Moving involves a great deal of admin. One of the many tasks you need to take care of is providing your new address to the contribution service for the broadcast license fee (GEZ), as this information is not updated automatically.
In this guide, we take you through when and how you should update your GEZ details, what deadlines apply and how you can avoid unnecessary confusion, misdirected mail and double payments.
Typical mistakes when updating GEZ details:
Generally speaking, you do not have to close your GEZ account or create a new one when you move. Simply changing your address is enough to inform the contribution service which residence your license fee applies to going forward.
You only need to deregister if you no longer have a residence in Germany that is subject to the broadcast license fee (for example, when relocating abroad permanently or giving up your residence entirely).
It is therefore important to distinguish correctly:
Accordingly, a normal move involves allocating the license fee correctly to your new residence, not stopping the payment.
To update your GEZ details and change your address with the contribution service, it helps to have the following information to hand:
You only need to provide bank details if your payment method changes – for example if you change account or set up a new SEPA direct debit mandate.
If you wish to update your GEZ details, please follow these four steps:
Gather the most important information: your contribution number (if you know it), your new address and your move-in date.
Make sure that the new address and move-in date have been entered correctly and keep the related documentation.
Complete the official change of address form online or on paper.
If there are follow-up questions or conflicting information, resolve the issues promptly with the contribution service. It is useful to have your contribution number and move-in date to hand.
Gather the most important information: your contribution number (if you know it), your new address and your move-in date.
Complete the official change of address form online or on paper.
Make sure that the new address and move-in date have been entered correctly and keep the related documentation.
If there are follow-up questions or conflicting information, resolve the issues promptly with the contribution service. It is useful to have your contribution number and move-in date to hand.
You should register your new GEZ details as early as possible after your move, and ideally as soon as you move in. This will ensure your broadcast license fee is allocated to the correct residence and mail from the contribution service is delivered to the right address.
There is no specific short-term deadline. But in practice, you should update your address before your next payment is due at the latest.
If you update your GEZ details as soon as you move in, you will avoid unnecessary follow-up questions, incorrect allocations and overlapping license fee charges.
If you update your GEZ details later on or if you don’t update them at all, this can have various organizational consequences:
However, you are only liable to pay twice if you truly have two residences at the same time. Technical overlaps and incorrect allocations can generally be corrected once any confusion has been cleared up.
If you discover that you are late in updating your details, get that sorted quickly. If necessary, provide proof such as the move-in date or information on the previous contribution number. This usually resolves the allocation.
You generally keep your contribution number after a move. This is used to unequivocally allocate your broadcast license fee – regardless of where you are living. If you update your GEZ details, it is therefore usually only your address that changes, and not the number itself.
If you cannot find your contribution number, you can usually identify yourself using your name, date of birth and present registered address. You will also find the number on previous correspondence and in the payment reference for the contribution service on your bank statements.
It is important to note the difference with a change in household, for example if you move in with others: Only one broadcast license fee is charged per residence. You therefore need to decide or determine which person in the new residence is registered as the payer. In these circumstances, it may be necessary to correctly allocate an existing contribution number or merge a record.
If you are unsure, start by asking who is already paying the license fee in the residence before you make the change.
This does not happen automatically: If you move, you need to update your GEZ details yourself by proactively providing the contribution service with your new address. This will ensure that your broadcast license fee is correctly allocated and important mail reaches you.
It is easy to see why this question comes up so often: A move involves a great deal of contact with public agencies and you will need to update your address with the local registration office and others. You would be forgiven for thinking that all bodies are then automatically informed.
There may be some data checks. But that does not mean that the contribution service will automatically, immediately and correctly update your address. It is always best to register the move yourself.
The contribution service may learn about a change of address in various ways – for example through existing records, correspondence that you submit or data checks against the registration database.
Even if the information may be available by other means, the only way to make sure that everything is correct from the outset is to update the details yourself. This includes your new address, your move-in date and the allocation to the correct household.
That will help you to avoid typical issues such as the wrong address, duplicate records and overlaps in license fee charges, not to mention unnecessary follow-up questions and payment reminders.
By proactively updating your GEZ details to reflect your change of address, you will ensure that your broadcast license fee is allocated to your new residence.
The broadcast license fee is always applied per residence: One fee is charged per residence, regardless of how many people live there. You therefore need to decide or determine who is the registered payer for the respective residence.
If you move into a shared apartment or move in with a partner, the principle still applies: one fee per residence.
Therefore, you should start by checking whether someone at the new residence is already paying the broadcast license fee. If they are, do not register again. Instead, ensure the correct allocation.
In practice, this means:
Before updating the details, it is important to clarify which contribution number applies to the residence. This will help to avoid duplicate records and unnecessary follow-up questions.
If the person paying the license fee moves out (following a separation, for example), the fee must be reallocated. The person remaining at the residence has to inform the contribution service that they will now be paying the broadcast license fee.
Whether you need to continue paying the broadcast license fee depends on whether you will keep your current residence.
What matters is whether a residence subject to the license fee will still be registered in your name. Carefully consider your individual situation and report any changes clearly to avoid misallocations.
If you plan to move abroad for an extended period and will no longer have a residence in Germany, you generally need to cancel your broadcast license fee.
The important things here are:
This special case is very different to a normal change of address within Germany. In that circumstance, you only need to update your GEZ details, not cancel your registration.
