What to do before we arrive
A few things are worth doing while you're waiting, and one thing worth not doing.
- If there's a burning smell, scorching or smoke — turn off the main switch on the consumer unit and leave it off. Don't try to work out which circuit it is.
- If a breaker keeps tripping — unplug everything on that circuit, reset it once, then plug things back in one at a time. Very often it's an appliance, and knowing which one saves us an hour.
- If the whole house is off — check whether the neighbours are off too. If they are, it's a supply fault and the distribution network operator deals with it, not us. That call is free and it's a lot quicker.
- Don't keep resetting a breaker that won't hold. It's doing its job. Forcing it repeatedly is how a fault becomes a fire.
If you smell burning, see scorching around a socket, or anything is hot to the touch, isolate it and ring. That is genuinely urgent and we treat it that way.
What counts as an emergency
Not everything that feels urgent at ten o'clock at night actually is, and we'd rather be honest about that than charge a call-out for something that can wait until morning.
Get it looked at now
- Burning smells, scorching, or heat around a socket, switch or the board
- Exposed conductors, a damaged cable, or water reaching an installation
- A shock or a tingle from an appliance, tap or pipework
- Total loss of power where the neighbours still have theirs
- A board that trips again the moment it's reset
Usually fine until the morning
- One circuit out with everything else working
- A single dead socket or light
- An appliance that's failed
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you which it is. It costs nothing to ask.
Making it safe, then fixing it
The first job is always to make the installation safe. That sometimes means isolating a circuit and leaving it isolated overnight, rather than attempting a permanent repair at speed in poor light.
Once it's safe we find the fault properly, and quote the repair before doing it. What we won't do is use an emergency as a reason to bump the price or to find work that doesn't need doing. It's a small area and the reviews matter a great deal more than one inflated job.
Common questions
Will you take a call outside working hours?
Yes. If it's a genuine emergency, ring — we'll take the call. You'll get an electrician rather than an answering service, and a straight answer about how soon we can get there.
The whole street is off. Is that you?
No — that's a network fault, and your distribution network operator handles it. Call 105 from any phone, free, and they'll pick it up. Much quicker than waiting for an electrician.
My RCD won't reset. What now?
Unplug everything on the affected circuits and try once more. If it holds, plug things back one at a time to find the culprit. If it still won't hold, leave it off and ring us.
Is there a call-out charge?
We'll tell you the cost before we set off, so there are no surprises. Emergency work outside normal hours costs more than a booked visit — that's normal, but you'll know the figure in advance.
Can you make it safe tonight and fix it later?
Very often that's the sensible answer. Safe first, proper repair in daylight, quoted before we do it.
