas CUPS, which is separate from the electricity one.
• Bottled butane is simpler. Stop buying cylinders and return the cylinder or end your contract with the distributor.

Internet and phone

Cancel through any channel the operator offers: customer service phone, app or customer area, a branch, or email or burofax. Operators must offer the same channels for cancelling as for signing up.

1. Check whether a permanence penalty applies if you leave early.
2. Give notice and ask for the cancellation date.
3. Get a reference number or written confirmation.
4. Return the router and decoders as instructed: by post with a prepaid label, at a branch or by courier collection. The deadline is commonly 15 to 30 days.

Keep the return receipt. Unreturned equipment can be charged, often tens of euros.

Final readings

On move-out day, photograph the electricity, gas and water meters with the date visible, and send the readings to each supplier. An estimated reading can make the last bill wrong. If that happens, dispute it and ask for a correction on the next bill. The checklist below walks through this.

Getting deposits back

A deposit paid for water, gas or electricity is refunded when the contract ends and final bills are settled. Water and gas companies usually pay by bank transfer or deduct it from the last invoice. There is no single national deadline, and refunds typically take several weeks to a couple of months. Electricity deposits (garantía) are held by the grid company and returned on baja. Newer contracts often have no deposit at all.

Ask in writing, giving the contract number and your IBAN. The letter template below can be adapted.

Do not confuse these with your rental fianza. The landlord returns that after checking the home, and unpaid bills can be deducted from it.

Documents

Have your ID, contract or customer number, address, cancellation date and IBAN ready. The documents list below has the full set, including what a representative or an heir needs.

Choosing between options

Should you cancel the supply (baja) or transfer it to a new holder (cambio de titular)?

• Transfer it to a new holder: The supply stays in use, for example because the landlord or the next tenant takes over. The supply stays connected and the new holder takes over from the agreed reading date.

• Cancel it (baja): The home will be empty, or the next occupant will sign their own contract and the landlord does not want the supply kept. The next occupant then needs a new connection, which can cost fees and cause delay, and gas may need a technician visit.

If the supply is still needed after you leave, transfer it; if not, cancel it. Either way, settle the final bill with a final reading. If the contract is in your landlord's name, only the landlord can request the baja or change of holder, unless you have their signed authorisation.

Timeline and deadlines

• Book the gas technician visit by asking your gas retailer for the baja: at least 1 week before you leave, as the visit is usually booked within 5 to 10 working days

• Ask your water company for the baja: a few days before you leave

• Ask your electricity retailer for the baja; there is no legal minimum notice, and it takes a few days to about two weeks: about 2 weeks before you leave

• Tell your internet operator you are cancelling and get a reference number: before you leave, once you have checked for any penalty

• Return the router and decoders as the operator instructs: within 15 to 30 days, or as the operator says

Documents you need

• Holder's ID: DNI, NIE or passport, issued to the person named on the contract.

• Contract or customer number: the water póliza number, or the customer or phone number for internet.

• CUPS, the supply point code printed on your electricity bill, and the separate gas CUPS for gas.

• Supply address and the date you want the contract to end.

• IBAN, your bank account number, so the supplier can refund any final balance or deposit.

• Signed authorisation (autorización) with a copy of both the holder's ID and the representative's ID, if someone else handles the baja for you.

• For a change of holder on a rented home, the tenant's ID, the CUPS and the landlord's consent or the rental contract.

• Death certificate and proof of inheritance, if the holder has died.

Move-out utilities checklist with final meter readings

Move-out utilities checklist

• Send each reading to the supplier by email, app or web form, and keep the message.

• Ask your electricity supplier whether a smart meter reading will be used, so you know if you need to give a self-reading.

• Book the technician visit for the gas meter reading at closing, and ask the water company whether a dated photo is enough or a visit is needed.

• Gather the holder's ID, the contract or customer number, the supply address and the cancellation date for each baja (cancellation).

• Find the CUPS (supply point code on the bill) for electricity and gas, and the póliza or contract number for water.

• Send a written baja request to each supplier, asking for written confirmation.

• Give a signed authorisation and both IDs if someone else handles the baja for you.

• Ask each supplier in writing to refund any deposit (fianza or garantía), giving the contract number and your IBAN.

• Check your final bills when they arrive, usually one to three months after the baja, and dispute any based on an estimated reading.

• Keep the final invoices and payment receipts.

• Keep written confirmation of each baja or contract transfer.

• Sign a handover record (acta de entrega) with the landlord, and keep the messages agreeing the key return date.

• Photograph the home's condition on handover.

• Store all these records for at least several years.

What to watch out for

• Penalty for leaving a fixed-term contract early: Some fixed-term electricity contracts and internet contracts with a permanence clause carry a penalty if you cancel early. Read the contract for a permanence clause before you ask for the baja, and ask the supplier what the cancellation would cost.

