Power cut checklist
Most power cuts are over before you've found the torch. This is for the ones that aren't, ordered by what changes as the hours pass.
21 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Check whether the cut is just your homeA quick look at neighbours' windows or the street lights tells you in seconds whether it's a fault inside the house or something wider.
- Fuse box checked for a tripped switchReset it once. If it trips again immediately, stop — that's a fault for a qualified electrician, not a switch to keep flicking.
- Power cut reported to the network operator105, free, from any phone — it routes to the right operator by location and gives an estimated time back on.
- Torches found and working×2
- Candles and matches kept somewhere away from curtains and paper
- Phones and any power bank charged before they run flat
- Battery or wind-up radio for updates, if the phone signal is also down
- Fridge and freezer doors kept shutAn unopened freezer stays safely cold for around 24 hours — opening it to check resets that clock.
- Anything sensitive unpluggedStops a surge taking it out the moment power returns. Leave one lamp plugged in and switched on, so you know the second it's back.
- Television and computer
- Broadband router
- Hot water bottles filled, if there's a gas hob to boil water on
- Warm clothes and extra blankets outHeating usually needs electricity to ignite even on a gas system — check yours before you need to.
- Anyone in the house who depends on powered medical equipment identifiedA stairlift, an oxygen concentrator, fridge-stored medication — know who needs which before the cut, not during it.
- Registered as a priority services customer, if anyone needs itFree to join, and it gets you priority reconnection plus updates by phone rather than a website you can't reach without power.
- Neighbours checked onEspecially anyone elderly, alone, or reliant on powered equipment of their own.
- Food safety checked before eating anything from the fridge
- Anything above 8°C for more than two hours thrown out
- Freezer contents kept only if they still have ice crystals in them
- Consumer unit left alone if it keeps trippingCall a qualified electrician rather than resetting it a third time — that's the fault, not the fix.
- A plan made for a cut running into the next dayWhere to charge a phone, where to get a hot meal, and who to call if it's still off after 24 hours.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Is a power cut covered by home insurance?
- Rarely on its own — it's the food loss or damage from a related surge that a policy might cover, and only if you kept receipts and reported it quickly.
- What number do I call to report a power cut in the UK?
- 105, free, from any phone, and it works even if you don't know who your electricity network operator is — it routes you automatically by location.
- Should I unplug everything or just wait it out?
- Unplug anything sensitive — a television, a computer — so a surge when power returns doesn't take it out. Leave one lamp switched on so you know the moment it's back.