The paperwork slip that turns one fine into two... and can quietly void your fire cover

Most landlords I test for around Slough still quote me £30,000 as the worst-case EICR fine... usually someone with two or three terrace lets who's had that figure in his head since the rules came in. It's out of date. Since 1 May it's up to £40,000... and it's per breach. A lapsed report is one breach. Not handing the copy over is a second. Same piece of paperwork, two separate fines on the table.

Two breaches, not one

The Electrical Safety Standards regulations ask two things of you. First, get the fixed wiring inspected and tested at least every five years, and put right anything the report flags. Second, give a copy of that report to the right people: existing tenants within 28 days, a new tenant before they move in, and the council within seven days if it asks in writing.

Here's the bit that trips people up. A lapsed or unsatisfactory EICR is one breach. Failing to supply the report is a separate breach. They don't merge. A landlord who's let the certificate expire and can't produce a copy when the council asks is exposed on two fronts at once.

I see how it happens often enough in Slough HMOs. The inspection got done, years back, by whoever the letting agent used at the time. Then the agent changed, the report went with them, and the tenants who've moved in since never got a copy. That landlord feels compliant... the wiring was tested once, after all. But if the report's now lapsed and nobody can produce it, the council isn't looking at one untidy file. It's looking at two separate breaches.

Up to £40,000... per breach

For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, the maximum rose to up to £40,000 per breach under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. "Per breach" is the phrase that should make you sit up... because these failings stack, a council isn't limited to a single fine.

Don't confuse this with the separate £7,000 lower tier the same Act introduced for other, lesser housing matters. That's not the electrical figure. The electrical one is the £40,000.

Councils can press harder than they used to, as well. They've had strengthened powers to demand documents since late 2025, so "I'll dig the certificate out later" is a weaker position than it once was.

The quieter risk: your insurance

The fine is the loud problem. The quiet one is your buildings cover. Many landlord policies now require a valid, satisfactory EICR as a condition of cover... and if you can't produce one, an insurer may have grounds to reduce or decline a claim after an electrical fire. I'm not an insurance broker and won't pretend every policy reads the same, so the honest advice is simple: read your own schedule and see what it says about electrical safety. If it makes a current EICR a condition, a lapsed one could leave you carrying a fire loss yourself... the exact catastrophe the cover was meant for.

What I'd actually do

None of this needs to be dramatic. If you're not sure when your last inspection was, find the report and check the date and the outcome. If it's coming up to five years, or it came back unsatisfactory and the remedial work never got finished, that's your cue.

When I carry out an EICR on a rental, you get the report you're legally required to hold and hand over... and if it flags anything, from a tired consumer unit to a dodgy circuit, I'll tell you plainly what needs doing and what can wait.

Get it sorted before the council asks

I'm a NAPIT-registered electrician based in Slough, covering Windsor, Maidenhead, Bracknell and across the Thames Valley, and I test rental properties for landlords most weeks. For a free, no-obligation quote on an EICR or any remedial work it turns up, get in touch and I'll help you get it sorted properly.