I’m currently buying a property in France which will complete by the end of September. I’m moving in, it will be my primary residence asap. I’m trying to work out how and in what order to deal with utilities and insurance. For utilities I want to ensure there is continuity - I don’t want anything cut off for a while (does this happen in France?). My list of things to attend to goes:
Electricity - house has supply now, can I just switch it to my name?
Water - not to bothered by this as although the house has mains water it isn’t currently used (well water!)
Internet - fibre in the village, I will sign up for this as soon as though not sure I can do it before I am the owner (would like to!)
Insurance - buildings insurance is the big one, need to have this in place on day one but how to go about it?
Bank - not a utilities question but as many things hinge on having a French bank account, how do I set one up before I am the residential owner of a French address?
Thanks for any thoughts, experiences and input.
Insurance can be done by the bank ready for the day you sign the Acte de Vente. I would go and make an appointment to see a conseilleur in a bank near to your proposed new home and speak to them about what to do regarding opening an account, insurances etc. As with all things in France related to property and insurance and banking you do need a fixed address, same with the utilities. Unfortunately you cannot use the address of the propety you are buying as it is not yours yet so really you should have opened an account with the address for you current abode. Most things can be done once you have signed and paid for the property but not beforehand.
We’re in the same position.
Your immobilier should arrange the transfer of utilities.
We arranged our house insurance via @fabien (link in the banner at the top of the page), and it was a painless process.
We got an account with CA Britline a couple of years ago (UK address). It costs a couple of pounds a month, but that was worth it (for us) because my French wouldn’t be up to banking and Mme P’s fluent French would not overcome complete financial ignorance 
For all things insurance and many other aspects of life in FR I will get in quick with the usual default recommendation on these pages of making contact with @fabien.
Fabien and all his team that I have ever dealt with have excellent English. The service has been nothing but first class
if the house has a Linky (pale green box) then can be done fairly instantaneously and easily. Look online at various offers and then subscribe to you choice. This is for total energie, just because it popped up first
- Votre nouvelle adresse
- Un RIB pour le prélèvement en ligne
- Le numéro PDL (Point de Livraison) de votre compteur électrique ou le numéro PRM (Point de Référence Mesure) de votre compteur Linky
- Une date de début de contrat souhaitée
Thanks and 
When we moved here the house had previously been empty due to lockdown. EDF had reduced the kVa so only the basic stuff still functioned. We called them up and they increased it the following day. Very straightforward.