new washing machine water damage

mattg4321

Hi all,

Hoping for some advice. Not had the best weekend.Noticed some swelling on a base unit end panel in my kitchen yesterday. After removing the plinth and looking more closely it appears my washing machine hose has been slowly leaking and has damaged two end panels and two lengths of plinth. Pretty gutting as the kitchen has only been fitted for around 6 weeks.

I'm 99% sure its a faulty washing machine hose that has caused this. After trying to get it to seal 2 or 3 times it still dripped at the rear of the machine (less so than when I first pulled the machine out though). It also dripped at the valve in the cupboard under the sink however tight you did it up if you just only slightly moved the hose. This was only a tiny puddle however in comparison to the flood that came from behind the machine

The hose that came with the machine was too short so my plumber (also a mate of mine) bought a new, longer hose from his supplier. He came over yesterday afternoon and we tried the shorter hose that came with the machine (as it's now long enough with the machine being in the middle of the room!). This worked with no leaks. Also feels like its made to a much higher standard than the longer one that leaked.

He's taken the faulty hose with him and is going to see his supplier about it tomorrow.

Obviously replacing the hose is the least of my worries. It appears a £5 hose has caused around £300 of damage to my brand new kitchen by my calculations (including labour to fit). Where do I stand with trying to claim these costs from the manufacturer of the hose.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Bantex_2

Your plumber should have checked the suitability of teh materials he used. You could try suing him.

honeybean

Claim off your contents insurance.

mije1983

mattg4321 wrote: »

Where do I stand with trying to claim these costs from the manufacturer of the hose.

You don't stand anywhere as you didn't purchase the hose. Your plumber did. Your recourse is with the plumber.

You claim from your plumber as he supplied and installed the part for you. He in turn can try and claim any costs back from his supplier but if the plumber tried to scrimp on the costs by supplying a lower quality hose than was neccesary, he won't have much/any luck.

Of course the fact he is your friend adds a different angle. It will probably boil down to what you value the most. £300 or his friendship?