Martyn Allen, Technical Director at Electrical Safety First, commented:
"Issuing a recall as Whirlpool has now done is the correct course of action when a potentially dangerous fault such as this is discovered.
Owners of Hotpoint or Indesit branded washing machines should check their product’s serial number to ascertain whether theirs is affected. Owners of affected models should then unplug and stop using the appliance immediately, and contact Whirlpool. Although we appreciate many consumers will be inconvenienced at this time of year without a washing machine we have also seen the devasting effects faulty appliances can have. It is essential those with a recalled model refrain from using it until it has been replaced to protect both themselves and their families.
The next step will be for Whirlpool to get the machines in question out of circulation, which will be a sizeable task due to the large quantity of products involved. We tend to see recalls such as this exhibit disappointingly low success rates mainly due to the low number of consumers who register their electrical goods after purchasing. Consumers can take steps to protect themselves by ensuring they register their electrical products – particularly white goods – as soon as they purchase them so they can be easily contacted if a fault is discovered. Electrical Safety First also supports the creation of a centralised recall database and the ability to register products at the point of purchase to simplify this process and better protect consumers in the UK.”
Further information about the recall can be found here.
If your machine is one of the affected models, you can register it on the Whirlpool website.
For more information please contact:
Tom Davies T: 07866 702069 E: tom.davies@electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk
Joshua Drew T: 07864 009875 E: joshua.drew@electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk