Emergency Electrician
North London

Our North London emergency callout is £150 — fully inclusive. Covers travel, immediate fault diagnosis, RCD/MCB testing, circuit isolation, and making the property safe within the first hour.

What’s included in the £150:

• Same-visit fix for simple emergencies (RCD won’t reset, single broken socket, isolation of a faulty circuit)
• Diagnostic testing with insulation resistance tester, multimeter, RCD ramp tester
• Written safety report on the spot — useful for insurance claims
• Property left safe (faulty circuit isolated, mains restored to working sections)

What’s quoted separately:

• Repair work that needs parts, additional time, or a follow-up visit (rewire of damaged section, consumer unit replacement, EICR remedials)
• We always quote upfront before doing extra work

Standard hours vs out-of-hours:

• Same £150 callout 7am–9pm Mon–Sat
• After 9pm and Sundays/bank holidays: same £150 — we don’t surcharge for genuine emergencies
• This is below typical North London emergency rates (£200–£300 is common for ‘24/7’ electricians who upcharge nights)

For landlords: invoiced direct, full diagnostic report attached for your records. 12-month install warranty on any fix done during the visit.

Genuine emergencies — call us now (24/7):

• Burning plastic smell from a socket, switch, or fuse box (fire risk)
• Sparks or popping from a socket or appliance
• Hot socket or switch plate that’s warm to touch
• Smoke from any electrical fitting
• Electric shock received from any appliance, socket, or switch
• Water damage to electrics (flood, burst pipe, ceiling leak through light fitting)
• RCD or main switch keeps tripping and won’t stay on with everything unplugged
• Whole house power loss that’s NOT a regional power cut (see Q3 to check)

Tenant emergencies (landlords) — same list, plus complete loss of power lasting more than a few hours, no heating in winter due to electrical fault, vulnerable tenant (elderly, infants, medical equipment dependency).

NOT emergencies — book us within a few days:

• One socket not working (other rooms fine)
• Light bulb out (try replacement first)
• Doorbell or extractor fan broken
• EICR remedials (unless C1 immediate-danger code)
• Decorative light fitting swap

Borderline — your call:

• Fuse keeps tripping but resets after 30 minutes (probably faulty appliance — see Q5)
• Lights flickering occasionally (not house-wide)
• Outdoor socket dead after rain

When in doubt — ring us. Phone advice is free. We’d rather quickly advise over the phone than have you ignore a real warning sign.

Three quick checks before paying for an emergency callout:

1. Is it a regional power cut? Call 105 (free, 24/7).

• 105 connects you to your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO — UK Power Networks for North London)
• They’ll confirm if there’s a fault on the local network or report your outage
• If it’s a regional cut, they fix it for free — we can’t help and won’t charge you to drive over

2. Check your neighbours.

• Lights on next door? Likely a fault inside YOUR house — call us
• Whole street dark? Confirms a regional cut — call 105

3. Check your fuse box / consumer unit.

• Open the consumer unit (usually a small white box near the meter or by the front door)
• Look for any switch in the OFF position — flip it back to ON
• If the main switch trips immediately, you have a real fault — call us
• If everything’s already in the ON position, check the DNO cut-out fuse is intact (the sealed fuse before your meter — only a DNO can replace this; call 105)

4. Smart meter check (if you have one):

• Look at the in-home display — if it shows ‘credit £0’ or similar, it could be a meter fault. Call your energy supplier (the company that bills you, not 105)

If none of the above resolves it: call us on 07932 772050. Most ‘whole house no power’ calls in North London turn out to be DNO faults, tripped main RCD, or smart meter issues. We don’t charge if we arrive and you’re still in a regional cut.

YES — treat it as urgent. Stop what you’re doing.

