Electric scooters and e-bikes are one of the UK’s fastest growing fire risks.
In total:
At least 16 people across the UK have died as a result of e-bike or e-scooter fires since July 2022.
By May 2023, at least 190 people across the UK had been injured in e-bike fires. Many more have been injured since.
Up until the end of September 2024, there were three e-bike fires a week in London alone.
Electric scooter and E-bike fires are devastating. They are generally caused by the scooter or bike’s lithium-ion battery pack, which, if defective, can lead to a chain reaction called “thermal runaway”.
An average lithium-ion e-bike battery is said to contain as much explosive energy as six hand grenades. Within minutes of thermal runaway, homes can be destroyed and lives lost.
How can we ensure that members of the public are safe when buying and using e-bikes and scooters? And how can those who have suffered injury, lost their homes, or even loved ones at the hands of defective e-bike batteries secure justice for themselves and their families?
Claims under the Consumer Protection Act 1987: Part 2
See Part 1 of this article here.
Damage giving rise to liability
Claimants must prove that the damage they suffered led to either death or personal injury, or any damage to property (including land).
Any damage to property must exceed a statutory minimum of £275 in order for damages to be awarded under the CPA.
The manufacturers will not be liable for any damage to the e-bike or battery itself, and as such a Claimant would not be able to recover the cost of a replacement bike or battery. The Act does not allow for damages for pure economic loss, such as where the Claimant’s losses do not directly flow from the damage to property or personal injury.
Defences
The relevant defences in section 4 of the CPA, that Claimants are likely to be met with, are:
4(b) that the person proceeded against did not at any time supply the product to another
4(d) that the defect did not exist in the product at a relevant time
4(f) that the defect –
i) Constituted a defect in the product (“the subsequent product”) in which the product in question had been comprised; and
ii) Was wholly attributable to the design of the subsequent product or to compliance by the producer of the product in question or to compliance by the producer of the product in question with instructions given by the producer of the subsequent product.
The best action Claimants can take to pre-emptively challenge such defences is to retain any evidence of where they purchased the battery from, to retain any evidence they have of the actual remains of a destroyed battery (without obviously putting themselves at further risk), and to provide a detailed and truthful account of how they used the e-bike and battery after purchasing it.
Limitation period
Section 11A(3) of the Limitation Act 1980 sets out a 10 year long stop within which a Claimant can bring a claim under the CPA.
The period of 10 years runs from “the relevant time” as defined by s.4 of the CPA, i.e. in effect when the product was last supplied by someone who was a producer, purported producer, or importer.
This gives Claimants plenty of time to bring a claim under the Act.
It is worth noting that, generally, personal injury claims must be brought within 3 years of the date on which the cause of action accrued, or (if later) the date of the knowledge of the injured person, s.11A(4) Limitation Act 1980.
Similarly, if the product causes somebody’s death, their dependants might be able to bring a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976, within 3 years of the date of death or the date of knowledge of a person for whose benefit the action is brought, whichever is the later (s.12(2) Limitation Act 1980).
How we can help
Imran Khan and Partners act for clients who have suffered personal injury, death and property loss as a result of these devastating electric scooter and e-bike fires.
We have taken ground-breaking legal action, on behalf of our clients, against e-bike battery manufacturers.
Our clients want to ensure that no one has to go through the trauma they experienced as a result of these fires. They want manufacturers to be held to account.
You can read more about our work on this issue here.
If this is an issue that affects you, please contact Daniel Cooper, Partner, or Patrick Dunne, by telephone on 02074043004, or on email at PatrickD@ikpsolicitors.com.