Engineer fit new WM seal, now I have a flood.

BikerMooFromMars

Hi all,
just a quickie - I imagine I’m just going to have to pay for new flooring. But I wanted to check before my partner comes tomorrow and pulls up my floor for me…

These are some stills from the video I took of me walking through the pools of water, and one of me standing on a floorboard since drying it out as much as possible
(luckily I have ‘core-master waterproof flooring’ - I’ve only had it a few months at most!):


My washing machine had a tear in the seal - I bought a new official hotpoint seal to replace it (it’s definitely the correct one!) and booked an appliance engineer to fit it. He came out to fit it, struggled but managed. Then on the first wash I did, it leaked - not much but it was still an issue of course.

He came back out to amend it, but when I next used it, it still leaked.

The next time he brought a man who he said was a hotpoint engineer along with him. They put the new seal on together, and left with no further issues.

I’ve been using the machine for nearly a month since they fit the new seal. But last night I put on a wash of just a small throw, and somehow it’s got caught in the spring of the door seal, tangled and pulled it. The water has kept pumping trying to fill the machine, and I had a MASSIVE flood from my kitchen to my living room because of it, and it looks like it’s in my hallway too. The flooring all needs replacing now 😮.



I contacted the engineer who firstly said I must have put too much in the washing machine for that to have happened, but you can see clearly from the pictures I barely filled it even half way. Then he blamed the fibres of the throw in the machine for catching on the spring.

Can I check before we tear up the floor if this is claimable on their public liability insurance, or is it just an unfortunate situation that I need to fork out for? I presume the latter, but there’s no harm in checking. I don’t want to claim on my house insurance - I live in a flood risk area near a canal so it’s expensive enough, and my excess was pricey too.

Many thanks in advance!

MattMattMattUK

BikerMooFromMars said:

Hi all,
just a quickie - I imagine I’m just going to have to pay for new flooring. But I wanted to check before my partner comes tomorrow and pulls up my floor for me…

These are some stills from the video I took of me walking through the pools of water, and one of me standing on a floorboard since drying it out as much as possible
(luckily I have ‘core-master waterproof flooring’ - I’ve only had it a few months at most!):


My washing machine had a tear in the seal - I bought a new official hotpoint seal to replace it (it’s definitely the correct one!) and booked an appliance engineer to fit it. He came out to fit it, struggled but managed. Then on the first wash I did, it leaked - not much but it was still an issue of course.

He came back out to amend it, but when I next used it, it still leaked.

The next time he brought a man who he said was a hotpoint engineer along with him. They put the new seal on together, and left with no further issues.

I’ve been using the machine for nearly a month since they fit the new seal. But last night I put on a wash of just a small throw, and somehow it’s got caught in the spring of the door seal, tangled and pulled it. The water has kept pumping trying to fill the machine, and I had a MASSIVE flood from my kitchen to my living room because of it, and it looks like it’s in my hallway too. The flooring all needs replacing now 😮.



I contacted the engineer who firstly said I must have put too much in the washing machine for that to have happened, but you can see clearly from the pictures I barely filled it even half way. Then he blamed the fibres of the throw in the machine for catching on the spring.

Can I check before we tear up the floor if this is claimable on their public liability insurance, or is it just an unfortunate situation that I need to fork out for? I presume the latter, but there’s no harm in checking. I don’t want to claim on my house insurance - I live in a flood risk area near a canal so it’s expensive enough, and my excess was pricey too.

Many thanks in advance!

It does not look to me like it is caught on a spring, it looks like it is caught on the tab to release the seal and that has exposed the spring when it has pulled tight as it spun. To me this appears to be an issue with the fabric on the throw and not the fault of the installer. 

I would say this is a job for your home and contents insurance. 

born_again

If it's been fine for a month, then can't see it being their fault.
Given the pictures as well.

Personally, always put at least 2 items to help balance the drum out.

photome

Given that it has worked for a month, assuming you used it a few times. It is unlikely that it is the fault of the installer and probably impossible to prove in which case the best course would be home insurance 

BikerMooFromMars

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. We just can’t believe our run of bad luck lately! I won’t claim on house insurance, will just pay for new flooring again.
cheers!

user1977

Bear in mind you’ll probably need to declare it at insurance renewal even if you don’t claim.