Washing machine problems

Dimple_2

Hello people
I'm new to posting on this site so forgive me if this is something thats covered somewhere else, but i wanted to plumb the mse collective knowledge for a solution to a problem for my brother.

This morning the electrics in his 6 year old washing machine went into meltdown and caused a small fire, luckily enough he and his wife are ok but it could have been really bad. Nothing else has been damaged but as you might think the washing machine is no more.

The problem is that when he tried to report it to his insurance company to claim for a new one, he was told that electrical problems in individual items were not covered and that he should claim on the warranty for the machine. Of course, it being six years old means the warranty ran out a long time ago. Is he stuffed then? Is there anyway anyone can think of the claim something from someone? I did wonder if he could get anything from the manufacturer? What do all you clever people think?

Any help gratefully received

alanobrien

An electrical fire in a washing machine is an unusual event.
Whether you can claim from anyone or not you should advise the manufacturer as there could be an issue with that model.

I suspect they would not do much about replacing it but they may want to examine it, if so you may like to press them for a discount on a new machine.

HugoSP

There is consumer law that the manufacturer must adhere to and that they could technically be sued under if the product is less than 10 years old. Certain products are excluded such as cars etc.

Essentially the item should be deisgned to fail in a safe mode. This clearly did not!

We had a LEC Fridge Freeer that suffered a door falling off at 4 years old. It was not covered under warranty but when we told them the model number and the fault, a pause ensued, then they told us that the repair would be carried out as a "good will" gesture. When the engineer came to repair it he told us that this was a common problem with that design and that they were fitting modified hinge kits to new doors.

I would do more than to press them for a discount on a new machine. my stance would to explain to them that you are far from convinced that a design fault is not to blaim. Should a fault be present you would hold them responsible for the damage to your machine and any other items of your property that was affected.

You should also insist on an immediate investigation by their quality assurance engineers (not a service repair technician) at your premesis and ask for a full copy of the report compiled.

In addition ask for the name of the person ultimately responsible for Health and Safety function at the manufacturer and insist that you talk to him directly. If you have trouble with this explain to them that under the Health and Safety at Work Act they have a duty of care to the general public. This prohibits them from sending out washing machines with design faults, and you will be taking this up with the HSE is they do not co operate.

Your hope will be that you'll become such a Pain in the Rear that they'll offer you a new machine just to shut you up