Urgent Home Repairs and Trusted Tradespeople

If you smell gas, suspect a gas leak or think an appliance may be producing carbon monoxide, treat it as urgent.

• Leave the property and move into fresh air, especially if anyone feels unwell.
• Do not use matches, lighters, candles or anything with a flame.
• Do not smoke and do not do anything that could create a spark.
• Do not operate electrical switches, including light switches, doorbells and appliances.
• Open doors and windows if it is safe to do so, and turn off the gas at the meter if you can reach it safely.
• Follow the official gas emergency instructions for your part of the UK.

Call 999 if anyone has collapsed, is seriously unwell or is in immediate danger.

Carbon monoxide has no smell. Symptoms can include headache, dizziness, feeling or being sick, tiredness, confusion and breathlessness, and they often improve when you leave the property. Get medical advice if you think you have been affected.

It helps to work out which of these three situations you are in.

• A general power cut — neighbouring homes or street lights are also affected. This is a matter for the local electricity network operator, not for an electrician.
• A fault affecting only your home — check whether a trip switch in your consumer unit (fuse box) has operated. If power does not return, or trips again immediately, arrange a registered electrician.
• Exposed wires, burning smells, smoke, sparks or an electrical fire — this is an emergency. Do not touch the equipment.

Never use water on an electrical fire. If there is a fire or any immediate danger, get out, stay out and call 999.

Simple first steps, only where it is safe to take them:

• Turn off the internal stop tap if you know where it is and can reach it safely. It is often under the kitchen sink or near where the water pipe enters the property.
• Move away from water that is near sockets, light fittings or electrical appliances.
• Do not stand on chairs or ladders, lift heavy items or attempt an unsafe repair.
• Catch water in bowls or buckets only if you can do so safely.
• Take photographs for your records if it is safe.

Who to contact depends on where the problem is:

• Outside your property, in the street, or affecting the public supply — contact your water company.
• You rent — contact your landlord, council, housing association or managing agent, and keep a written record of when you reported it.
• You own the property — contact a plumber for internal plumbing, and check whether you have home insurance or home-emergency cover before arranging work.

If water is coming into contact with electrical fittings, or the ceiling is bulging or sagging, keep everyone away from the area and treat it as dangerous.

Who arranges and pays for the repair usually depends on your circumstances:

• Homeowners — you arrange the repair, or claim under a boiler or home-emergency policy if you have one.
• Private tenants — report it to your landlord or letting agent straight away and keep a written record.
• Council and housing association tenants — use your landlord's repairs line or online reporting service and ask for a reference number.
• Leaseholders and flats — a managing agent may be responsible for communal boilers, pipework or heating systems.
• Insurers — check any home-emergency cover before you book, because using your own trader can sometimes affect a claim.

If you are older or disabled, have a health condition, or are caring for someone whose health could be affected by cold, say so clearly when you report the problem. Many landlords and suppliers prioritise repairs where a lack of heating creates an increased health risk, and temporary heaters are sometimes provided while a repair is arranged.

Work on gas boilers and gas appliances must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. You can check an engineer's registration before work begins.

Call 999 if an intruder may still be in or near the property, or if anyone is in immediate danger. Where the matter is not an emergency — for example reporting a burglary that has already happened — you can call 101 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, or report online.

Once you are safe:

• If you rent, contact your landlord, council, housing association or managing agent first. Many have their own emergency repair arrangements for security problems.
• If you own the property, check your home insurance. Some policies cover emergency boarding up or lock replacement, and may require you to use their approved contractor.
• If you use an emergency locksmith, ask for the complete call-out price before any work begins, including labour, parts, VAT and any out-of-hours charge.
• Ask whether the price quoted is fixed, and get it in writing by text or email if you can.
• Keep the old lock, the invoice and any photographs.

Locksmithing is not a legally regulated trade in the UK, so checking a scheme such as Buy With Confidence or asking for a written price in advance is particularly important.

Not every lock problem is a police matter — a worn or jammed lock with no crime involved is simply a repair.

• Keep away from sagging ceilings, fallen materials and anything that looks unstable.
• Do not enter a room or area that may be unsafe, and keep children and pets away.
• Never climb onto a roof, into a loft space or up a ladder yourself to inspect damage.
• Photograph the damage from a safe distance for your insurer or landlord.

Who to contact:

• Your landlord, council, housing association or managing agent if you rent.
• Your home insurer if you own the property, before arranging permanent repairs.
• Your council's building control service if a building or part of a building appears dangerous or unstable.
• An appropriately qualified contractor for the type of work involved.

Call 999 where there is an immediate danger to life or a serious collapse.

No scheme can guarantee the price, availability or quality of every job. What these schemes do is set entry requirements and provide a way of checking a business before you commit.