Burning smell or smoke:

• Plastic, rubber, or ‘electrical’ smell = wiring insulation overheating. 30 seconds from problem to fire in worst cases
• Switch off the affected circuit at the consumer unit immediately
• If you can’t tell which one, switch off the main switch at the top of the fuse box
• Unplug everything in the room
• Don’t touch any socket or switch that feels warm
• Call us on 07932 772050 — same-day callout for confirmed burning-smell jobs

Sparks from a socket:

• Small spark when plugging in = generally normal (capacitive discharge)
• Visible flame, large blue arc, popping noise = emergency. Switch off main, call us
• Buzzing socket = loose connection inside, urgent

Hot socket or switch:

• Any socket warm to the back-of-hand touch is overheating
• Often a loose neutral or worn contacts behind the faceplate
• Switch off the circuit, call us — don’t keep using it

Electric shock or tingling:

• ANY shock from an appliance, switch, or socket means earth fault — could escalate
• Switch off the affected circuit at the consumer unit immediately
• Don’t touch the appliance or socket again until checked
• This is a same-day emergency

For landlords with tenants in: instruct the tenant to isolate the circuit, not touch the affected area, and call you. Then call us — we coordinate access urgently.

No higher rate for confirmed burning-smell or shock emergencies — same £150 callout.

Step-by-step, safe order:

1. Unplug everything on the affected circuit.

• All sockets in the affected room, every appliance, every charger, every lamp
• Including things plugged into extension leads

2. Try the reset.

• Open the consumer unit, find the tripped switch (usually in the OFF or middle position)
• Push it firmly to OFF, then back to ON
• If it stays ON — you have a faulty appliance (most likely). Plug appliances back one by one to find the culprit
• If it trips IMMEDIATELY back to OFF — there’s a fault in the wiring itself. Don’t keep trying to reset it

3. If the MAIN switch (top of the fuse box, biggest one) trips and won’t reset:

• This is more serious — likely an earth fault somewhere in the property
• Don’t keep flipping it (repeated stress can damage the switch)
• Leave it OFF, call us on 07932 772050

⚠️ Common Trap — Never bypass an RCD. Some people tape the RCD in the ON position or replace it with a dummy. Dangerous and likely to leave the installation non-compliant. RCDs save lives.

⚠️ Common Landlord Trap: Tenant reports repeated tripping — you delay or dismiss it. RCDs trip on real earth-leakage faults. Keeping a tenant in a property with a hidden earth fault is a Section 11 obligation breach (see Q6).

What our visit includes: insulation resistance test on the affected circuit, isolate the fault to a specific cable run, repair on the spot if simple, written safety report. Most repeated-trip jobs resolved within the £150 first hour.

✅ The Law — Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985: keep electrical installations in repair and proper working order throughout the tenancy. For genuine emergencies (no power, burning smell, shock, water damage to electrics), you must respond promptly — the response should reflect the seriousness and circumstances of the fault.

✅ The Law — Social housing (council/HA): Follow the landlord’s applicable emergency-repair policy and act according to the risk.

For private landlords: the response time should be reasonable for the seriousness and circumstances of the fault. Failure to act can lead to:

• Tenant disrepair claim
• Council Environmental Health enforcement
• Compensation order if tenant suffers loss/damage

⚠️ Common Landlord Trap: Ignoring or delaying response to a genuine tenant emergency can convert a £150 callout into a multi-thousand-pound disrepair claim plus damages. Prioritise fire, shock and total-loss-of-power emergencies and confirm availability when you call.

How we work with landlords:

• You give us the tenant’s contact details + a one-line description of the fault
• We coordinate the visit time directly with the tenant — saves you the back-and-forth
• We arrive, diagnose, make safe, and either fix on the spot or quote you for follow-up
• We invoice you direct — tenant is never asked to pay
• You get a written report with EICR codes referenced where relevant

Response time for North London landlord emergencies:

• Same-day for genuine emergencies (burning smell, sparks, no power, shock, RCD won’t reset)
• Same-week for urgent-but-not-emergency
• Out-of-hours for life-safety — we cover 24/7 for confirmed emergencies. Same £150 callout, no surcharge

Working pattern in North London: we work with letting agents and direct landlords across the borough every week.

Honest version:

Standard hours: 7am – 9pm, Monday to Saturday. Most calls answered within 5 minutes during these hours.

Out-of-hours (9pm–7am, Sundays, bank holidays): we cover genuine emergencies only.

