What are my rights if there's a safety warning or product recall?

What is a safety warning or product recall?

A product recall will usually be a safety alert or request from a manufacturer to return or repair a product following the discovery of a safety concern.

They're issued in one of two ways: 

1. After the manufacturer has agreed a course of action with the relevant enforcement body - usually Trading Standards - to deal with the potentially unsafe product.
2. If a course of action can't be agreed between the manufacturer and the enforcement body, the enforcement body issues a formal safety notice. 

A recall notice is the most severe level of safety notice. 

Depending on what kind of safety notice is issued, there are differing levels of obligations on manufacturers and distributors.

• Suspension notice The manufacturer, distributor and retailers must not sell the goods while safety evaluations, checks and controls are performed.
• Requirement to warn The manufacturer or distributor must issue a warning about a dangerous product to past and future consumers. This is often publicised as a 'safety notice'.
• Withdrawal notice The manufacturer or distributor must withdraw a dangerous product from the market and possibly, warn past customers.
• Recall notice The manufacturer or distributor must recall a dangerous product from all retailers and past customers.

When we talk about a product recall throughout this article, we mean any communication from a manufacturer about the safety of a product.

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Has your product been recalled?

A manufacturer can use a variety of methods to ensure that people are notified of a product recall:

• If they have your details as a result of the purchase of the product, they can contact you directly.
• If not, then the enforcement agency may require the manufacturer to publicise the recall in newspapers or TV news programmes.

You can also check for recalled products yourself:

1. You can check a list of food alerts on the Food standards Agency's website.
2. You can check the list of recalled products on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute website.
3. You can check if your car has been recalled on the gov.uk website.
4. You can check for a specific vehicle to find whether it has any outstanding safety recall work on The Motor Ombudsman's website.
5. You can check Electrical Safety First's list of electrical product recalls.
6. You can check a list of recalled drugs and medical devices.
7. You can check a list of household appliances recalled due to fire risk on the gov.uk website.
8. You can check a list of products recalled since 2000 due to fire risk provided by the UK Association for Fire Investigators.
9. You can search for EU-wide product safety warnings on the EU Commission’s rapid alert system website (RAPEX).
10. You can search for products recalled since 2012 by governments in a number of other countries. Information provided by OECD.

If you become aware that a product you own has been recalled or has any safety noticed issued against it, make sure you follow any instructions given to you by the manufacturer.

If you don't receive instructions, check the manufacturer's website, or if you're concerned, stop using the product immediately. 

Product recall procedure

The process for a product recall can differ from product to product, but here's what you can broadly expect:

• The manufacturer of the product should communicate with you about the recall and state how it will work
• The manufacturer should also give you an idea of how long the process will take
• The manufacturer will usually ask for proof of purchase - a bank statement or till receipt, for example
• The manufacturer might arrange for the product to be collected or they could send out engineers to make repairs 

Contact the manufacturer in the first instance to find out how the recall will work, if you would like clarity and haven't yet been contacted.

Proof of purchase

When there is a product recall, you will usually be asked to provide proof of purchase.

If you weren't the purchaser (for example, you received the faulty product as a gift), the easiest route to getting your money back will be to get proof of purchase from the person who bought your gift, if this is possible. This is to make it easier for the retailer to process your claim from an administrative perspective.

If you’re not able to get proof of purchase and the person who paid by cash, you should go directly to the manufacturer.

The manufacturer should not require any proof of purchase. If you have the item your possession, that should be enough, and the manufacturer should arrange to retrieve, replace or fix the product.

Product recall problems

You should not be charged for any recall work - such as a repair. 

Sometimes the manufacturer may offer you a deal where instead of a repair, it offers you a replacement at a greatly discounted rate. 

You'll need to weigh up the age of your product and how much the manufacturer is charging to see if this represents good value to you. 

The manufacturer may also take an unreasonably long time to repair or replace your product in which case you may need to weigh up whether an alternative course of action could resolve the issue any quicker. 

Can I claim against the retailer?

In some cases you could be able to get a repair or replacement without any further cost to you by taking your claim to the retailer who sold you the recalled product in the first place. 

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that products must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, which includes that they be safe and durable.

If a product has had a safety notice issued against it or if it has been voluntarily recalled, then it will have failed to meet these standards and you could claim a repair or replacement from the retailer or - in some circumstances - a refund.

If you purchased the product after 1 October 2015, you can use our faulty goods tool to start your claim against the retailer.

Where there has been a recall, this can complicate your faulty goods claim and Which? doesn't believe the emphasis should be on consumers to take this action. 

If you purchased the product before 1 October 2015, you have rights against the retailer to a repair or replacement under the Sale of Goods Act or the Supply of Goods and Services Act.

Can I claim against my credit card provider?

If you’ve spent more than £100 and less than £30,000 on your credit card, or if the retailer arranged credit for you, you can claim against your credit provider if something has gone wrong. 

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your credit card company is jointly liable for any breach of contract.

This means your credit provider shares equal responsibility with the retailer or trader for the goods or service supplied, allowing you to put your claim to the credit provider.

You don't have to reach a stalemate with the retailer or manufacturer before you can contact your credit provider - you can make simultaneous claims or just pursue your credit provider. 

Section 75 is particularly useful if the retailer or manufacturer has gone bust or you're getting no response to your letters or phone calls.

If death, damage or injury is caused

According to the Consumer Protection Act 1987, anyone who’s harmed by an unsafe product can sue the manufacturer - even if you didn’t buy the product yourself.

You can sue for compensation for death or injury. You can also sue for damage or loss of private property caused by faulty goods if the damage amounts to at least £275.

The amount that can be claimed will depend on the harm suffered and there is no upper limit to compensation.

There are also certain criminal sanctions that apply to the general safety of products. For example, a lack of safety information can lead to up to 12 months’ imprisonment and a large fine.