​Residents settle Shepherd's Bush appliance fire claim

Thirty-seven residents, represented by law firm Leigh Day, have brought a civil claims arising out of the tower block fire. Some residents had their possessions destroyed by the fire and all had to move out of their homes into temporary accommodation.
 
The news comes a day after Whirlpool announced a second major recall of its appliances due to fire safety concerns. The company has announced a recall of hundreds of thousands of Indesit and Hotpoint washing machines sold in the UK between October 2014 and February 2018. The company stated that the machines could be affected by a problem with the door lock which could lead to a fire due to overheating.
 
In June 2019 the government served a recall notice on Whirlpool in relation to two types of tumble dryers from their Indesit, Hotpoint and Creda brands manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015. The safety concern was identified in November 2015 and a repair programme to modify the machines was started but there were reports that the modified machines subsequently caught fire.
 
Product safety solicitor Thomas Jervis represents the residents from the Shepherd’s Bush tower block, and has represented a number of families who have been victims of appliance fires, some of which were fatal including the deaths of Douglas McTavish and Bernard Hender.
 
Thomas Jervis, lawyer at Leigh Day, said:
 
“My clients have been through hell and back. I am pleased that we have been able to get Whirlpool to apologise and sort their claims out.

“Consumers have the right to expect that the products in their homes are safe. This latest product catastrophe shouldn’t be viewed in isolation. We call on the government to carry out a public inquiry into the reported Whirlpool product safety issues and the fitness for purpose of the recall system in the UK. Anything less isn’t good enough.”