What should I do if my gas appliance is faulty?

If there is no smell but the appliance is misbehaving, that is a different problem with a different route. Lazy yellow or orange flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks around the appliance, a pilot light that keeps going out, excess condensation in the room or error messages on the control panel are all signs that something is wrong⁴. The gas emergency number cannot help with boiler or appliance issues⁵. Those need a Gas Safe registered engineer, the retailer or the manufacturer.

The dividing line matters because it decides who comes out, how fast, and who pays. An emergency call makes the property safe; the repair itself is then arranged separately and paid for by the householder or through insurance⁶. This page sets out the emergency steps, the fault signs, the split of responsibility between appliance, pipework and meter, the help available with costs, and what to do if the response falls short.

Smell gas or suspect a leak: the emergency number and what happens next

The National Gas Emergency Service number is 0800 111 999, and it is the single number for a gas emergency anywhere in Great Britain¹. The published steps are consistent across network operators: open windows and doors to ventilate the gas, turn off the gas supply at the meter as well as at any gas appliances, and call the number¹. Do not switch lights or electrical equipment on or off, because a spark can ignite accumulated gas³.

For LPG households the sequence differs slightly, because the fuel is stored on site rather than piped. Close the manual outlet valve on the cylinder or tank, turn off all appliances and the property's emergency valve, open doors and windows, do not switch lights or electrical equipment on or off, call your supplier, dial 999 for the fire brigade and leave the premises³.

What happens next is a safety visit, not a repair visit. The engineer's job is to make the property safe. Repairs to appliances, including boilers, after the emergency engineer has made the house safe will need to be paid for yourself or arranged through your insurance if you have suitable cover in place⁶. Because gas leaks can be potentially fatal, those repairs should be carried out as soon as a problem is identified and before the main gas supply to the property is switched back on¹².

The dependence here is structural. A household on a piped supply cannot isolate itself from the network's emergency arrangements, and the emergency service is the one part of the gas chain a home never controls. What a household can control is detection and speed of response: knowing the number, knowing where the meter tap is, and knowing that the emergency visit ends at "safe", not at "fixed".

Fault, leak or poor performance: telling an emergency from an ordinary fault

The distinction is not cosmetic. An emergency is a smell of gas, low gas pressure or suspected carbon monoxide. An ordinary fault is an appliance that lights badly, heats poorly, leaks water or throws an error code. The gas emergency number cannot help you with boiler or appliance issues⁵, so calling it for a broken boiler delays the household and occupies a line meant for leaks.

The warning signs of a combustion problem are specific. They include lazy yellow or orange flames instead of crisp blue ones, black marks on or around the appliance, a pilot light that keeps going out, too much condensation in the room, or error messages on the appliance's control panel⁴. A gas appliance burning a floppy yellow or orange flame, not crisp and blue, is a warning sign in its own right¹³. On a gas stove, a tired-looking orange or yellow flame instead of the usual blue one is another tell-tale sign⁶.

Gas leaks in the home are usually the result of poorly fitted, badly maintained or faulty appliances like boilers and cookers⁶. That is why the servicing regime matters: all gas appliances, including the gas boiler, gas cooker and gas fire, should be safety checked once a year, serviced regularly according to the manufacturer's instructions by a Gas Safe registered engineer⁷. Gas boilers, gas cookers and gas water heaters should be serviced annually¹³.

For electrical appliances the parallel advice is to unplug the appliance and contact the retailer, manufacturer or a qualified repair technician, as appropriate¹⁴. For gas, the equivalent route is a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the register itself is the check that matters: poorly maintained, badly installed or faulty gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fire, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning¹⁵.

Who is responsible for what: appliance, pipework and meter

Responsibility splits three ways, and knowing which part is whose decides who pays and who you call.

The householder or landlord is responsible not only for the appliances, such as the boiler or cooker, but also for the gas pipes running from the meter to them³. The property owner is responsible for the internal pipes from the meter to the gas appliances, and it is advised that the gas appliances are checked and serviced annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer⁹. The same split is stated for new connections: the property owner is responsible for the internal pipes from the gas meter to the gas appliances within the property⁸.

The gas supplier owns the meter and the gas transported through the network, and is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the gas meter and for billing⁸. Your gas supplier, the company you pay your gas bill to, is responsible for your meter and any faults with it³.

