Safety warning affects millions of tumble dryers

Owners of millions of tumble dryers have been warned after an investigation found that they may pose a fire risk. The potentially dangerous appliances, marketed under the brand names of Indesit, Hotpoint and Creda, have been sold for eleven years, since April 2014, and were still being offered in stores as recently as October 2015. Homeowners in Essex who have purchased one of the affected tumble dryers should refrain from leaving them running overnight.

An investigation recently carried out has identified the problem. The filter that collects fluff and debris is located close to the heating components in the dryers, so that if the filter becomes too full, the fluff can ignite. A number of reports have been made regarding house fires started by the tumble dryers, and in November 2015 alone 10 fires associated with the appliances have been recorded. The manufacturer said that it could not say how many of the potentially dangerous machines have been sold but confirmed that the total sales of their appliances was close to 30 million units.

Indesit was sold to the U.S. appliance manufacturer Whirlpool last year and the new owner started investigating the safety issues of the machines soon after. The two model types that could be a fire hazard are one of its condensing dryers and also a vent dryer. Whirlpool has engineers making alterations to make them safe and alerted U.K. trading standards prior to issuing the warning to the public. It also provided details of a website where owners of tumble dryers can check if their appliance is one of the models that requires modification.

A person who has suffered harm in an incident caused by a faulty household appliance may benefit from consulting with a solicitor familiar with products liability cases. If the manufacturer or retailer has been negligent, then the injured party may be entitled to compensation.