Family in a spin over '£1m Hoover blaze'
A family who claimed a faulty washing machine caused a £1 million fire at their home were today landed with a £150,000 legal bill after dropping their case for compensation.
Quintin Lovis and his wife Michele sued Hoover and high street chain Dixons, claiming the £349 washing machine was to blame for the fire at their 17th-century Essex farmhouse.
But today they withdrew the case and face paying £25,000 each to Hoover and Dixons in legal bills as well as their own costs of £100,000.
The Lovises had received £900,000 from their insurers to compensate for the damage, but then agreed to take Hoover and Dixons to court as a means of recouping the money on behalf of the insurer. It is thought the insurer may step in to help Mr Lovis meet at least part of the costs.
Mr Lovis, a former Lloyd's underwriter, dropped the case after it emerged the fire could have been caused by another appliance.
Mr Lovis, 53, and his wife, 52, insisted in evidence last year that the AC170 washing machine caused the fire which spread from their utility room to the billiards room and caused extensive damage to their Grade II-listed Mantells Farm, at Aldham, near Colchester.
Hoover and Dixons denied breach of contract or selling faulty goods under the Consumer Protection Act.
On 23 February 1999, they put the machine on and went to bed, only to be woken at 5am by "crackling noises".
Mr Lovis went to investigate and was confronted by a fire which had spread to the roof.
He woke his wife and while she looked for a way out, he rushed to another part of the house to wake their 21-year-old son Alex. All three managed to flee to safety.
The Fire Brigade says the fire started in the utility room and then spread to the roof of the billiard room next door.
The roof then collapsed, limiting damage to the rest of the property.
Both Hoover and Dixons claimed the fire could have been started by an old tumble drier kept in the utility room, which the couple say was not plugged in, or by a computer. Firefighters found the Hoover still standing with the clothes inside it, undamaged.