• Charge for unreturned equipment: If you do not return the router and decoders, the operator can charge you for them, often tens of euros. Return them the way the operator instructs and keep the receipt.

• Estimated final reading: An estimated reading makes your last bill inaccurate.

Cancellation request letter for a utility or telecom contract

Send the Spanish version. The English version is for you, so you know what you are signing. Fill in every blank in square brackets and delete the lines that do not apply to your contract.

Letter in Spanish (send this one)

Asunto: Solicitud de baja del contrato [número de cliente o de contrato]

[Ciudad], a [fecha]

A la atención de: Atención al cliente / Departamento de bajas [Nombre de la empresa] [Dirección postal o correo electrónico que figura en el contrato]

Yo, [nombre y apellidos completos], con [DNI / NIE / pasaporte] número [número], titular del contrato indicado, SOLICITO la baja del servicio con los siguientes datos:

• Número de cliente o de contrato: [número]
• Dirección del suministro o servicio: [dirección completa]
• [Luz: CUPS: [código] / Gas: CUPS de gas: [código] / Agua: número de póliza: [número] / Telefonía e internet: número de línea: [número]]

La baja debe tener efectos desde el día [fecha].

Asimismo, solicito:

1. Que me confirmen la baja por escrito.
2. Que dejen de cobrar los recibos domiciliados a partir de esa fecha.
3. Que me envíen la factura final y que el saldo a mi favor, si lo hay, se ingrese en la cuenta [IBAN].

Adjunto copia de mi [DNI / NIE / pasaporte]. [Si firma un representante: Adjunto también la autorización firmada y copia del documento de identidad del representante.]

Atentamente,

[Firma] [Nombre y apellidos] [Teléfono y correo electrónico de contacto]

Same letter in English (for you to read)

Subject: Request to cancel contract [customer or contract number]

[City], [date]

For the attention of: Customer service / Cancellations department [Company name] [Postal address or email stated in the contract]

I, [full name], holder of [ID card / NIE / passport] number [number], holder of the contract above, REQUEST the cancellation of the service with these details:

• Customer or contract number: [number]
• Address of the supply or service: [full address]
• [Electricity: CUPS: [code] / Gas: gas CUPS: [code] / Water: póliza number: [number] / Phone and internet: line number: [number]]

The cancellation must take effect on [date].

I also ask that you:

1. Confirm the cancellation to me in writing.
2. Stop collecting direct debits from that date.
3. Send me the final invoice and pay any balance in my favour into account [IBAN].

I attach a copy of my [ID card / NIE / passport]. [If a representative signs: I also attach the signed authorisation and a copy of the representative's ID.]

Yours faithfully,

[Signature] [Full name] [Phone and email]

Before you send it

• Check the contract first. Look for the notice period and any penalty for leaving early. Each company sets its own, so choose a cancellation date that respects them.
• Use the channel the contract names. Gyms, insurers and utilities often have their own set channels. For insurance, notice is normally needed at least one month before renewal.
• Gather your numbers. The CUPS is printed on your electricity or gas bill.

Send it so you have proof

• Burofax: the post office certifies that the exact text reached the company. This is the strongest proof. Use it for any contract where money is at stake.
• Registered letter with acknowledgement (carta certificada con acuse de recibo): good proof, a bit weaker than burofax.
• Email or the company's web form or app: fine if you save the confirmation or the sent message with its date.
• Phone call: only if you ask for a reference number or a copy of the recording. Follow it with a written message.

Keep a copy of the letter, your receipts and every reply. Cancelling must be as easy as signing up, and phone and internet operators must confirm the cancellation if you ask in writing.

If the company ignores you, complain to its customer service first. Then go to your town's consumer office. For phone and internet problems, you can also use the telecoms users' office. For electricity and gas, you can also go to the energy regulator.

Frequently asked questions

Can I cancel a contract that is in my landlord's name?

No, you normally cannot cancel a contract in your landlord's name without their authorisation, because only the holder can ask for a baja.

How much notice should I give the gas company before I leave?

Give the gas company at least a week's notice, because the technician visit is usually booked within about 5 to 10 working days. Someone must be at home to let the technician read the meter and seal the supply.

What happens if I do not return my router?

If you do not return the router, the operator can charge you for it, often tens of euros. The return deadline is commonly 15 to 30 days, and the operator tells you how to send it back. Keep the return receipt as proof.

Will I get back the deposit I paid to the water or gas company?

Yes, a deposit paid to a utility is refunded when the contract ends, once the final bills are settled. It usually comes by bank transfer or as a deduction from the last invoice, within several weeks to a couple of months. Ask in writing with your contract number and IBAN; newer contracts often have no deposit.

What if my final electricity bill is wrong?

You can dispute the final electricity bill if it used an estimated reading, and have it corrected on the next bill. Most homes have a smart meter read remotely, so the real reading at the date is normally used. Your dated photos of the meter back up your claim.