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The alarming news reported in July 2010 of a woman who died as a result of a fire in her home, caused by a wheat bag setting her microwave cooker alight, shows that there can be a whole chain of unfortunate circumstances which can lead to a personal injury and it may not be easy to establish who is responsible when making faulty product claims.
Many sufferers from arthritis and similar muscular or joint problems, which respond to heat application, use wheat bags as a simple form of therapy so are popular for elderly people and for children where they are seen as a safer source of warmth than a hot water bottle.
The bags, which come in a range of shapes, are briefly heated in a microwave cooker and, because the wheat retains its gentle warmth for at least an hour, can be conveniently placed on the body or in a bed.
However, a number of cases of death, injury and fires involving these wheat bags have been reported, usually where the bags have deteriorated through age and repeated use.
A fire officer who investigated a number of incidents and tested a variety of bags for varying lengths of heating time found that once the internal temperature of the wheat reached 225°C, it would continue to heat up on its own and this is where a potentially serious fire could occur if the bag was next to inflammable material such as bedding, clothes or a chair.
The safety check revealed that, although some bags had warnings and guidelines for heating printed on their packaging, few had information labels fastened to them. There is a British Standard for microwaveable personal warmers', as wheat bags are also known, but it is a voluntary requirement not statutory.
Although these wheat bags are designed to be heated in microwave cookers, cookers can become faulty and, if a new or different cooker is used, it may have higher temperature or timer settings which could lead to the contents becoming hotter than usual when the user is unfamiliar with the cooker.
The manufacturers or sellers of wheat bags cannot be held responsible for an accident which results from misuse of a bag, but they could be liable if the product was made in a defective way, which could be dangerous to the user or if any safety instructions were misleading or unavailable.
Similarly, it is up to someone using a microwave cooker for any heating purpose to do so sensibly and safely, keeping to any manufacturer's guidelines and maintaining the machine in an appropriate manner.
However, all manufacturers who make and sell products have a general duty of care to their customers to provide the safest possible environment and an item which is fit for its stated purpose.
Making faulty product claims with YouClaim's solicitors
If you have suffered a personal injury as a result of a fire caused by a wheat bag, the experienced personal injury solicitors who work with YouClaim can advise on whether you might be able to make justified faulty product claims against the seller or manufacturer of the bag or the microwave cooker.
Because determining fault for this type of claim can be quite complicated, the advice of professional lawyers will be invaluable in deciding whether a case can be made for compensation for pain, suffering or loss of earnings.
Wherever you live in the UK, if you decide you wish to proceed with seeking recompense, YouClaim can represent you at all stages of a negligence claim and, what's more, with our no win no fee system, you can be assured it will cost you nothing if you win as many of our clients do and that 100% of any compensation awarded will be paid to you.
For more information on how we can help with making faulty product claims, why not contact us, either through this website or by phone on 0800 10 757 95 where one of our legal advisers will be happy to speak to you.
