We don't supply our tenants with second hand goods........or do we?
Second-hand electrical items safety warning!
20 September 2006
Bargain hunters are being warned that second-hand electrical items could actually give them more than they’d bargained for.An investigative report conducted on behalf of Halifax Home Insurance found that one-in-four second-hand electrical items fail a standard safety check and are unfit for use.
The insurer teamed up with professional electrical testing company Elecheck and put the safety of 100 second-hand electrical items to the test - 26% of which failed. Items tested ranged from toasters to hair straighteners - all purchased from car boot sales and online auction sites.
Damaged flexes and faulty wiring were the most common faults found amongst the second hand items tested.Electrical fires kill or injure over 2,500 Britons each year. Furthermore one fifth of all insurance claims against fire damage received by Halifax Home Insurance were found to have been caused by electrical equipment.
Responding to the report’s findings, Vicky Emmott, senior underwriter at Halifax Home Insurance, commented: “We’re concerned that the Nation’s renewed appetite of making money out of old items could lead to a slide in electrical safety standards.“We are calling on anyone buying or selling second-hand electrical items to ensure that the goods meet the required safety standards". Failure to do so could not only leave the sellers open to prosecution but cause damage to the users' home and put lives as risk."
The British appetite for a bargain does not seem to be dwindling. Britons spend £1.46 billion at car boot sales each year and it has also been calculated that auction websites are boosting the value of the average UK household's assets by £3,000.Iain Cruickshank, managing director at Elecheck commented on the findings: “To the untrained eye it is not always easy to tell if a second-hand item such as a toaster or kettle has an electrical fault.” “Whilst it may look in pristine condition, any faults with wiring could potentially cause a fire or electric shock.
We would always recommend that consumers ask for proof that second-hand electrical items have been thoroughly checked and certified for use by a qualified electrician before purchasing.”In addition to electrical faults a number of items failed for other safety reasons.
Examples included a food blender failed for missing a safety guard that protects the user from its sharp spinning blade.Halifax Home Insurance recommends the following advice relating to purchasing second hand electrical items:·
Ask for proof from the seller that the item meets legal safety requirements · Look for the CE mark, the BEAB mark, the BS safety mark or British Standard number when you buy electrical equipment · If you are unsure if goods are safe you should not buy them · If you have already purchased an item and an appliance appears faulty stop using it and have it checked at once ·
Distributors and retailers including second-hand dealers and auctions must only sell appliances that are correctly fitted with an approved plug with sleeved pins and the correct fuse ·
A seller should provide clear wiring instructions for the plug if it is of the rewirable kind