Clara

[esmith15]

Hello I have just joined and I need help with an exploding shower enclosure glass panel.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Clara

So how did it come to explode......
You need to tell us the story........
Was you in the shower at the time?
Is it a new shower?
Has it been fitted correctly?
Is it under guarantee?
Shower screens if fitted badly can have a lot of strain put on the glass.
Sudden temperature changes can expand the glass, causing it to burst or explode as you call it.
The shower screen should be made of toughened glass, which will break into thousands of small pieces.
This is designed to protect you from serious injury through cuts etc:
So give us all the facts as far as you can tell.
:tinysmile_grin_t:aw:

[esmith15]

Re: Clara

Thank you for replying.
I had the full bathroom installed by a company during June to September 2010 along with other home improvements whilst we were away for 3 months as I had just retired. They gave us an insurance contract that states 1 bathroom + 2 bedrooms covered for 6 years broken down as section 1. for the first 2 years then section 2. a further 4 years after section 1. has expired.
No one was in the shower but it had been in use that morning. My 93 year old mum was in the bathroom on the toilet we had just come home from the hospital and no incident or accident had occurred to give reason to it exploding. I just heard such a loud noise like an explosion I ran to the bathroom my mum was still sat on the toilet with glass in millions of pieces scattered all over her and the floor with the vast majority of glass on the outside of the shower as if it had been blown out but still leaving a third in place but shattered the seal strip down the side was cast out into the bathroom.
I contacted the company and they came back to me saying the company from Ireland no longer exported to the UK and suggested that as a quick solution, due to my concerns with my aged mum suffering from dementia etc and safety in using the small bathroom, that I should make a claim on my home insurance for accidental damage and they would fit a new shower enclosure that would fit my shower base, I said I was not going to lie and that I believed the glass must have been flawed or faulty. I said my contract was with them and not with their suppliers so I thought they should do the job but they said the glass was not covered by the insurance.

[esmith15]

Re: Clara

Thank you for replying.
I had the full bathroom installed by a company during June to September 2010 along with other home improvements whilst we were away for 3 months as I had just retired. They gave us an insurance contract that states 1 bathroom + 2 bedrooms covered for 6 years broken down as section 1. for the first 2 years then section 2. a further 4 years after section 1. has expired.
No one was in the shower but it had been in use that morning. My 93 year old mum was in the bathroom on the toilet we had just come home from the hospital and no incident or accident had occurred to give reason to it exploding. I just heard such a loud noise like an explosion I ran to the bathroom my mum was still sat on the toilet with glass in millions of pieces scattered all over her and the floor with the vast majority of glass on the outside of the shower as if it had been blown out but still leaving a third in place but shattered the seal strip down the side was cast out into the bathroom.
I contacted the company and they came back to me saying the company from Ireland no longer exported to the UK and suggested that as a quick solution, due to my concerns with my aged mum suffering from dementia etc and safety in using the small bathroom, that I should make a claim on my home insurance for accidental damage and they would fit a new shower enclosure that would fit my shower base, I said I was not going to lie and that I believed the glass must have been flawed or faulty. I said my contract was with them and not with their suppliers so I thought they should do the job but they said the glass was not covered by the insurance.

[Wombats]

Re: Clara

Genuinely sorry to hear this - I hope your Mum is OK.

How did you buy the bathroom suite, in a shop or via the internet / phone etc....?

[esmith15]

Re: Clara

Mum is fine just shook up she didn't know what was happening.
We bought it from a shop/
Thank you for replying I am new to this.

[des8]

Re: Clara

Hi and welcome.

Trust your mother has recovered from her unexpected frightening experience

Don't dismiss your insurance policy.
Under your buildings section you probably have accidental breakage of fixed glass.
You do not know what caused this breakage (which actually isn't that unusual), and it could have been stressed by an earlier knock.
You could make enquiries off your insurers, without making a claim, to ascertain their position.
Insurers differ in their approach to this sort of problem.

Without supporting your installers, the glass may not have been faulty. Any toughened glass can spontaneously shatter (because of inclusions in the glass?) following a change in surrounding conditions. This can be heat, cold, a knock etc.
However I think you are correct in pushing for the company to replace the glass (what does their insurance contract cover?).
In actual fact, unless this is a particular patterned glass, the cost of laminated (I wouldn't want exploding tempered glass again) safety glass shouldn't be that high anyway.

[Johnboy007]

Re: Clara

Read through the insurance given to you......
See if it covers glass or excludes it.
If it doesn't exclude it, then make a claim.
You see we are at the 'Fit For Purpose' question........
Yes, your contract was with the installers, and if you can show there was a fault in the product, or that it was not 'Fit For Purpose'.
Then the installer must replace the glass at his expense.
I would argue that six years insurance given to you, was some indication as to the expected life of the product before any faults developed.
It is a 'toughy', as you will need to show proof.