Safety lawyer calls on Hotpoint to explain alleged delay in warning consumers of potential fire risk
The affected dishwashers were manufactured between June 2006 and March 2007 and include models numbered FDW201, FDW601 and FDW65A
Posted on 24 April 2013
Product liability lawyer Jill Paterson has joined calls for Hotpoint to explain why it took so long to recall 71,000 dishwashers which could pose a potential fire risk.
According to a reports, Which? Magazine alerted Hotpoint to the problem in April 2012. It stated that 85 cases of fires or smoke damage had resulted from faulty Hotpoint dishwashers.
Two fire brigades are also reported to have warned the Company about safety problems with the products after a “disproportionate” number of fires were caused by the appliances.
Ms Paterson who is representing alleged victims from fires linked to a range of products, including the widow of Santosh Benjamin who died in a house fire linked to a Beko fridge freezer, has called on Hotpoint to explain how despite being alerted to the problem by Which? In April 2012, the company did not make public its concerns until taking out advertisements last week.
When asked why it didn’t go public a year ago Hotpoint marketing director Michelle Gorringe-Smith told ITV News: “On discovering there may be a particular issue we involved external laboratory independent test houses to help us evaluate the risk.”
The affected dishwashers were manufactured between June 2006 and March 2007 and include models numbered FDW201, FDW601 and FDW65A. If customers get in touch the company will repair the fault for free.
Jill Paterson from Leigh day said: “Once again we are faced with a Company not doing enough, in our opinion, to make consumers aware of the potentially fatal consequences of an appliance in their home.
“The very day these fears were raised by Which? Magazine Hotpoint should have been legally obliged, not just morally, to alert consumers to the problem to prevent potential serious injury and even death.
“More generally, the UK needs tougher regulation so that companies do not have the luxury of making profit part of the equation when having to consider product recalls. Making consumers aware and safe must be the only consideration.”
According to a reports, Which? Magazine alerted Hotpoint to the problem in April 2012. It stated that 85 cases of fires or smoke damage had resulted from faulty Hotpoint dishwashers.
Two fire brigades are also reported to have warned the Company about safety problems with the products after a “disproportionate” number of fires were caused by the appliances.
Ms Paterson who is representing alleged victims from fires linked to a range of products, including the widow of Santosh Benjamin who died in a house fire linked to a Beko fridge freezer, has called on Hotpoint to explain how despite being alerted to the problem by Which? In April 2012, the company did not make public its concerns until taking out advertisements last week.
When asked why it didn’t go public a year ago Hotpoint marketing director Michelle Gorringe-Smith told ITV News: “On discovering there may be a particular issue we involved external laboratory independent test houses to help us evaluate the risk.”
The affected dishwashers were manufactured between June 2006 and March 2007 and include models numbered FDW201, FDW601 and FDW65A. If customers get in touch the company will repair the fault for free.
Jill Paterson from Leigh day said: “Once again we are faced with a Company not doing enough, in our opinion, to make consumers aware of the potentially fatal consequences of an appliance in their home.
“The very day these fears were raised by Which? Magazine Hotpoint should have been legally obliged, not just morally, to alert consumers to the problem to prevent potential serious injury and even death.
“More generally, the UK needs tougher regulation so that companies do not have the luxury of making profit part of the equation when having to consider product recalls. Making consumers aware and safe must be the only consideration.”