Bank holiday call-outs: when to charge emergency rates

Bank holidays split callers into two groups. One has water coming through the ceiling. The other has a dripping tap and a day off to think about it.

Both will ring. Only one is an emergency, and the rate should follow the job, not the day.

Decide where your line is before the phone goes. It is much harder with a worried customer on the line.

• Emergency: unsafe, getting worse, or leaving the home unusable or insecure.
• Not an emergency: annoying but stable. Book it for the next working day.
• Agree the rate by text before you travel.
• Allow for closed trade counters. Without the part, you can only make safe.
• A gas smell goes to the gas emergency line first, not to you.

• Water you cannot stop, or a leak near electrics.
• No power to the whole property, or anything burning, sparking or hot.
• A door or window that will not lock, or a customer locked out.
• No heating or hot water where someone is elderly, ill or has a baby in the house.
• A blocked drain or toilet where it is the only one in the house.
• Storm damage that is letting water in.

A slow drip into a bucket, one dead socket or a noisy boiler that still heats can wait. Say so kindly, give a tip to hold it overnight and offer the first slot on the next working day.

A gas smell is different. The customer should ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 straight away (0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland). It is free and open all day, every day.

There are three common ways to do it. Pick one and keep it.

• A fixed call-out fee that covers the first hour, then an hourly rate.
• A higher hourly rate, such as time and a half or double.
• Your normal rate plus a flat out-of-hours charge.

A fixed call-out fee is the easiest for a customer to say yes to, because they know the least it will cost before you arrive.

Publish it. Put it on your website and your voicemail, so the bank holiday rate is your stated rate and not something made up on the day.

Most trade counters shut or run short hours on a bank holiday. If you do not carry the part, the visit is a make-safe and a return trip.

Tell the customer before you go: "Today I can stop the leak and make it safe. If it needs a part, I will be back on Tuesday to finish, and that visit is at my normal rate."

It heads off the argument about paying an emergency rate for a job that was not finished.

Your normal rate is £55 an hour. Your bank holiday call-out is £120 for the first hour, then £80 an hour.

A burst flexi hose takes 40 minutes to isolate and replace from van stock. The customer pays £120 plus the part.

On a normal Tuesday that visit earns £55. The extra £65 is what makes giving up part of a day off worth it. If it does not feel worth it at that rate, the rate is too low or you should not be on call.

• Write down your emergency list and your bank holiday rate.
• Add both to your website and your voicemail greeting.
• Check van stock for the parts behind your five most common call-outs.
• Decide which bank holidays you are on call for. "Not all of them" is a fine answer.

For a real emergency:

I can be with you by [time]. As it is a bank holiday my call-out is £[amount], which covers the first hour, then £[amount] an hour plus parts. If that is OK, reply YES and I will set off.

For a job that can wait:

That one is safe to leave until Tuesday, and it will cost you less. For now, [simple tip]. I can do Tuesday at [time] or [time] at my normal rate. Which suits?