Victims left homeless by Whirlpool tumble dryer fire receive no compensation from multi-million pound giant
The electrical firm has now been accused of deliberately delaying their legal claim for compensation
VICTIMS left homeless by a Whirlpool dryer fire have received nothing in compensation from the multi-million pound electrical giant.
The company has now been accused of deliberately delaying their legal claim for compensation - after refusing to pay a penny towards a crisis fund.
Facilities manager Chantal Froelich, 36, was one of the 50 residents left without a home after the inferno in Shepherd's Bush, west London, last year.
She told the : "Whirpool have a lot to answer for. We were walking around in flip-flops but they wouldn't give us anything for new clothes.
"It's clear it was their dryer, and it's clear there was a fault with it as they have admitted that.
"This has disrupted a lot of lives. What are they waiting for? We felt completely lost without our home and belongings."
The firm has refused to accept responsibility for the blaze, even though fire chiefs found one of its Indesit dryers was to blame.
After months of waiting, victims finally received a response to their compensation claim - but only one that delays the process even further.
Now, residents face a two-year battle for payouts.
Tom Jervis of Leigh Day Solicitors said: "Whirlpool are just stalling. We can push them as hard as we can but they are getting us stuck in the legal process."
The victims spent up to six months in emergency accommodation before some - including Chantal - were let back into their flats.
However, at least eight are still homeless.
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Lawyers preparing legal action against Whirlpool issued it with a Letter of Claim on December 14.
It alleges the safety of the dryer was defective and the safety of the product was less than would be expected.
The firm took the maximum three months to acknowledge the claim.
The fund they refused to pay into would have covered replacement clothes as well as accommodation fees.
The Shepherd's Bush blaze started on the eighth floor of the tower block and resulted in a full evacuation.
A London Fire Brigade probe found "all the evidence in the flat clearly indicated the fire had started in the tumble dryer." No one was hurt in the inferno.
A Whirlpool spokesman said: "This incident is subject to litigation. It would be inappropriate for us to comment."
Over 2.5million households in the UK may still be using a faulty tumble dryer in their home.
Whirlpool is in the process of repairing and replacing 3.8 million faulty machines in the UK.
Of this number, only 1.5million people have registered their machines as faulty with the firm. Around 1.3million machines have either been fixed or repaired, Whirlpool said.
It first issued safety warnings to customers in October 2015 that machines may need to be repaired or replaced.
October 2015 that machines may need to be repaired or replaced.
But it continued to advise customers that the machines were safe to use as long as they weren’t left unattended.
On its website, Whirlpool now says: “If your tumble dryer is affected by this issue then you should unplug it and do not use it until the modification has taken place”.