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Argos
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Pbowd911
Posts: 3 Newbie

My dad had a house fire caused by a lithium battery lawn mower fault.
The lawn mower was bought from Argos. It was a spear & Jackson lawn mower.
Unfortunately I found out it wasn’t made by Spear & Jackson it just had their label on it.
Fire investigation report states battery caused fire.
Argos informed and they passed it onto their solicitors to investigate.
This was over 6 months ago and still haven’t had any compensation.
My dad and I lost everything in the fire, I’ve put a claim in but got told they have to speak to the manufacturers.
Now I bought this of Argos so surely they should deal with it, why am I waiting for the manufactures to sort it. I never bought it off them.
I don’t seem to be getting anywhere with keoghs.co.uk
what can I do ?
what can I do ?
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Comments
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What did your Dads home insurers say when he contacted them?3
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Your house & contents insurance should be paying out & then will take the info & resolve as they see fit.
Just what compensation are you looking for?Life in the slow lane2 -
Why isn't your household insurance dealing with this for you? They should be your first port of call and will then seek to recover their costs from a third party if they consider it appropriate to do so. As for compensation, your insurer should be acting in accordance with your policy, so that would normally include alternative accommodation for a while, redecoration costs, replacement of lost/damaged possessions, etc.0
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Pbowd911 said:Now I bought this of Argos so surely they should deal with it, why am I waiting for the manufactures to sort it. I never bought it off them.
Very sorry to hear of your situation OP, I would recommend professional advice on this one given the situationIn the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces0 -
Sorry failed to mention my dad who is 82 didn’t have insurance. He is claiming for contents, the housing association is claiming for the building.Ideally as you say his insurance would pay out, but as it’s a fault with goods the blame lies with them.2
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https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/claim-compensation-if-an-item-or-product-causes-damage/
I don't think this will be a quick process. As 2 parties involved & unless there have been a lot of other cases, they could be looking to see if there were mitigating circumstances or user error.
Maybe a google to see if any other cases to aid your careLife in the slow lane0 -
Pbowd911 said:Sorry failed to mention my dad who is 82 didn’t have insurance. He is claiming for contents, the housing association is claiming for the building.Ideally as you say his insurance would pay out, but as it’s a fault with goods the blame lies with them.2
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Just be prepared for how difficult a fight this'll be and it certainly won't be quick. Given that your dad had no insurance and that the payout is likely to be significant the manufacturer is likely to fight this as much as possible. They'll get good solicitors and they'll try and find a way to push this onto your dad. I'm really hoping that your dad followed the instructions to the nth degree and given the use of the battery it doesn't tell you to only store it outdoors.
If you haven't done so already you'll need a solicitor.2 -
Gavin83 said:
If you haven't done so already you'll need a solicitor.
Most S&J cordless mowers from Argos come with two batteries. Li-ion batteries are generally safer when connected to the device (eg lawnmower) than not connected because if a battery starts to self heat it will be managed by the safety protection circuitry when connected but will self destruct and burst into flames if unconnected. It could have been the spare battery which ignited.
You say the house interior was destroyed. The FB may have decided that the Li-ion battery was the origin of the fire (usually by by observing how the fire spread) but there will simply be no evidence to say whether the battery was faulty or not.
The instructions for those lawnmowers warn that the spare battery could be shorted out by household objects and this could lead to fire. I'm not saying that this happened but I bet that Argos's lawyers might suggest it.
I was surprised that there are simply no instructions for safe storage, no mention at all.
https://documents.4rgos.it/v1/static/7596696_R_D001
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Pbowd911 said:Sorry failed to mention my dad who is 82 didn’t have insurance. He is claiming for contents, the housing association is claiming for the building.Ideally as you say his insurance would pay out, but as it’s a fault with goods the blame lies with them.0
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