Plug Socket Not Working? What to Check and When to Call
A plug socket that stops working is usually one of three things: the appliance or its plug fuse has failed, a circuit breaker or RCD has tripped at the consumer unit, or a connection behind the socket has come loose. The first two you can check in a couple of minutes without taking anything apart. The third needs an electrician, because finding it means taking the socket off the wall, which must only be done with the circuit isolated and proved dead with proper test equipment.
How far the problem spreads is the biggest clue. One socket, one room, all the sockets, or the whole house each point somewhere different, so start by working out which you have.
Three checks before anything else
Try a different appliance in the socket, something simple like a lamp or phone charger you know works. If that works, the socket is fine and the fault is in your original appliance or its plug.
Check the plug fuse. Unplug the appliance first, then swap the fuse for a new one of the same rating (Electrical Safety First says a standard UK plug usually takes 3 A or 13 A). A fuse that blows again straight away means the appliance has a fault. Stop using it.
Look at the consumer unit. Find any switch pointing the opposite way to the others. That is a tripped circuit breaker (MCB) or a tripped RCD.
If none of those explain it, work out how much has gone off.
One socket not working, the rest fine
If a single socket is dead while others on the same wall work, the fault is almost always local to that socket. The usual causes are:
a loose or burnt terminal behind the faceplate;
a switch in the socket that has failed internally, common with cheap or heavily used sockets;
the socket being fed as a spur from another socket, where the loose connection is actually at the one it is fed from;
a USB or smart socket whose electronics have failed.
A like for like replacement of a socket is not notifiable work under Part P, but it means switching off and locking off the circuit and proving it dead with a voltage tester before the faceplate comes off. If you are not confident doing that, leave it to an electrician. If you see scorch marks, melted plastic or a hot faceplate, leave it off and call an emergency electrician, because heat damage often runs into the cable behind.
Sockets not working but lights are
If every socket in the house, or in part of it, is dead but the lights still come on, a socket circuit has tripped. Lights and sockets are on separate circuits, and in many homes on separate RCDs, so one can go off without the other.
Go to the consumer unit and check:
A tripped MCB labelled sockets, ring or a room name. That points to an overload or a short circuit on that circuit.
A tripped RCD covering the sockets. That points to current leaking to earth, most often from a faulty appliance or an outdoor socket.
Reset it once. If it goes again straight away, unplug everything on those sockets and try again, then work through the checks for why your electric keeps tripping to find which appliance or circuit is behind it.
If nothing has tripped and a whole ring of sockets is dead, the fault is in the wiring or at the consumer unit itself, and that is a call for an electrician.
Half the house or one room has gone off
Older consumer units often have a split load layout, where one RCD protects roughly half the circuits. When it trips, a mix of sockets and lights across several rooms goes off together, which can look like a much bigger failure than it is. Resetting that RCD, then finding the appliance that tripped it, usually restores everything.
A single room losing power without any trip is different. It can mean a loose connection on the circuit feeding that room, or a failed junction. Do not keep trying the sockets. Switch that circuit off and get it tested.
No power in the house at all
If everything is off and nothing at the consumer unit has tripped, the problem is likely to be outside your home. Check whether neighbours or street lights have power too.
Ofgem's advice for a power cut is to call 105, a free number that puts you through to your local electricity network operator, which is responsible for fixing power cuts. The main fuse in the sealed cutout next to your meter belongs to the network and you must not touch it. If the supply is off because of a faulty meter, Ofgem says to contact your energy supplier instead.
If the main switch on your consumer unit has tripped, or the supply is on at the meter but the house is dead, that is an installation fault and needs an electrician.
When a dead socket means call an electrician
Stop and get help if:
the MCB or RCD will not stay on, even with everything unplugged;
a socket shows scorching, melting or smells of hot plastic or fish;
you hear buzzing or crackling from the socket or the consumer unit;
a socket works intermittently or the plug feels loose in it;
a whole circuit is dead with nothing tripped.
Small jobs like replacing a failed socket are often priced by the hour or with a minimum charge, and the typical electrician hourly rate in the UK varies with region, urgency and time of day.
Socket fault questions, answered
Can a broken ring circuit stop a socket working?
Not usually on its own. A ring circuit feeds each socket from both directions, so a single break often leaves every socket working while the cables on one side carry more current than designed. That is dangerous precisely because nothing seems wrong, and it shows up on testing rather than in use. An EICR includes ring continuity tests that find it.
Why has my outdoor socket stopped working?
Outdoor sockets should be RCD protected, and water getting into the socket or the plug of whatever is plugged in trips it. Do not handle a wet socket or plug while the power could be on. Switch off the breaker for the outdoor socket if it has its own, and once everything has dried out, unplug anything outside and reset the RCD. If it trips again with nothing plugged in, keep that circuit off and have the socket checked.
Why does my socket work only when the switch is wiggled?
The switch contacts or terminals inside are failing. That creates heat at the contact point, so stop using it and have the socket replaced.
If a socket or a whole circuit has gone dead in your home in Shifnal, Telford, Wolverhampton or nearby, contact our team and we will trace the fault and make it safe.
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