Vacuum cleaner turned fireball damages car,..

thebigstillmeister

thanks for the replies,...

although I think the last place she thought was a good place to leave it was next to the car,... but as I probably didn't stress enough earlier was that by the time she got to the car port door the fire had grown somewhat and she had to drop/throw the hoover as the flames were going up the handle to her arm,... the street was only a couple of metres away which is where the passer by dragged it to eventually,... 15mins after the fire was out and i arrived home, my fingers stuck to the handle as the plastic was still so hot,...

we can all come up with alternative actions after a situation... but she panicked and made the choice of attempting to get it out of the house, which I would also have done,..

Maybe next time I buy a household appliance I'll draw out an escape plan for her to follow. Maybe have a weekly drill :0)

scheming_gypsy

If the mountain won't come to Muhammad....................... then you move the car away from the fire.

thebigstillmeister

might also have been a good plan,.. although it was the drivers door that was in the process of melting, and the 6ft flames were also between my partner and the car,...

Esqui

I suppose it was done in the heat of the moment (no pun intended), and none of us could say for definite we'd have done different. But in terms of insurance claims, I don't think it will wash with them.

thebigstillmeister

well we'll see what happens,..... only going by what I was advised by the Consumer Advice people, and according to their website;

Dangerous goods
You can claim compensation for unsafe goods which have caused damage or personal injury. If you bought the goods yourself, you can claim compensation from either the trader or the manufacturer.

peachyprice

thebigstillmeister wrote: »

Maybe next time I buy a household appliance I'll draw out an escape plan for her to follow. Maybe have a weekly drill :0)

In all seriousness, please review your habit of keeping the front door locked while your inside. If she'd not made it to the side door and dropped the hoover en route that would been her only remaining escape route and she'd have been stuffed.

If you feel you must lock it from the inside, at the very least leave the keys in the lock so you can unlock it to get out in an emergency.

musicmaker29

I'm genuinely surprised by some of these responses. Lets review the situation - the OP was using an electrical appliance in what we can assume is a fairly normal way. The appliance caught fire and she made the dynamic assessment that the flames were small enough that the device could be carried outside. She carried it downstairs (I think) and took the quickest available route out of the house (human nature in a fire/emergency situation). Unfortunately, the flames got worse in this everyday appliance and she was forced to drop in near the door for her own safety.

I'm sorry, but how can the manufacturer even suggest that they wont pay for the damage?

Also, the police tell you to lock your doors when you are at home anyway - so thats a no win situation right there.

I disagree with many of these replies, if I were using an everyday appliance and it burst into flames I would expect the manufacturer to pay up - sod the insurers and pursue the manufacturer.

musicmaker29

.....or retailer? sorry, maybe should have said 'pursue the retailer'.

Optimist

I see no reason why you cannot claim for consequential loss. So long as your wife's actions in getting the vacuum out were deemed to be reasonable and I do not see it as unreasonable to try get a burning vac out of the house even if the end result was damage to the car. Damage to the house might have been considerably worse.

Neither the manufacturer nor the retailer are going to be happy with the publicity that would accrue if it became known that the vacs they produce/sell are liable to break into flame. They should both be working to resolve the issue to mutual satisfaction and as a safety measure find out what caused it.

If they are just try to mess you about, see a solicitor, one who works on a conditional fee agreement would I am sure be happy to take up your case.

musicmaker29

also, as a side note, for whoever is insured on the car - (even if you decide not to claim on insurance) make sure you tell any future car insurers that you take out insurance with about this incident. Even if the claim doesn't go through, this could give them wiggle room in the event that you need to claim in future on a different policy. They have a track record of this sort of thing in house insurance claims particularly.