24/7 EMERGENCY CALL OUT

What to do before we arrive

In most emergencies the useful minutes are the ones before anyone gets to you. Stopping the water or isolating the circuit limits the damage far more than the speed of the van does, so this is the first thing we will talk you through on the phone.

Water

Find your internal stopcock — usually under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs cloakroom or near the front door in a flat — and turn it clockwise. If it is seized, or you cannot find it, the external stop tap is normally under a small metal cover at the boundary of the property. Then open the lowest cold tap in the house to drain the pipework down. If water is anywhere near light fittings or sockets, switch that circuit off first.

Electrical

If a circuit keeps tripping, leave it off and unplug everything on it before resetting. A burning smell, a scorched socket or a warm consumer unit means the main switch should go off and stay off. If your lights have gone but neighbouring houses are also dark, it is a supply issue — call 105, the free national number for power cuts, before calling us.

Gas

If you smell gas, do not touch any electrical switch. Open the windows, turn the gas off at the meter, leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. They attend free of charge and will make the situation safe. We can then carry out any repair once they have isolated it.

Roof and storm damage

Keep clear of anything hanging or unstable and do not go into the loft if the ceiling below is holding water — it is safer to pierce a bulging ceiling deliberately over a bucket than to let it come down. Photograph everything before it is moved; your insurer will ask.

How we respond

Out-of-hours work is charged differently from planned work, and we will tell you the call-out rate on the phone before anyone sets off rather than after. Where the fastest sensible answer is a temporary make-safe followed by a proper repair in daylight, we will say that too.