• TrustMark — a government-endorsed quality scheme. Registered businesses are vetted against technical, trading and customer-service standards by a scheme provider.
• Buy With Confidence — a Trading Standards approved trader scheme. Businesses are checked by Trading Standards officers and must agree to trade fairly. Coverage varies by council area.
• Gas Safe Register — the official gas registration body for the UK. Anyone carrying out gas work must be on the register by law, and you can check an engineer's registration and the types of gas work they are qualified for.
• Electrical competent person registers — electricians registered with a government-authorised scheme can self-certify certain work as meeting building regulations.
• Your local council — many councils run or endorse handyperson services, trusted-trader lists or home-improvement services, particularly for older and disabled residents.
• Care and Repair / home improvement agencies — not-for-profit services in parts of the UK that help older and disabled people with repairs, adaptations and finding reliable contractors. Availability and charges vary by area.
• Age UK and the national Age organisations — general guidance on choosing a trader and avoiding doorstep and repair scams.

We do not list individual businesses and we do not link to commercial emergency-repair companies. Always check registration directly with the scheme rather than relying on a card, van sign or website badge.

You can explain your needs when you first make contact, before you agree to anything. Reasonable requests many businesses can consider include asking them:

• To communicate by text message or email instead of by telephone, where that is available.
• To speak slowly and explain the work in plain English, without jargon.
• To provide a written quotation or price estimate.
• To arrange a suitable arrival window rather than an all-day wait.
• To tell you in advance who will attend and how you can identify them.
• To allow a trusted relative, friend, carer or advocate to be present.
• To take account of mobility, sensory, communication, sight, hearing or access requirements.
• Not to move disability equipment, hoists, rails or medical items without your permission.
• To explain in advance any interruption to electricity, water, heating or accessibility equipment, and roughly how long it will last.

Not every trader can offer every adjustment, and a small business may not be able to agree to everything. Asking before booking lets you find someone who can work in a way that suits you.

• What is the call-out charge?
• Is VAT included in the price you have given me?
• What is the hourly rate, and is there a minimum charge?
• Is there an evening, weekend, bank holiday or emergency surcharge?
• Is there a cancellation charge?
• Are materials and parts included, or charged separately?
• Will I receive a written quotation or price estimate before work starts?
• What registration, qualification or insurance is required for this type of work?
• Who will attend my home, and how will I be able to identify them?
• Is the work guaranteed, and for how long?
• How can I complain if something goes wrong?

Estimate or quotation? An estimate is a considered guess at the likely cost and the final bill can be different. A fixed quotation is an offer to do the work for a set price, and once you accept it, the price should not change unless you agree to extra work. Ask which one you are being given, and ask for it in writing.

Responsibility usually depends on the circumstances, including:

• Whether you own the property or rent it.
• What your tenancy agreement or lease says.
• Whether the problem affects one property or a shared or communal area.
• Whether you have home insurance or home-emergency cover.
• Whether the damage was accidental, or caused by wear and tear, storm or a third party.
• The type of repair, and whether it affects safety or the structure of the building.

If you rent, report repairs to your landlord, council or housing association as soon as you can and keep a written record — the date, what you reported, who you spoke to and any reference number. Follow up telephone calls with a short email or message so there is a record.

This page gives general information only. It is not legal advice, and we cannot say who must pay in your particular situation.

Depending on where you live and your circumstances, help may be available from:

• Your local council — repair assistance, safety schemes and handyperson services.
• Home improvement agencies, which support older and disabled homeowners with repairs.
• Disabled Facilities Grants, for adaptations that help a disabled person live more independently at home.
• Care and Repair services in England, Wales and Scotland.
• Local handyperson schemes, sometimes run by councils or charities.
• Insurers and home-emergency policies you may already hold.
• Benefits checks and charitable grant searches, where appropriate.

Eligibility, availability, waiting times and charges vary considerably by location and personal circumstances. Some services are free, some are means-tested and some charge a fee.

See also our pages on benefits, grants and help with living costs and gas, electricity and water bills.

A short amount of preparation can make the call much easier:

• Write down what has happened in one or two plain sentences.
• Take photographs, only if it is safe to do so.
• Note when the problem started and whether it is getting worse.
• Say whether anyone in the home is disabled, older, unwell or at increased risk because of the problem.
• Ask for communication by email or text message if telephone calls are difficult.
• Ask for the caller's name, the business name and a reference number.
• Ask for the price in writing before any work is agreed.

• Stop and do not agree to further work, if it is safe to do so.
• Photograph the work, the damage and anything left unfinished.
• Keep all messages, quotations, invoices, receipts and payment records.
• Complain to the business in writing first, setting out what happened, what you want and a reasonable date for a reply.
• Contact the approval or registration scheme the business belongs to, such as TrustMark, Buy With Confidence or Gas Safe Register.
• Contact the consumer advice service for your part of the UK.
• Contact your bank straight away if you suspect fraud or an unauthorised payment, and report fraud to the police reporting service for your area.
• Call 999 if you are threatened or in immediate danger.

Sixpence Support UK is not a regulator, mediator, ombudsman or legal adviser. We can help you set out your side clearly, but the complaint remains between you and the business or scheme.