“When you ring us in an emergency I pick up myself — not a call centre. First thing I'll do is talk you through making it safe, even before I'm in the van. Half the calls I get can be made safe by the homeowner in 30 seconds, and that's the bit that matters most. Then I'll give you an honest ETA. If I'm 25 minutes away in the van, I'll tell you 25 minutes — not "we'll be with you shortly".”
— Tim, Founder & NICEIC Engineer
Emergency Callout Pricing in Poole
Honest pricing on what is already a stressful situation. Every callout fee includes the first hour of labour and full diagnosis — we'll confirm the cost before doing any chargeable repair work.
| When | Callout fee |
|---|---|
| Daytime (Mon–Sat 07:30–18:30) | From £150 |
| Evening & weekend | From £180 |
| Bank holiday | From £200 |
| Hourly labour after first hour | From £55/hr |
| Parts | At cost + 10% |
No call-out charge if we can't safely access the property or if the fault turns out to be a network supply issue (we'll tell you to ring SSEN on 105 instead).
What Counts as an Electrical Emergency?
Some electrical problems are genuinely dangerous and shouldn't wait. Call us immediately if you experience any of the following:
- Total power loss with no street outage (check your neighbours first — if their lights are on, it's likely your installation)
- Burning smell from a socket, switch, light fitting or the consumer unit itself
- Sparking or arcing from any electrical accessory
- Main switch keeps tripping and won't reset, or trips immediately on reset
- Exposed live wiring after a leak, DIY accident, or storm damage
- Smoke or scorching visible on a fitting or socket faceplate
- Water + electrics — ceiling leak above a light, flooded utility, anything wet near a board
- Anyone has had a shock, even a mild one
- Carbon monoxide alarm triggered by an electrical fault
If you smell burning or see sparking, turn off the main switch at your consumer unit and call us immediately on 07809 680068.
Things that feel urgent but probably aren't
- A single circuit has tripped and resets cleanly — book us for a fault-find within a day or two
- One room of lights out, rest of house fine — usually a single MCB or a faulty fitting
- An EV charger that won't start a session — almost always a comms / app issue, not an electrical fault
- An EICR has come back unsatisfactory — not an emergency unless C1 is recorded
Response Times Across the Poole Area
We treat every emergency call with urgency. Times below are typical from our Creekmoor (BH17) base in normal traffic — we'll give you an honest ETA when you call.
| Area | Typical response |
|---|---|
| Poole town centre & Quay | 10–15 minutes |
| Sandbanks (BH13) | 12–15 minutes |
| Canford Cliffs & Lilliput (BH13) | 10–14 minutes |
| Branksome & Parkstone (BH12 / BH14) | 8–12 minutes |
| Broadstone (BH18) | 10–15 minutes |
| Hamworthy (BH15) | 12–18 minutes |
| Bournemouth West (BH4 / BH9) | 15–20 minutes |
| Wimborne (BH21) | 20 minutes |
| Christchurch (BH23) | 20–25 minutes |
Out-of-hours response (after 18:30 or weekends) typically adds 5–10 minutes depending on traffic on the A35.
Why Call Tim — Not a National 24-Hour Service
If you Google "emergency electrician Poole" you'll find half a dozen national booking platforms (CheckaTrade-style portals) that take your call and dispatch whoever happens to be available. We've fixed the aftermath of a few of those jobs. Here's what's different about ringing us directly:
- You speak to the person who's coming. Tim picks up the phone. You can describe the smell, the sound, the tripped breaker pattern, and you'll get advice on making it safe before he's even pulled out of the drive.
- One van — same equipment as planned work. We carry the same NICEIC test kit, the same brand of RCBOs, the same insulation tester. No "we'll have to come back tomorrow with the right gear".
- Fixed pricing before we start chargeable work. National platforms quote a callout, then bill you whatever the time-and-materials totalled. Once we've diagnosed, you get the price — and we honour it.
- The certificate covers the repair. Anything we install in the emergency call — an RCBO swap, a remediated cable section, a replaced shower isolator — goes onto a Minor Works certificate, signed under our NICEIC registration, sent the next working day.
- If it's not safe to leave, we don't leave. Not every fault can be fully resolved in one visit, but we won't go until the property is safe to occupy. We'll isolate, label, and write up exactly what's left to do.
That's also why our emergency callout fee is £150 rather than the £75–£90 you sometimes see advertised. The cheaper number is usually a "get them through the door" fee that doesn't cover meaningful diagnosis. Ours covers the first hour fully.
Recent Customers
"Called out last minute on a Friday as could smell burning underneath the stairs. Tim and his lads sorted it out and the bill was very reasonable as it was out of hours."
Google Review
"Called out Lilliput electrical at the weekend as had no power. Will 100% be using them again."
Google Review
"I have used Lilliput electrical for about 11 years. Tim wired my kitchen extension, and put in a consumer unit when I moved into my home. More recently he has carried out a number of smaller jobs including moving a socket and advising about and fitting lighting. He is always courteous and very helpful. This firm is very trustworthy and the work is tidily completed. I have no hesitation in recommending them as genuinely no job is too big or too small."
Google Review
Find Us — Unit 45 Balena Close, Poole BH17 7DY
Our base in Creekmoor is 5 minutes from the A35 — centrally placed for fast emergency response across BH12, BH13, BH14, BH15, BH16, BH17 and BH18.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — Tim or one of the team will pick up the phone any time, day or night, including weekends and bank holidays. We don't use an answering service. If we're already on a job we'll tell you honestly when we can be with you, and if it's something you can't safely wait on we'll point you to a backup contact.
From our Creekmoor base in BH17 it's 12–15 minutes to Sandbanks via the A350 and chain ferry route, similar to Canford Cliffs and Lilliput. Branksome and Parkstone are 8–12 minutes. We do a lot of urgent work in BH13 and BH14 specifically — older properties on the harbour side often have ageing boards that trip in the storms we get every winter.
Genuine emergencies include: total loss of power that isn't a network outage, burning smell from a socket / switch / consumer unit, sparking or arcing from any electrical accessory, a tripped main switch that won't reset, exposed live wiring after a leak or DIY accident, smoke from a fitting, and any electrical fault with water present. If anyone has had a shock, even a mild one, treat it as urgent. Things that are NOT emergencies but feel like they are: a single circuit tripped that resets fine, one room without lights when the rest of the house works, a faulty socket that has no smell or scorch marks. Call us anyway if you're unsure — we'll diagnose over the phone.
Daytime callouts (Mon–Sat 07:30–18:30) start from £150 and include the first hour. Evening, weekend and bank holiday callouts start from £180 — the higher fee covers travel and overtime. Parts are charged at cost plus 10%. We confirm the price before doing any chargeable work, so you never get a surprise invoice.
Both. Most of our emergency callouts are resolved in the first visit — we carry common parts (RCBOs, RCDs, MCBs, fused spurs, neon indicator switches), full test kit, and we can re-pull cables for damaged sections in the same trip. If the fault needs a part we don't carry (a specific Hager / MK / Crabtree breaker, an electric shower element, an EV charger replacement) we'll isolate the affected circuit safely, leave the rest of the property functional, give you a fixed quote for the return visit, and source the part within 24 hours.
Yes — we're NICEIC registered (Domestic Installer + Approved Contractor), which means every job we leave behind is covered by NICEIC's Platinum Promise warranty for six years. Our company number is 08495604, registered to Unit 45 Balena Close, Poole BH17 7DY. You can verify our registration at niceic.com — search for "Lilliput Electrical Ltd".