Exploding paint pot

sillycoe

About 2 weeks ago my Husband bought two cans of Wilkinson own brand fence paint, we have been storing the paint in our utility room, where a lot of our clothes are kept. This morning one of the cans of paint exploded, and it went everywhere, all over the room, including the ceiling, and ruining about £1500 worth of clothes and other things.

We have been in touch with wilkinsons this morning, and they are sending someone out tomorrow to take photo's and have a look at the damage, and to take the pot of paint away for examination. We followed the storage instructions on the tin, which basically said to store in an upright position and keep away from frost.

What should our next step be? I've got a feeling that when they come round tomorrow morning they are going to try and get out of any responsibility. I would really like some kind of compensation as well for all the clothes we will need to replace, two bridesmaids dresses were among the clothes covered in paint, my husband suffered the most loss, and only has a pair of jeans and two summer shirts that aren't covered in paint.

Thankyou for any advice.

Noctu

I'm not very good at advising on these type of things, but the first thing that springs to mind is take your own pictures before the person from wilkinsons gets there. You never know! Record EVERYTHING!

Good Luck!

hjb123

Was the sun on it? Just a thought that in this hot weather it could of affected it

Bossyboots

Agree with hjb on the sun issue. I suspect this will be the first point raised by Wilkinsons. However, if the other pot was kept in the same conditions you will have a stronger argument on your side in relation to this.

Also agree that you should be taking your own pictures.

You need to write down everything damaged and the cost of replacing it as you will be expected to justify everything you are claiming for.

After that you can only wait and see what Wilkinsons say after examining the pot although what they will be looking for who knows, perhaps signs of whether it had expanded through excessive heat.

viktory

Although I agree Wilkinsons should accept responsiblity, assuming that the paint was stored according to instructions (and out of the sun), would it not also be possible to see if you can claim on home contents insurance?

Bossyboots

viktory wrote:

Although I agree Wilkinsons should accept responsiblity, assuming that the paint was stored according to instructions (and out of the sun), would it not also be possible to see if you can claim on home contents insurance?

I would expect the home insurers to see proof that they have tried to claim from Wilkinsons first and that they have denied liability before they will entertain a claim.

sillycoe

The paint was out of the sun, there are no windows in our utility room, it wasn't even overly hot in there either, this happened at 9am, so before the weather got stupidly hot yesterday. The paint was in there as it is one of the coolest places in the house.

Astaroth

Bossyboots wrote:

I would expect the home insurers to see proof that they have tried to claim from Wilkinsons first and that they have denied liability before they will entertain a claim.

No, the home insurer would cover it (assuming you have accidental damage cover) but they would then pursue Wilkinsons for their losses in the same way that if you have comp insurance on your car you and involved in a non fault accident you can claim of your own insurance and they recover from the insurer of the third party vehicle.

hollydays

They are also likely to ask you if it tipped up whilst it was being transported in the car.

hazeyj

This happened to my mum. She was bringing the paint home in the boot of her car and one tin exploded nearly causing her to crash!.

She had a terrible time with the DIY store who wouldnt accept responsability and eventually I think she took them to the small claims court and got some comp to sort out the mess the paint had left.

Paul_Varjak

DO NOT LET THEM TAKE THE PAINT POT.

You must contact your local Trading Standards - they will come and collect it!