Only 36% of consumers register all of their large domestic appliances – leaving thousands off the radar if a recall is required.
Research published in January 2015 revealed that just over a third of British purchasers currently register all of their appliances with the manufacturer, leaving many thousands of owners virtually untraceable if a safety repair is required. A new Which? report published today urges the Government to take more action to keep potentially dangerous goods out of people's homes.
To combat this, the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA) launched a new website www.registermyappliance.org.uk designed to make it quicker and easier for the public to register all of their appliances.
According to the YouGov survey for AMDEA, just over a third (36%) of purchasers of large domestic appliances make a point of always registering them with the manufacturer, with 41% of those that don’t, saying they didn’t think it was necessary. Yet nearly three quarters of adults (73%) went on to say that they would be likely to register when bearing in mind the manufacturer might need to contact them if a safety repair becomes necessary.
As part of the Fire Kills campaign, Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is helping to raise awareness of ‘Register my appliance’, designed to provide up-to-date, accurate, contact information for owners who have acquired specific models of appliances within the last twelve years, so manufacturers can issue safety updates or repair notifications to the right homes. Without it, the consequences can be dangerous at the very least [photo shows the result of a tumble dryer fire in 2016 in North Lincs]
The website provides access to the registration pages of 47 leading brands of domestic appliances. Over time consumers will also be encouraged and provided with the means to amend their details if they move house, sell or give an appliance away.
Steve Duffield, Public Safety Manager at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, said:
“Everybody should take this opportunity to register their domestic appliances in order to reduce the risk of home fires and for their own peace of mind. Good ownership data is key to getting safety information to the people that need it and I encourage everyone to invest a little time to register their appliances.”
AMDEA members have pledged that this is purely a safety initiative and the information captured will only be used if required for safety notices. They are also committed to helping consumers understand why registering is a sensible safety measure.
Douglas Herbison, Chief Executive of AMDEA said:
“Domestic appliances have never been safer, but we have over 100 million large appliances in use in our homes and we keep them running for ten or many more years. The incidence of safety actions is very low (between 6 -10 recalls a year) but, unlike cars, if manufacturers need to make a free safety adjustment they have no way of tracing the majority of affected models. ‘Register my appliance’ aims to help our industry to act swiftly, to contact owners, if a fault is discovered in a particular batch of products.”
The site also provides advice on correct maintenance, safe usage and installation, product standards and testing, guarantees and warranties, consumer rights, a product recall listing and the AMDEA Code of Practice on Product Safety.