• Burning smell, sparks, electric shock, water damage to electrics, RCD that won’t reset, whole-house power loss
• Same £150 callout — no surcharge for genuine emergencies
• Phone is answered 24/7; we’ll triage by phone first to confirm it’s a real emergency

What’s NOT covered out-of-hours:

• Non-emergency callouts (single dead socket, broken light, decorative work) — these wait for next-day standard hours
• ‘Just check it for me’ calls without a specific safety concern

Why we operate this way (transparency): ‘24/7’ advertised by some local electricians often means they answer the phone but charge £200–£300 callout + £100/hr after midnight. We don’t surcharge because we’d rather you call us at 2am about a burning smell than wait until morning and have a fire.

Phone triage is free. If you ring at midnight and we can talk you through resetting a tripped breaker without a callout, we will. No ‘we’re already on the way’ pressure tactics.

For North London landlords with tenants in: call our standard number any time — we have a system for routing genuine tenant emergencies straight to whoever’s on call.

Different services for different urgency:

£100 standard fault-finding visit (booked):

• Booked in advance for next-day or same-week
• Standard hours (7am–9pm Mon–Sat)
• Up to 1 hour fault diagnosis included
• Best for: intermittent faults, dead sockets, tripping circuits with no immediate danger, EICR remedials, planned electrical investigation

£150 emergency callout (immediate):

• Same-visit response, often within 1–2 hours of your call
• 7 days a week, 24/7 for genuine emergencies (see Q7)
• Up to 1 hour emergency diagnosis + property made safe
• Best for: burning smell, sparks, no power, RCD won’t reset, electric shock, water damage to electrics, tenant safety

Why the £50 difference?

• Emergency call interrupts whatever scheduled work we’re doing — we drop everything and reroute
• Out-of-hours emergencies cover unsocial hours work
• Emergency safety reports are issued on the spot for insurance
• Property is made safe within the visit (not just diagnosed for follow-up)

You can downgrade an emergency to a standard visit — if you ring saying ‘burning smell’ but on phone triage we conclude it’s a tripped RCD that resets fine, we’ll book you in as a £100 standard visit instead. No upsell pressure.

You can upgrade a standard to emergency — if a booked visit reveals a genuine danger (exposed live, fire risk), the visit converts and we don’t backdate the higher fee.

For landlords: both bills may be tax-deductible against rental income — check with your accountant.

Safe to try (saves you £150 if it’s simple):

1. Reset a tripped breaker / RCD — open consumer unit, find the OFF switch, push to OFF then ON. If it trips again immediately: real fault, call us. If it stays ON: probably an appliance fault

2. Check 105 for power cuts — free, 24/7, takes 30 seconds. Confirms regional cut vs your fault

3. Check neighbours’ lights — quick visual, confirms whole-street vs your-house issue

4. Plug socket isolation — unplug everything on a tripping circuit, reset, plug in one at a time. Find the appliance causing it

5. Replace a bulb — if one light’s out, swap a known-good bulb. 50% of ‘broken light’ calls are dead bulbs

6. Check garden / outdoor sockets after rain — water in an outside socket trips RCD. Dry it out

Stop and call us if:

• You smell burning or see scorch marks
• A switch or socket feels hot
• The breaker won’t stay on with everything unplugged
• You see exposed wires anywhere
• You’ve received any tingling or shock from an appliance
• Lights flicker house-wide or dim sharply when an appliance starts

⚠️ Common Trap — Never do (illegal or dangerous):

• Bypass an RCD (tape it, replace with a dummy) — dangerous and likely to leave the installation non-compliant
• Open a consumer unit with the main on to ‘look inside’
• Replace a DNO cut-out fuse (the sealed fuse before your meter — this must only be handled by the network operator; interfering with it is dangerous and may be an offence)
• Work on a circuit while it’s live

No judgement when you call. We’d rather you ring early than ignore a warning sign.

No — we don’t charge you if it’s a DNO power cut and we couldn’t have helped.

