Is this an emergency, or can it wait?
Treat it as urgent if you can smell burning, if there is scorching or melting around a socket or the consumer unit, if water is getting near electrics, if you have had a shock from anything, or if a breaker trips again the moment you reset it.
A total loss of power matters too, though not every one is a fault at your property: check whether the neighbours are off, and check your supplier's outage information before calling an electrician. If the street is off it is the network operator's problem and an electrician cannot fix it.
Things that will usually keep until a normal appointment: one light not working, a single dead socket on an otherwise healthy circuit, an outside light that has stopped, or work you were planning anyway. If you are not sure, ring and describe it. We would rather tell you it can wait than have you sitting in the dark worrying about it.
What should I do before you arrive?
Make it safe and leave it alone. If you can do it without touching anything damaged, switch off the affected circuit at the consumer unit, or the main switch if you cannot identify which one.
Do not keep resetting a breaker that keeps tripping. It is disconnecting for a reason, and forcing it back on repeatedly can turn a fault into a fire. Unplug anything on the circuit if it is safe to reach, because a faulty appliance is one of the commonest causes and unplugging it sometimes restores everything. Keep away from anything wet, scorched or warm to the touch, and do not open the consumer unit.
If you smell burning and cannot find the source, turn the main switch off and ring us. If you can see fire, or smoke you cannot account for, that is 999 first and us afterwards.
Can I call you at night or at the weekend?
Yes. The phone is answered any time, day or night, including weekends and bank holidays. You get Steve rather than a call centre, and you get a straight answer about whether we can come and when.
That is worth saying plainly because a lot of "24 hour" electricians are a switchboard that takes your details and rings round. We are a small local team covering Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and the surrounding Dorset area, so the person who picks up is the person who would be coming out.
Planned work is a different thing. Quotes, bookings and anything that can wait run Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm. The out-of-hours line is for the ones that cannot.
How quickly can you get to me?
It depends where you are and what we are in the middle of, so the honest answer comes when you ring rather than from a page. We do not publish a response time we might not be able to keep.
What we will tell you on the call is whether we can come, and roughly when. If we cannot get to you soon enough for what has happened, we will say so there and then, so you can try someone else instead of waiting on us. That is more use to you at eleven at night than a promise.
In the meantime we will talk you through making it safe, which is often enough to get you through to morning without the power off to the whole house.
What does an emergency call-out cost?
We will tell you the call-out charge and what it covers on the phone, before we set off. You will not be quoted after the event.
What the visit buys is attendance, diagnosis and making the installation safe. Repair work beyond that is quoted once we can see what the fault actually is, because until it is traced nobody can price it honestly. We are not registered for VAT, so the figure we give you is the figure you pay, with nothing added afterwards.
One thing worth knowing, because it protects you: if we agree the work at your home you have a 14-day right to change your mind, and if you want us to start straight away, which for an emergency you almost certainly do, we will ask you to confirm that in writing. It takes a moment and it is set out in our terms, section 4.
What we cover
- Power loss and circuits that keep tripping
- Burning smells, scorching and overheating
- Fault-finding and making safe
- Consumer unit and RCD faults
- Damage after a leak or a flood
- Phone answered any time, day or night, including weekends
- Straight answer on the phone about whether we can come
Common questions
Do you charge to come out?
Yes, there is a call-out charge, and we tell you what it is on the phone before we set off. It covers attendance, diagnosis and making the installation safe. Any repair beyond that is quoted once the fault has been traced.
My power is off. Is that you or the network?
Check whether the neighbours are off and check your supplier's outage information first. If the street is off it is the network operator's, and an electrician cannot fix it. If it is only your property, ring us.
Do you actually answer out of hours?
Yes, the phone is answered any time, day or night, and you get Steve rather than a switchboard. Planned work and quotes still run Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm.
Can I just keep resetting the breaker?
Please do not. It is disconnecting for a reason, and repeatedly forcing it back on can turn a fault into a fire. Leave it off and ring us.