Emergency trades available now
36 are free right now across the trades people need in a hurry — burst pipes, dead sockets, no heating, locked out. Green means free this minute, set by the business itself.
Before you book anyone
- Smell gas? Leave the building and ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 — free, 24 hours.
- Power cut? Ring 105 before you call an electrician — it may be the network, not your house, and it costs nothing to check.
- Water pouring in? Turn off at the stopcock first, then find a plumber.
- Fire, or anyone hurt? 999.
Emergency trades, by what you need
- Boiler Repair available now6 free now · 30 on Speedi
- Plumbers available now5 free now · 41 on Speedi
- Heating Engineers available now5 free now · 35 on Speedi
- Emergency Callouts available now5 free now · 21 on Speedi
- Gas Engineers available now4 free now · 28 on Speedi
- Central Heating available now3 free now · 25 on Speedi
- Drain Unblocking available now3 free now · 10 on Speedi
- Electricians available now2 free now · 17 on Speedi
- Fault Finding available now2 free now · 10 on Speedi
- Leak Detection & Repair available now1 free now · 12 on Speedi
- Emergency Electricians available nownone free right now · 5 on Speedi
Towns covered
Blackburn, Chorley, Hyndburn, Preston, Bolton, Cumberland, North Yorkshire, Bedford, St Helens.
Browse every trade by town →Emergency call-outs: the short answers
Is Speedi a 24-hour call-out service?
No, and it does not pretend to be. Speedi shows which local businesses are free at this moment and lets you message them direct. At three in the morning that may be nobody — but when it is somebody, they are genuinely free, which is more than a directory listing tells you.
How fast can someone come out?
That is between you and them — Speedi does not quote times or prices on anyone’s behalf. A business showing green has said it is free now, so you are asking someone who can actually answer rather than ringing down a list.
What if nobody is free?
Say what you need once and it goes to every matching business nearby at the same time — the first to take it gets it. You can also be told the moment someone goes green, which for an urgent job is usually minutes rather than days.
Does an emergency job cost more?
Out-of-hours rates are the business’s own, and you agree them before any work starts. Speedi charges you nothing and takes no commission, so nothing is added on top of what the two of you agree.
If you have five minutes to read
- How to find a tradesperson who is actually free todayNot how to find a plumber — how to find one who can come out this afternoon. Those are different problems, and almost everything written about the first one is useless for the second.
- Boiler packed in on a Sunday? What to do firstSunday is the worst day for a broken boiler and the worst day to find anyone. Here's the order to do things in — and how to find a heating engineer who is actually free today rather than one who might call you back.
- Power gone at the weekend? Find a free electricianHalf the house is dead, it is Saturday teatime, and the emergency numbers all want a callout fee before anyone looks at it. What to check first, and how to find a local electrician who is free now rather than Monday.