How it usually plays out:

• You call us reporting ‘no power’
• We always ask first: have you tried 105? Are your neighbours’ lights on?
• If you haven’t done those checks, we’ll talk you through them on the phone (free)
• If those confirm it’s a regional cut, we tell you to call 105 and don’t dispatch
• If it’s confirmed a property-side fault, we dispatch and charge the £150 callout

What if we’re already en route and the power comes back?

• Genuine power-cut restoration mid-journey: no callout charge
• We’ll still ring to confirm the property’s safe — sometimes there’s wiring damage from the cut that needs checking. If we attend at your request to verify, then it’s a £100 standard fault-finding visit, not £150 emergency

What if you ignored the 105 / neighbour checks and we arrive to find a regional cut?

• We’ll discuss honestly. Most cases we don’t charge — we’d rather you trust us with future calls than collect £150 on a false alarm
• If you’re a repeat offender (third time you’ve called us during a regional cut without checking), we’ll start charging the standard £100 callout to cover our drive time

For landlords: we never charge a tenant for a wasted callout that turns out to be a DNO issue. We tell the tenant to call 105 first — saves you the bill.

Bottom line: honest triage on the phone, no surprise bills.

Depends on your policy and what caused the emergency:

Often covered:

• Damage from electrical fire (smoke, scorch marks, melted wiring) — usually covered under buildings or contents insurance
• Lightning strike to your home electrics — most policies cover surge damage to wiring + appliances
• Water damage to electrics from a covered event (burst pipe, storm, flood) — usually covered
• Some policies include ‘home emergency cover’ as an add-on — covers electrician callout fees up to a limit (typically £200–£500)

Usually NOT covered:

• Wear and tear — old wiring failing, perished cables, RCDs reaching end of life
• DIY damage — fault caused by previous DIY work
• Lack of maintenance — failure to act on EICR recommendations
• Pre-existing faults — issues that existed before your policy started

What we provide for insurance claims:

• Written safety report issued at the visit — describes the fault, cause, action taken
• Photos of damaged wiring/sockets where relevant
• Itemised invoice showing emergency callout + parts + repair work separately
• Proof of qualification (NICEIC registration) — many insurers require certified electrician for cover to apply

Practical tip: if you have home emergency cover (Homeserve, British Gas Homecare, AA, etc.), check your policy BEFORE calling us. Some routes you through their network; others reimburse you for using your own. Our £150 callout often falls within most cover limits.

For landlords: landlord insurance often includes emergency callout cover. Worth checking your specific policy schedule. We can issue paperwork in your insurer’s preferred format on request.

Typical emergency visit (~1 hour):

1. Arrival + safety isolation (~5 mins) — identify the affected circuit, isolate at the consumer unit, confirm property is safe (no live exposed conductors).

2. Diagnosis (~20–40 mins) — insulation resistance testing on the affected circuit, earth loop impedance check, RCD ramp test if RCD is at fault, visual inspection of the fault location, test under live conditions where safe.

3. Same-visit fix (where possible):

• Replace a tripping RCD — straight swap, ~30 mins
• Replace a damaged socket or switch — straight swap, ~15 mins
• Tighten loose terminals in a junction box or ceiling rose
• Isolate a faulty cable run — leave the rest of the property working
• Replace a single faulty MCB — ~15 mins
• Replace a damaged bulb holder / pendant rose — ~20 mins

4. Cannot-fix-on-the-spot situations:

• Damaged cable buried in the wall — needs chasing, plastering, repair next day
• Consumer unit replacement — booked as a follow-up (see our Consumer Unit page)
• Section of rewire required — quoted on the spot, scheduled for a follow-up

5. Hand-over:

• Written safety report (useful for insurance)
• Walk-through of what’s been done
• Quote for any follow-up work, no pressure
• 12-month install warranty on whatever we fixed during the visit. If anything stops working within the first year, ring us and we’ll come back at no extra charge. After 12 months, our standard £100 callout applies. Most issues troubleshoot remotely first.

Most North London emergency calls resolved within the £150 first hour — burning smell isolated, RCD reset, faulty socket replaced, property safe. Bigger work is honestly quoted before any extra time is spent.