Appliance house fire claims
See how our expert team can help if you have been affected by an appliance fire
The fire claims team at Leigh Day is currently representing a number of people whose lives have been affected by household appliance fires. Suffering a fire in your home can be a devastating experience, and some of our clients have suffered serious injury, as well as damaged properties. Unfortunately, in rare cases, house fires have led to the death of a loved one.
Consumer group Which? has found that faulty appliances have accounted for nearly 16,000 fires across the UK since 2012.
Every year hundreds of fires are caused by washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, ovens, and fridges and freezers. Fire claims lawyer and team leader, Jill Paterson, has acted for clients who have been affected by house fires believed to have been caused by all these types of appliance. The team includes former LFB fire investigation officer, Andrew Vaughan-Davies and partner Thomas Jervis. Over the last 13 years the fire claims team has investigated numerous compensation claims relating to domestic appliances produced by white goods companies including Beko, Bosch, Indesit, Hotpoint, Hoover Candy and Whirlpool.
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Safety campaigners believe that appliance manufacturers have not done enough to raise awareness about potential problems associated with their products, leaving many consumers unaware that their homes could be at risk of fire. Members of the Leigh Day team believe that the product safety and recall system in the UK needs to be overhauled to better protect consumer safety.
Members of the appliance fire team are regularly invited to comment in the media on the issue of product safety and recall, including on BBC News and Radio, ITV and Sky, as well as in newspapers including the Sunday Times and the Mirror. Our clients’ stories have featured in news items covered by BBC’s Watchdog and many other consumer programmes.
David v Goliath
If you have suffered from a fire caused by a faulty home appliance such as a tumble dryer, fridge freezer or washing machine, and your home has been destroyed, getting back on your feet again can be a struggle.
Dealing with the manufacturers of the product, who are often large corporations, can be daunting. That’s where we come in. Our ethos is to ensure that the ordinary person has just as good quality legal advice as our state bodies, insurers and multi-nationals which has led us to take on many ‘David and Goliath’ legal struggles for justice.
White goods should not cause fires. They shouldn’t destroy your life, your home, your belongings. The personal injuries caused by fires are not only physical but can affect you psychologically, a consequence of fire which is often overlooked.
Useful information
Lithium fires
Have you been injured or affected by a fire that you think was caused by an overheating lithium battery?
Rechargeable batteries which contain the element lithium are able to store a lot of energy in a lightweight and compact form and are widely used in appliances such as laptop computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, and power tools, as well as in aircraft and cars.
In rare cases lithium batteries have overheated and caught fire. In 2013 Boeing grounded its fleet of 787 Dreamliners when the overheating of the aircraft’s lithium-ion batteries caught fire.
More recently, following testing, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned that lithium batteries could cause major fires after releasing explosive gases when overheating. Bulk load of lithium batteries are often transported by air.
Lithium is a highly reactive substance. If there is any damage, or a small fault, in the battery this can cause a short-circuit and build-up of heat leading to the battery bursting into flames. Lithium batteries can be damaged when used in hot environments, and also by excessive discharging and charging. If lithium batteries do catch fire they can cause fierce explosions and create fires that are difficult to put out.
In the UK a number of consumers have reported injuries after being burnt in appliances fires related to lithium-ion batteries, including fires in phone chargers, laptops and in e-cigarettes.
Fire rescue services in the UK have reported an increase in serious house fires that have been caused by lithium batteries overheating.
A number of product recalls have taken place in recent years for products containing lithium batteries, often as a precautionary measure by manufacturers.
If you have been injured, or suffered financial loss, for example if your property has been damaged after an appliance has caught fire you may be able to bring a compensation claim.
The consumer law and product safety team at Leigh Day has unrivalled experience in settling compensation claims for consumers who have been injured because of faulty and dangerous appliances.
Organisations who can help
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Guidance after a fire
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