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Home care & seasonal

The home emergency kit that actually gets used

Emergencies in houses are almost never cinematic. They are a dripping ceiling at midnight, a tripped board in the dark, or a smoke alarm that will not stop. A small, labelled kit in one known place turns panic into a sequence.

By the Tickover team · Published 10 April 2026 · 3 min read

You do not need a bunker. You need a bag or plastic box that anyone in the house can find with one hand, and contents chosen for the faults UK homes actually throw: water, power, heat and alarms. Everything else is theatre.

The kit, not the wishlist

Keep these together

  • Torch (and spare batteries) — not a phone torch only
  • Head torch if you have loft or under-sink jobs
  • Basic first-aid kit and any household medications list
  • Waterproof gloves and a few bin bags
  • Adjustable wrench / multipurpose tool
  • Roll of PTFE tape and a pack of cable ties
  • Gaffer tape and a marker pen
  • Spare fuses for plug-top appliances (3A and 13A)
  • Portable power bank for phones
  • Printed card: stopcock location, consumer unit location, gas emergency 0800 111 999, insurer number

Where it lives

Under the kitchen sink is popular and wrong when the kitchen is flooding. Pick a dry, central place: hall cupboard, under-stairs, utility. Label the box “HOME EMERGENCY” in marker a teenager can read. Tell everyone who lives with you where it is once, out loud.

Ten-minute setup

  1. Choose one box

    Lidded plastic beats a soft bag that collapses into a jumble.

  2. Add the printed card first

    Stopcock, consumer unit, gas emergency number, insurer out-of-hours line. Laminate if you are fancy.

  3. Add light and first aid

    Torch with fresh batteries, power bank, plasters and gloves.

  4. Add the tools you will actually use

    Wrench, tape, ties, spare plug fuses. Leave the full toolkit in the shed.

  5. Walk the shut-offs once

    Find the stopcock and the consumer unit so the card is true, not aspirational.

What it is for

Water: isolate, then manage mess. The five-step leak drill starts with the stopcock; gloves, bags and a torch make the rest less miserable. Power: the whole-house checklist tells you whether it is your fault or the network’s; a torch and charged phone buy calm while you find out. Alarms: spare batteries stop a 2am chirp becoming a ruined night — and beep codes tell you which problem you have.

Kit rules

Do

  • Check batteries every autumn with the rest of the house
  • Restock after every use, same day
  • Keep the printed card updated when numbers change
  • Brief guests or babysitters in one sentence

Don’t

  • Do not bury it under Christmas decorations
  • Do not rely only on your phone for light
  • Do not store bleach or open chemicals in the same box as first aid
  • Do not invent DIY gas “fixes”

Remember the house, not just the kit

Tickover stores where the stopcock is, what the boiler is, and who to call — so the kit and the property record work as a pair when something goes wrong.

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Quick answers

What should be in a home emergency kit in the UK?

Light, first aid, gloves, a few tools (wrench, tape, ties), spare plug fuses, a charged power bank, and a printed card with the stopcock location, consumer unit location, the gas emergency number 0800 111 999 and your insurer’s out-of-hours line. That covers water, power and alarm problems without turning the cupboard into a camping shop.

Where should I keep a home emergency kit?

Somewhere dry, central and reachable in the dark — typically a hall or under-stairs cupboard, not under the kitchen sink (often the first place to flood). Label the box clearly and tell everyone in the house where it is.

Do I need a generator or water tank in the kit?

No for most homes. A torch, power bank and the ability to isolate water and electrics solve the common cases. Generators and stored water are specialist choices for rural or medical needs, not the default kit.

This guide is general information for UK homes, not advice about your specific property. Anything involving gas must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and notifiable electrical work by a qualified electrician. If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999. If you’re ever unsure, stop and get a professional in — that’s exactly what Tickover is for.

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