For rented homes the position is more layered. If a tenant has their own gas appliance that the landlord has not provided, the landlord is responsible for parts of the associated installation and pipework, but not for the appliance itself¹⁷.

If you do not know who your supplier is, the Find My Supplier service and the Meter Number Helpline can be used to discover who supplies your gas, as well as your MPRN number and gas transporter¹⁸. That is the starting point for a meter fault, and for the complaint route if the fault is not resolved.

The independence question is blunt here. The meter and everything upstream belong to someone else, and no household can take them over. The appliance and the pipework behind it are the household's own, which is where servicing, repair and replacement decisions actually sit.

Getting a faulty appliance repaired or replaced: help with costs

Repairs after an emergency call-out are normally the householder's cost, paid directly or through insurance⁶. Where money is the obstacle, two routes exist, and both are targeted rather than open to all.

The Energy Company Obligation funds the repair or replacement of broken and unsafe boilers¹⁹. It is a supplier obligation administered under Ofgem's rules, and complaints about an installation under it follow a specific complaints process rather than the general supplier route²⁰.

The Household Support Fund provides discretionary support to vulnerable households with the cost of essentials. This may include support with energy bills for any form of fuel used for the purpose of domestic heating, cooking or lighting, including oil or portable gas cylinders, and simple energy efficiency measures²¹. Because it is discretionary and administered locally, the qualifying conditions vary by council area, and the four nations run their own arrangements.

The practical sequence for a household facing a repair bill is to establish first whether the fault is the appliance or the meter, because that decides who pays. A meter fault is the supplier's cost⁸. An appliance fault is the household's, unless one of the targeted schemes applies¹⁹. Where a repair is needed, the work must be carried out by a registered Gas Safe engineer¹², and the register is the check on competence¹⁵.

Losing your gas supply after a fault: temporary heating and cooking support

A faulty appliance can leave a home without heat or hot water even when the network is working perfectly. The common causes of a boiler breakdown are no power supply, no gas supply, no water supply, low or high pressure, a frozen condensate pipe, a faulty thermostat, no pilot light, or faulty or broken controls such as a diverter valve²². Several of those are not gas problems at all, which is why the fault-finding sequence starts with the basics.

Some failures are outside the household's control entirely. Gas boilers and heating, electrical appliances and a home's internet and landline connections will stop working in a power cut²³. A gas boiler with a working gas supply but no electricity is a boiler that does not run.

Where the network itself is the cause, support exists. If you are without your gas supply because of an emergency or planned work, the network operator will provide alternative electric cooking and heating appliances⁵. In a declared gas supply emergency, the instruction is to immediately and safely turn off any equipment or appliances that use gas²⁴.

A temporary supply is a separate route, used where a site needs gas before or instead of a permanent connection. To get a temporary supply, apply for a new connection and provide details of the temporary supply in the 'Additional Information' section²⁵. Applications for a new household gas connection, alteration or disconnection can be made online to get a quote²⁶.

The independence picture is mixed. A household can hold alternative cooking and heating appliances, and can know its own isolation points, but a gas supply interruption is resolved by the network, not by the home. The realistic household position is resilience rather than autonomy: a plan for heat and cooking that does not depend on the gas arriving.

Complaining about the response: timescales and next steps

Complaints run on different clocks depending on who the complaint is against, and the first step is always to raise it with the organisation itself. For an energy supplier, the first thing you need to do is log a dispute with your supplier²⁸. Domestic energy suppliers have 8 weeks to investigate and resolve the problem¹⁰.

For smart meter operational issues there is a tighter standard. The energy supplier must complete an initial assessment, take an appropriate action and offer to update the consumer, within 5 working days¹¹.

For installer complaints under a consumer code, the installer should be informed as soon as possible and given at least 10 working days to resolve it before the consumer code is contacted²⁹. For complaints about an installation under the Energy Company Obligation, Ofgem publishes a dedicated complaints process page²⁰.

Escalation follows the clock. If a complaint is still unresolved after 8 weeks, it can be escalated to the Energy Ombudsman³⁰. That 8-week figure appears both as the supplier's resolution window and as the escalation trigger, so the two are the same deadline seen from either end¹⁰.

Two practical points shorten the process. Keep the emergency reference and any engineer's report, because the split between a safety visit and a repair is the point most disputes turn on⁶. And establish early whether the fault sits with the meter or the appliance, since that determines whether the supplier or the household is the correct respondent⁸.