Setting up home in Denmark – electricity, home insurance, bottle deposits and the media licence

Your new home is connected to the grid when you move in, but the supplier, the insurance and the deposit on your bottles are up to you. Here is what setting up home in Denmark involves in 2026 – and why there is no TV licence to pay.

Setting up home in Denmark is mostly a list of things you do once: electricity, insurance, a phone and the habit of returning bottles. Two things changed recently. Since 1 July 2026, goods from web shops outside the EU carry customs duty however cheap they are. And the mediecheck, which replaced the old media licence for pensioners, rose permanently from 2026.

Much of it needs your CPR-nummer (personal identification number) first. According to Life in Denmark, the English-language guide on Denmark's public citizen portal, you need one to take out insurance, and the City of Copenhagen notes that you need one for a Danish phone number. Part 3 explains how to get it.

Setting up home in Denmark: how do you get electricity?

You do not have to order a connection: a Danish home is automatically connected to the grid when residents move in. What you choose is the supplier, and it helps to know who does what:

Who	Danish name	What they do
Grid company	Elnetselskab	Owns the meter and the lines in your local area
Electricity supplier	Elhandelsselskab	Sells you the electricity – you choose it yourself
The Danish Utility Regulator	Forsyningstilsynet	Runs a price comparison portal covering all suppliers and products in Denmark
Green Power Denmark	–	Runs a website where you can look up the grid company for your area
The Danish Energy Supplies Complaint Board	Ankenævnet på Energiområdet	Handles complaints about your electricity bill or supply

Source: Life in Denmark (Danish Energy Agency) and Denmark's public citizen portal, read 23 September 2026.

Suppliers offer a fast pris (fixed price), which does not change during the agreed period, a spotpris (spot price), where the part covering your consumption follows the market price hour by hour, or a combination. The country is split into two price areas divided by the Great Belt – DK1 to the west, DK2 to the east – according to Energi Data Service, run by the state-owned grid operator Energinet.

Switching supplier

Before you switch, read the notice and binding periods; for household customers, a binding period can be at most 6 months. Your old supplier must send a slutopgørelse (final statement) within 6 weeks of the switch. Under the Electricity Supply Act, every supplier has a supply obligation towards household customers. To dispute a bill, complain to Ankenævnet på Energiområdet through the online complaint service Klag online.

Which home insurance do you need in Denmark?

Less than you might expect. Only three insurances are mandatory by law, and home contents insurance is not one of them:

Insurance	Mandatory?	Who it concerns
Motor-vehicle liability insurance	Yes	Anyone who owns a motor vehicle
Dog liability insurance	Yes	Anyone who has a dog
Fire insurance	Yes	Anyone who owns real estate
Occupational injury insurance	Yes, for your employer	Your employer takes it out; it does not cover your free time
Unemployment insurance (A-kasse)	No	Voluntary – you must join a fund yourself (part 6)
Home contents insurance (indboforsikring)	No	Voluntary, but it usually bundles several covers

Source: Life in Denmark, read 23 September 2026.

The policy to know is familiens basisforsikring or indboforsikring (basic family or home contents insurance). It usually combines contents cover against theft, fire and water damage, personal liability insurance, and legal protection covering lawyers' fees in certain matters. Premiums vary between companies, so compare – and expect Danish paperwork: according to Life in Denmark, whose insurance page was updated on 12 June 2026, insurance papers are generally only available in Danish. Car owners, see part 12 for the 2026 minimum cover.

How does the bottle deposit (pant) work in Denmark?

Many drinks come with pant (a deposit), which you get back when you return the empty bottle or can. The scheme is run by Dansk Retursystem A/S and regulated by the deposit order, Pantbekendtgørelsen. Beer, soft drinks, alcopops, energy drinks, cider, iced tea, spring water, flavoured water, juice and squash must carry the Danish deposit mark, in one of three categories:

Deposit mark	Packaging	Deposit
Pant A	Glass bottles and metal cans under 1 litre	DKK 1
Pant B	Plastic bottles under 1 litre	DKK 1.50
Pant C	All bottles and cans of 1–20 litres	DKK 3
Refillable glass bottle	Up to 0.5 litre / over 0.5 litre	DKK 1 / DKK 3
Refillable plastic bottle	Under 1 litre / 1 litre and over	DKK 1.50 / DKK 3
Beer and soft-drink crates	–	Set by each shop

Source: Dansk Retursystem and Denmark's public citizen portal, read 23 September 2026.

Danes returned 2.1 billion deposit bottles and cans in 2024. Two rules save frustration: a shop only has to take back what it sells itself, and a damaged item, or one whose barcode cannot be read, earns nothing. Complaints go first to Dansk Retursystem; if you disagree with its decision, you have 4 weeks to take it to Miljøstyrelsen (the Danish Environmental Protection Agency).

Phone, broadband and TV: is there a media licence in Denmark?

The official newcomer guides we checked do not cover choosing a broadband or mobile provider, so we name no companies or prices. They do contain rules that shape your choice:

Rule	What it means for you
A CPR number is needed for a Danish phone number	Register first (part 3), then sign up
To get MitID by scanning your passport or ID card, your phone must read its chip	You need an iPhone 7 or newer, or a newer Android phone (part 4)
Since 9 July 2026, the Digital Post app no longer works on older Android phones that cannot be upgraded to HyperOS	Among them some Xiaomi phones on Android 9 and 10 – use another Digital Post platform
All telecom operators must let every subscriber call 112	Even with no credit on the account or a blocked phone
No connection of at least 512 kbit/s possible where you live	One of the grounds for exemption from Digital Post

Source: City of Copenhagen, Life in Denmark (Agency for Digital Government) and the Danish Emergency Management Agency, read 23 September 2026.

As for TV, the universal medielicens (media licence) has been phased out. According to Denmark's public citizen portal, the mediecheck gradually replaced it up to 2022, and today only the mediecheck exists. It is not a bill but a taxable supplement for pensioners: DKK 1,552 before tax in 2026, paid with the state or disability pension at the end of January to those with a personal supplement percentage of 100. From 2026 the annual cheque is permanently about DKK 400 higher, because a change to the VAT rules is expected to make the average TV package DKK 15–20 a month dearer. Questions go to Udbetaling Danmark (the authority that pays out pensions and benefits), Pension, on 70 12 80 61.

Buying for your home from outside the EU

Since 1 July 2026, customs duty applies to all goods from web shops outside the EU, including orders of EUR 150 or less, which used to be duty-free: a flat EUR 3 (about DKK 22) per varepost (type of goods in the parcel), on top of VAT and the carrier's fee, according to Toldstyrelsen (the Danish Customs Agency), which answers private individuals on 72 22 28 02.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Look up your grid company, then compare suppliers on Forsyningstilsynet's price portal	In your first week
2	Choose a fixed or spot price and check the binding period – at most 6 months	Before you sign
3	Take out home contents insurance (indboforsikring)	As soon as you have your CPR number
4	Take out the mandatory cover if you own a vehicle, a dog or real estate	Before you drive, bring the dog home or take over the property
5	Get a Danish phone number and check that your phone runs the MitID app	Right after CPR registration
6	Return deposit bottles and cans to a shop that sells them	Every time you shop

Source: Life in Denmark, Denmark's public citizen portal and Dansk Retursystem, read 23 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 23 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

• lifeindenmark.borger.dk · lifeindenmark.borger.dk
• borger.dk · borger.dk
• lifeindenmark.borger.dk · lifeindenmark.borger.dk
• borger.dk · borger.dk
• borger.dk · borger.dk

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.