When Kelly and Steve O’Reilly from Fife popped a five-litre can of paint mixed at their local B&Q store into the boot of their new BMW, they had no idea of the destruction it was about to cause. On the short drive home, the container opened, causing, they say, an extraordinary £9,000 worth of damage as it poured through the car. But the O’Reillys are not alone; a growing number of shoppers allege that paint mixed at B&Q, under the Valspar brand, is placed into flimsy plastic containers that open far too easily on journeys home, causing devastating damage.
“You have no idea how much damage five litres of paint can do to a car until it happens to you – it went over everything – our shoes, clothes – everything,” says Kelly, who was 35 weeks pregnant at the time. “After three hours of cleaning we were not making any difference – the paint had seeped into the seats. But when we looked at the tin we couldn’t believe how flimsy it was. A 49p milk carton has more protection against spillages than these. They are patently not up to the job of carrying paint.”
If that sounds bad, spare a thought for Joanne and Donal O’Connor from Basildon. Their 2011 Mercedes-Benz saloon has just been written off by their insurer after a can of the same paint from their local B&Q “popped” open on the way home. They say it seeped into the car’s underbody, eventually shorting the electrics. The £12,000-car broke down and had to be towed to a garage. Last week, it was declared as not worth repairing.
They are just the latest in a growing number of B&Q customers who claim that plastic containers of Valspar paint – sold exclusively in the UK by the DIY chain – are not fit for purpose. Guardian Money is aware of at least 12 who say they have experienced this problem some of whom claim it will cost thousands of extra pounds in excess and other insurance costs.
B&Q staff mix the Valspar paint in store to the requested colour and show it to the customer before refitting the lid on the container. The company does not use the small metal lid retainers commonly added by many other paint retailers and no warnings appear on the lids. A packing expert has declared the containers poorly designed and not fit to carry paint.
B&Q has told customers who complain that it is not responsible for the cans of paint “once they leave its stores” and therefore it is not liable. It has paid out to some victims as a “gesture of goodwill” but has fought other claims via its lawyer Hill Dickinson.
Some victims have been forced to claim on their car insurance and pay large excesses, facing significantly increased premiums as a result. They have often been without their cars for weeks while repairs are carried out.
The first reported case happened in June 2015 when Joanna Frost complained to her local B&Q in Scunthorpe that a can of its Valspar paint had left her with a paint-filled boot and an insurance bill of £1,200.
In February this year, Tracy Watts, who lives near Lincoln, says she was left in tears after a can of the same paint tipped over and caused £6,000 worth of damage to her three-year-old Mini.
She was without her car for six weeks as her insurer dealt with it. She says she has lost a year’s no claims bonus and had to pay £350 excess, with £240 worth of clothes in the boot ruined. She claims B&Q’s stance been one of “denial”.
In March, Essex resident Laura Trevillian’s six-month-old Peugeot 2008 Crossover was trashed, she says, by a can of paint bought from the Chelmsford B&Q. It is understood the firm has paid her claim, but without admitting liability.
Between March and the O’Reillys’ experience, which happened in July, there were at least three other incidents involving cans of Valspar paint bought from B&Q stores in Northshields, Cheadle and Liffey Valley on the edge of Dublin. And since then, there have been five further reports involving the same paint, all bought from B&Q stores.
Kelly says that three months on, she is still without her car, for which she has been making lease payments. Her family can’t go anywhere together as the car they have been given by the repairer isn’t big enough to fit a pram and pushchair.
A letter sent to her by Hill Dickinson states that an investigation into the lid-clamping machine found no problem. “This clamping machine would have been specifically used to ensure the lid was secure for future transport. We have also been advised that the machine, due to the nature of its use, is visually inspected prior to every use,” it states.
But Kelly says she is baffled by this, and is not sure if the machine was used when she bought the paint. She asks why B&Q has agreed to pay some, admittedly lesser claims, but has refused hers and others, which she alleges appear to have occurred in similar circumstances.
Many of the victims have been in contact with each other, forming a group now considering legal action to recover their losses.
Having compared the lightweight Valspar containers with traditional paint tins, packaging expert Jarred Evans suggests the former are not sufficiently robust.
After testing a five-litre tin that spilt everywhere after he toppled it over with only gentle force, Evans, who works for the PDR design consultancy out of Cardiff Metropolitan University, told BBC Wales it was more akin to food packaging than a traditionally hard-to-open paint can. “Normal use has to include people putting it in their cars, driving home and going around roundabouts. That suggests this packaging is not quite fit for purpose, and that’s a problem,” he says.
Barrister Richard Colbey of London’s Lamb Chambers says the Consumer Rights Act is on the customer’s side as all goods sold must be of “satisfactory” quality. Damages can, and often are, awarded to reflect harm caused by defective goods over and above the cost of the goods.
“It is not possible for B&Q to exclude its liability in this situation by saying it is not responsible for what happens once it leaves the shop. If B&Q disputes liability the victims should sue and consider seeking a group litigation order. However, if the customers bought more than £100 worth of paint with a credit card, the card company would also be liable for the damage.”
David Foster, a partner at Guildford solicitor firm Barlow Robbins, said it would look at acting for the O’Reillys and others. “It may be the tins or lids, or the security of the lids is suspect and the retailer should be both replacing the paint and paying for the clean-up. The litigation may rest on how the judge views the expert evidence both sides would produce.”
B&Q is refusing to pay nearly all the above customers’ claims. It says: “All the products we sell at B&Q are rigorously tested before we put them on sale. In the past year more than three million cans of Valspar store-mixed paint have been bought in our stores, with fewer than one in 100,000 tins leading to a paint spillage complaint.
“On the rare occasion that a customer experiences a problem, we take this seriously, assess the complaint to understand what happened and whether anything could have been done differently. All paint containers used by Valspar meet industry standards and their supplier is accredited by ISO 9001:2015. Despite this, we are carrying out additional testing so that we can remain completely satisfied that the cans are fit for purpose.”
Where are the warnings?
To find out what warnings or advice are given when buying Valspar paint at B&Q, Guardian Money bought a tin this week at our local store. The staff member who mixed it simply put the lid on by hand – no equipment was used – and sent us on our way. No holding clips were offered and there were no warnings about keeping it upright. Nor were there warnings on the container lid, despite a promise by B&Q on 3 October that they would be put on Valspar paint containers.
Having struggled to open paint lids in the past, most people would be staggered at how easy it is to open these. They pop open with minimal effort and feel flimsy in comparison with the old metal paint tins. To check its robustness, we took it outside and simulated it falling over in the back of a car. One decent shove and our container started leaking a small amount of paint. With a second push, more came out, enough to cause significant damage, although the entire contents did not spill out.
