Phone, home insurance and electricity: your first Swedish week
Three contracts decide a large part of your monthly costs. The grid company you cannot choose, the electricity supplier you can, the insurance nobody makes you buy, and the phone subscription whose binding period you pay for either way.
You have the keys, the flat is empty, and three sales conversations are waiting for you: a phone shop, an insurance quote and an electricity contract someone signed you up to without asking. Two of the three are cheap to get right and expensive to get wrong, and the third is not even a choice.
Three contracts, in the order that matters
Take them in the order of what they cost you if you delay. Home insurance first, because the day without it is the day the washing machine floods the flat below.
Electricity second, because the fallback contract starts on its own the moment the meter is in your name, and every week on it is money.
The phone last, because a subscription signed in a hurry binds you for months, and a prepaid card will carry you until you have the documents that get you a better deal.
- Home insurance from the day you get the keysIt carries liability, legal and travel cover too
- Register the electricity meter in your nameThe fallback contract starts by itself
- Compare on Elpriskollen and signNote the bindningstid and the uppsägningstid
- Terminate the old contractNothing ends automatically
- Prepaid card while you waitRegistration rules for kontantkort sit with PTS
- Subscription once the documents existRead the binding period before the phone is unboxed
Electricity: two bills, only one of which you choose
The elnät company is a local monopoly. It owns the cables to the building, it charges the elnätsavgift, and no comparison site will help you, because there is nothing to compare.
The elhandel company is the one you can move. You sign an agreement with a supplier, and that supplier's price and terms are what the second bill is made of. Sweden is divided into four price areas, and the area follows your address rather than your supplier.
If you never sign anything, you are on the anvisat avtal. It keeps the lights on, and that is the whole of its virtue. Comparing on Elpriskollen and signing a contract is one evening's work.
Watch the two dates in any offer: the bindningstid, which is how long you are tied in, and the uppsägningstid, which is how long you keep paying after you say you want out. Konsumentverket is blunt that a contract does not end by itself, so terminating the old one is a task with your name on it.
| Elnät | Elhandel | |
|---|---|---|
| What it sells | The wires to your address | The electricity itself |
| Can you choose it | No, it follows the address | Yes, by signing an agreement |
| What you can influence | How much you use | Price, contract type and term |
| If you do nothing | The bill arrives anyway | You are placed on an anvisat avtal |
| Where to compare | Nowhere; there is nothing to compare | Elpriskollen, run by Energimarknadsinspektionen |
Home insurance: no law, but everyone expects it
A hemförsäkring covers your home and your belongings against events like fire, water damage and burglary, and it carries four protections that surprise newcomers: travel cover, legal cover, liability cover and assault cover. Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå puts it plainly: you need one, whatever kind of home you live in.
Liability cover is the one worth understanding on day one. If you accidentally damage someone else's property, or someone is injured because of something you did, that claim lands on you personally, and the insurance is what stands between the claim and your salary.
If you own a bostadsrätt, the policy needs a bostadsrättstillägg, an add-on for the parts of the flat you are responsible for. Some associations hold a collective one, so ask the board before you buy the same cover twice.
Nothing in Swedish law forces you to have any of this. Your lease or your association's rules may well do, so read the contract before you decide to skip it.
What kind of home do you live in?
- Rental, first or second handA standard hemförsäkring
- BostadsrättHemförsäkring plus bostadsrättstillägg
- Bostadsrätt where the association holds the tilläggAsk the board before buying it twice
- No insurance at allLiability claims land on you personally
Phone and broadband: the credit check and the binding period
A subscription with a monthly invoice is a credit product, so operators run a credit check and normally want a Swedish identity number and an address. A prepaid card, a kontantkort, is the way through the first weeks; the registration rules for prepaid cards sit with PTS, so check the current requirement at pts.se before you buy one.
