Setting things up when I arrive

@CarlS1986 , your company can make you a lease agreement with which you are eligible to a personal account with power and Hydro.

People's experience varies: some utility companies are sensible and only charge commercial tariffs on property which is manifestly used for commercial purposes, while others will try to get as much out of you as possible. I don't recall the respective rates off the top of my head but even the commercial ones aren't hugely higher than the domestic ones, so it's not going to bankrupt you. Are you sure that they're actually going to charge you @ the higher rate?

Its worth noting that certainly in our case with CEZ the price is variable monthly depending on energy prices. Certainly in Vratsa they will charge you commercial rates and you will need a notarised rental agreement. Our water company just needed our assurance the property was residential only.

I lived in three different parts of Bulgaria different trick everytime. Have a reccy when you get out here the water meter fellow stays in the village. The electric mob are a different kettle of fish try to ask someone in your region.

You said you were heading over to YOUR place..

Just take the deeds and show those..or a copy.

Good luck.

@CarlS1986

When I did the notary transfer of ownership of my older house the notary gave me a few copies of one page, which were to take to the relevant utility suppliers and the council. Check the paperwork you were given, yours may have done the same. If you don't own the house yet, because you're buying on a pay monthly scheme, taking a copy of the contract with the seller should be enough.

I gather they do vary, but some will charge domestic rates even on company owned properties provided it's a domestic property and the only one the company has connected. Probably that need to be made clear to them.  I don't think a tenancy contract should be required, though if they insist on charging domestic rates then making yourself as an individual a tenant in the house owned by the company might work. But the price difference may not be enough to make setting that up worthwhile, plus it then may complicate matters when it comes time for the annual company paperwork.

I'm not 100% sure about setting things up in the first place as the house I own outright is something of a wreck and doesn't have the utilities connected, and my main house is on pay monthly and not fully paid off yet. Though it was empty for almost two years before my first visit, electric and water were still connected and it was just a matter of turning them on at the meter box and stopcock. The seller gave me the account numbers to use to pay the bills.

It was easy to set up payment for electric via epay, just set up an account with epay then add the electric account number. Bills are emailed to me monthly via epay. Council tax and water vary depending on the region and some can't be paid via epay. My council tax can but my water needs to be paid at the post office.

You do need to check with the seller before you go if the utilities are still connected, as I gather it can take a couple of weeks to reconnect if they've been disconnected. Based on my experience I think a house needs to be empty for a very long time or have big unpaid bills for that to happen.

Re council tax - there's a form for transfer of ownership which needs to be done at the council office for the municipality after buying the property. They'll want a copy of the relevant notary paperwork.

It's probably wise

Thanks Jane,

The house  is paid for, it is also a shell, notc onnected to the utilities as far as I'm aware.

I'll be collecting the paperwork when I'm there, I guess I'll be camping for two weeks then 😂.

Hopefully things will get reconnected faster!

But if things have been disconnected, my agent told me to allow at least two weeks for reconnection, though it can happen faster. Your agent may be able to put the reconnection requests in for you in advance of your visit, for a fee of course! Mine would charge 150 EUR per utility for that.