Emergency Electrician

Electrical emergencies: safety comes first

An electrical emergency is a fault that could create an immediate risk to people or property, or leave a home or business without safe electrical power. Examples include a complete loss of power, repeated tripping, a burning smell, smoking or sparking sockets, water damage to electrics and exposed live wires.

Voltnet's existing emergency service information covers homes, landlords and business premises across London, Essex and Kent. The right response depends on the fault, the condition of the installation and the location, so describe the situation clearly when you call.

What to do before an electrician arrives

• If there is smoke, fire or an immediate danger to people, leave the property and call the emergency services first.
• If it can be done safely, switch off the affected circuit or the main supply from a dry, accessible position.
• Keep people away from exposed wires, smoking or sparking sockets, standing water and damaged electrical equipment.
• Do not touch exposed conductors, wet electrical equipment or anything that is hot, smoking or sparking.
• Do not repeatedly reset a circuit breaker or RCD if it trips again; tell the electrician what happened.

How the emergency response works

When you contact us, explain what has happened, which areas are affected and whether there is smoke, water, heat, sparking or exposed wiring. We can then discuss the next step and any immediate safety information. On site, the priority is to identify the fault, isolate danger where necessary and explain the available repair options.

Some faults can be repaired during the visit. Where a larger repair or replacement is needed, the immediate objective may be to make the installation safe and provide a clear plan for the permanent work. A temporary make-safe action is not the same as completing the underlying repair; the difference should be explained before further work is agreed.

For qualification context, see the inspection, testing and BS 7671 qualifications.

Support for homes, landlords and businesses

For a home, this may mean investigating a tripping consumer unit, loss of power, a damaged socket or water-affected electrics. Landlords and property managers can contact us about urgent faults at a rental property; share access details and whether anyone is on site so the situation can be assessed safely. For offices, retail premises, warehouses and industrial facilities, an urgent fault may affect staff, customers, equipment or business operations and may need to be followed by testing or planned commercial electrical work.

Call-out and pricing information

The emergency service information currently states that the first hour of attendance is charged and that current rates should be confirmed when calling. Conditions can depend on the job, so ask for the current pricing information before work proceeds. We do not add a fixed price, attendance time or no-call-out promise here because the site's emergency wording is not fully consistent across all components.

For broader electrical work, visit our general services page. You can also contact Voltnet with the fault details, or review the customer reviews and project portfolio for wider context about the business.