When you do sign a subscription, the decisive rule is the one Konsumentverket states directly: you are obliged to pay for the agreement throughout the binding period and the notice period. Not using the service changes nothing.
A worked example. Ravi signs a 24-month subscription at 349 kr a month on 3 October 2026, so the binding period runs to 2 October 2028. In February 2027 a better offer appears. He has used four months and owes the remaining twenty, 20 × 349 kr, which is 6 980 kr, plus whatever the notice period adds on top. The better offer would have to be about 300 kr a month cheaper to be worth it.
The same logic applies to broadband, with one addition: in an apartment building the choice of provider can be limited by what is installed in the property. Ask the landlord or the association what the building supports before you compare prices for a service you cannot get.
- BindningstidHow long you are tied in
- UppsägningstidHow long you pay after you terminate
- What the old contract requiresIt does not end when the new one starts
- Your price areaOne of four, decided by your address
- What the building supportsBroadband options can be limited by the property
- Whether the association has a tilläggSo you do not buy the same cover twice
What we do not know yet
Prices are the honest gap here, and deliberately so. Electricity prices move by the hour and by price area, insurance premiums are set on your address and your belongings, and any figure printed in an article is a guess about your case. Compare on Elpriskollen for electricity and get at least three insurance quotes for the same cover.
The maximum binding and notice periods allowed in telecom contracts are set in the rules Konsumentverket describes rather than in one number we can safely repeat. Read its pages on bindningstid and uppsägningstid before you sign anything longer than a year.
Everything above was checked on 31 August 2026 against Energimarknadsinspektionen, Konsumentverket and Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå. The mechanisms are stable; the prices are not.
Key facts
| Elnät company | Follows the address, cannot be chosen, charges the grid fee |
|---|---|
| Elhandel company | You choose it and can change it by signing a new agreement |
| If you choose nothing | You are placed on an anvisat avtal, the fallback contract |
| Price areas | Sweden has four, and the area follows your address |
| Comparison service | Elpriskollen, run by Energimarknadsinspektionen |
| Ending a contract | An electricity contract does not end automatically; you have to terminate it |
| Home insurance | Not required by law; covers fire, water damage and burglary plus travel, legal, liability and assault protection |
| Bostadsrätt | Needs a bostadsrättstillägg, unless the association already holds one |
| Phone subscription | You pay for the whole binding period and the notice period, used or not |
| Without a personnummer | Operators run a credit check; a kontantkort bridges the gap, with registration rules at PTS |
Questions, answered
Is home insurance mandatory in Sweden?
Not by law, but Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå is clear that you need one whatever kind of home you live in, and many leases and association rules require it. It also carries liability, legal, travel and assault protection.
Why do I get two electricity bills?
One from the elnät company that owns the wires to your address and cannot be chosen, and one from the elhandel company that sells you the electricity and can be changed.
How do I get electricity when I move into a new flat?
If you sign nothing, you are placed on an anvisat avtal automatically. Compare suppliers on Elpriskollen, run by Energimarknadsinspektionen, and sign a contract of your own.
Can I get a mobile subscription without a personnummer?
Operators run a credit check and normally want a Swedish identity number and address, so a prepaid kontantkort is the usual bridge. The registration rules for prepaid cards sit with PTS; check the current requirement at pts.se.
What happens if I cancel a phone contract early?
You still owe the whole binding period plus the notice period. On a 24-month subscription at 349 kr, leaving after four months leaves twenty months to pay, 6 980 kr, before the notice period is added.
What is a bostadsrättstillägg?
An add-on to the home insurance covering the parts of a bostadsrätt you are responsible for. Some associations hold a collective one, so ask the board before buying your own.
Official sources
Check the source for the requirements that apply to your situation.
- Energimarknadsinspektionen – El för konsument och Elpriskollen
- Konsumentverket – Ditt elavtal
- Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå – Hemförsäkring
Independent guidance. QuickSwedish is not affiliated with UHR or Migrationsverket.
