How Much Does an Emergency Plumber Cost in 2026?
Real numbers, what changes them, and the questions that stop you being overcharged at 2am.
The honest answer
Across the UK you should expect £75–£150 for a call-out and £40–£80 per hour on top, with London at the top of that band. Our own rate is simpler: £110 for the first hour, £45 per additional half hour, no call-out fee, and the same price at any hour of any day.
What actually moves the price
Three things: access (a pipe under a floor costs more than one under a sink), parts (a rare cistern valve can take a day to source), and how long the water has been running before anyone turned it off. The time of night should not move the price, if a firm charges a "night rate", ask what the day rate would have been and you'll learn a lot.
Questions to ask before you say yes
Is there a call-out fee? Is the price fixed or an estimate? Does it include parts? Will I get the price in writing before work starts? A reputable firm answers all four without hesitating. If the answer to the last one is no, keep dialling.
Where the horror stories come from
Almost every £2,000-tap-washer story follows the same shape: no price agreed up front, work started immediately, and pressure applied at the worst possible moment. Agreeing a written fixed price before the toolbox opens removes the entire mechanism.