MPs have demanded to know why home appliances provider Whirlpool has ended a product replacement scheme for defective products when there are still more than 1 million potentially deadly tumble dryers remaining in British households.
The decision follows last week’s announcement that Whirlpool is the ‘worst offender’ for white goods fires in London.
The tumble dryers, sold under the Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit brands, have been blamed for a number of UK fires, including one in a London tower block and a blaze in Wales where two men died.
Rachel Reeves, chair of the Commons committee on business, energy and ndustrial strategy, accused the US firm of “falling significantly short of their responsibilities” amid continuing concerns about the safety of the dryers.
In a letter to Whirlpool UK’s head of communications, Ian Moverley, she demanded to know why he failed to mention the replacement scheme was closing when he gave evidence to the committee in October.
“Why did you not mention this when you gave evidence to the committee at the end of October?” Reeves wrote. “Please can you explain why you decided to end this scheme when there are one million defective tumble dryers still being used in households across the UK?”
Moverley was unable to answer a series of questions from MPs during the session on 31 October and agreed to supply the committee with additional information after the hearing.
The replacement scheme gave consumers the choice to buy a new machine for around £50, well below market value, rather than wait for them to be modified. Whirlpool has said that its decision to withdraw the scheme was down to lack of demand.
Reeves added: “For Whirlpool to stop their replacement scheme of their tumble dryers due to a ‘fall in demand’ while 1 million customers still have these faulty appliances in their homes suggests a company falling significantly short of their responsibilities to consumer safety.”
It has been reported that customers are desperate to replace their potentially dangerous dryers that risk catching fire when fluff touches the heating element.
Whirlpool had previously identified a fire risk with two models of tumble dryers manufactured between 2004 and 2015. The company initially advised consumers the machines were safe to use with precautions while awaiting repair, before stating in February that the dryers should be unplugged until the repairs were done.
Last month, a coroner called on Whirlpool to take action to prevent future deaths after an electrical fault in the door of one of its dryers was blamed for a fire which killed two men in a flat in Llanrwst, north Wales, in October 2014.
An Indesit model also caused a serious fire in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, leading to the evacuation of more than 100 families. Twenty-five households were temporarily accommodated in hotels due to the extent of the damage.
The company conceded that informing the owners of the remaining faulty machines – estimated to be around 3.8 million – had been difficult, despite doubling the number of their call centres.
Whirlpool later said in a statement that it was still appealing to remaining owners of the affected models to get in contact so the dryers could be modified for free.
“After two years of extensive measures to raise awareness, the number of consumers coming forward has now fallen sharply. This suggests that few affected appliances remain in service,” it said. “We wish to remind consumers that if they still own one of these appliances, it is never too late to get in touch.”
It said anyone who owned an Indesit, Hotpoint, Creda, Swan or Proline dryer made between April 2004 and September 2015 could visit https://safety.indesit.eu/, https://safety.hotpoint.eu/ or https://safety-swan.eu to find out if their model was affected. UK consumers could also call Whirlpool’s freephone helpline on 0800 1510905.
