What counts as a plumbing emergency?

Water coming through the ceiling at 11pm is not the moment to read a long guide, so the short version is this: turn the water off at the stop tap, keep away from wet electrics, and then decide whether the job really cannot wait until the morning. This guide explains what counts as a plumbing emergency, what to do in the first ten minutes, who should pay, and how to avoid the rogue traders who target people in a hurry.

If you smell gas, this is not a plumbing job. Do not use switches or naked flames, open the windows, turn off the gas at the meter if you can, leave the property and call the gas emergency line on 0800 111 999. HSE says any work on gas appliances or fittings must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

What counts as a plumbing emergency?

A plumbing emergency is a problem that will cause damage, or put someone at risk, if it waits until the next working day. In practice that means:

• Water you cannot stop. The stop tap is off and water is still coming out, or you cannot find or turn the stop tap.
• Water near electrics. Water dripping on to sockets, light fittings or the consumer unit, or coming through a ceiling with a light in it.
• A burst pipe. Common in a cold snap, often in a loft, garage or outside wall. Our guide to how to stop pipes freezing and what to do if one bursts covers this in detail.
• Sewage or dirty water coming back into the home through a toilet, shower or drain.
• A leaking hot water cylinder or tank you cannot isolate.
• No water at all when someone at home is elderly, unwell, disabled or very young.

What can usually wait

Once the water is off and nothing is still leaking, these are normally daytime jobs at a normal rate:

• a dripping tap or a cistern that keeps running;
• a slow sink, bath or shower drain;
• one blocked toilet when you have another one;
• a small leak that an isolation valve under the sink or toilet has stopped;
• low water pressure, unless the whole street is affected, in which case it is a question for your water company.

No heating or hot water is usually a boiler fault, not a plumbing one, and a gas boiler needs a Gas Safe registered engineer. See what to do when your boiler breaks down for the checks to make first.

What to do in the first ten minutes

1. Turn off the stop tap. It is usually under the kitchen sink, near where the water pipe comes into the house, or in a downstairs cupboard. Turn it clockwise. WaterSafe advises everyone to find their stop tap before they need it and check it turns.
2. Drain the pipes. Open the cold taps to empty the system and take the pressure off the leak. If water is coming from the hot side, turn off the boiler or immersion heater too.
3. Make the electrics safe. Electrical Safety First advises switching off at the consumer unit only if it is safe to do so. If the consumer unit itself is wet, do not touch it, and have a registered electrician check it before the power goes back on.
4. Catch and move. Put buckets under drips, move valuables and rugs, and if a ceiling is bulging with water, keep people out of the room underneath. If water only comes through a top floor ceiling when it rains, the roof is the more likely cause; see what to do if a storm damages your roof.
5. Take photos of the leak and the damage before you clear up. Your insurer, or your landlord, will want them.

Very often, by the end of step two, the emergency is over. What is left is a repair that can be booked properly in the morning.

Check who should fix it and who should pay

Before you call the first number you find, check whether someone else is responsible.

• A leak in the street or pavement. Water companies look after the public pipes, and homeowners look after the pipes and taps inside their property boundary. In the West Midlands, Severn Trent sets this out on its own site. Report water coming up in the road to your water company rather than paying a plumber to look at it.
• You rent. In England and Wales, section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes the landlord of most homes let for under seven years responsible for keeping the water, sanitation and hot water installations in repair. Turn the water off, then call your landlord or letting agent, who may have their own plumber.
• You have home emergency cover. It is often part of home insurance or bought separately. Call the insurer's helpline before booking anyone yourself, as many policies only pay for their own approved trades.
• Several drains backing up at once. The blockage may be in a shared drain or public sewer, which can be the water company's to clear. Ask them first.

How emergency plumbers charge

Emergency work costs more because the plumber is coming out at night or at the weekend, at short notice. A June 2026 Logic4training survey found emergency call out fees of £40 to £150 on top of an hourly rate of around £80, with some plumbers charging more. Our guide to how much a plumber charges per hour has the full figures for day, evening and emergency work.

The fee itself is not the problem. The problem is not knowing it until the invoice arrives. Before anyone sets off, ask:

• what the call out fee is, and whether it includes the first hour of work;
• the hourly rate after that, and whether it is charged in full or part hours;
• whether parts, VAT and parking are extra;
• whether the price changes after midnight, at weekends or on bank holidays.

Write the answers down, or ask for them by text or email. Bromley Trading Standards also suggests saving a screenshot of any price you saw online, so you have a record if there is a dispute.

How to avoid being overcharged in an emergency

Rogue traders know that people with water through the ceiling will pay first and ask questions later. In February 2025, City of York Council reported that a man who advertised online as an emergency plumber was jailed for four years after defrauding victims of £250,000 between 2021 and 2022. One victim paid more than £3,000 for a toilet leak repair that should have cost around £300.

The warning signs Trading Standards and Which? point to are consistent:

• A very low price at the top of the search results. Bromley Trading Standards warns that unusually cheap advertised prices, especially at the top of search results, can hide extra fees. Which? adds that an advert's web address may not match the business it claims to be.
• No real business behind the number. A slick website on its own proves nothing. Look for a business name, an address and a landline, and check the company on Companies House.
• Pressure on the doorstep. Being told the whole system needs replacing tonight, or that the price only stands if you agree now.
• Cash only, or payment before the work. Paying by card gives you more protection if something goes wrong.

Even in a hurry, a two minute check helps. Look the business up on the free WaterSafe register of approved plumbers, and if the job touches a boiler or gas pipe, check the Gas Safe ID card. Our guide on how to check a tradesperson is genuine covers every check. The best defence of all is to find a plumber you trust before anything goes wrong and keep the number on the fridge.

Your rights after an emergency call out

Cancellation

Normally you have 14 days to cancel a contract made at your home. Regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 makes an exception when you specifically ask a trader to visit for urgent repairs or maintenance, so you cannot cancel the urgent repair itself. The exception does not cover extra services, or goods other than the replacement parts needed for the repair, that the trader supplies on the same visit. So if the plumber offers a new bathroom suite while fixing the leak, your normal cancellation rights apply to that.

Price and quality

Under section 51 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if no price was agreed before the work, you only have to pay a reasonable price. The work must also be done with reasonable care and skill. If you think you were overcharged:

• ask for an itemised invoice showing labour, parts and VAT;
• put your complaint in writing, with photos and any price you were given;
• call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133, which passes cases on to Trading Standards;
• if you think it was fraud, report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, the number Bromley Trading Standards gives.

Find a local plumber before you need one

If it can wait until the morning, post your job free and hear back from a local plumber. Describe the problem, add a photo, and mark it as an emergency on the last step if water is still escaping. The business you choose can come back to you with a price, you pay them directly, and there is nothing to pay online.

Or browse local businesses now and save a number for next time: plumbers in Birmingham, plumbers in Wolverhampton, plumbers in Coventry, plumbers in Walsall, plumbers in Dudley or plumbers in Solihull. For more winter guides, see all our home advice.