Huge recall after warnings electrical home wiring could catch fire

The consumer watchdog is urging people to remove and return certain electrical wiring installed in their homes as it poses a major fire risk.

Infinity and Olsent-branded cable was sold to customers across the country in every state and territory except the Northern Territory, but has now been recalled after tests revealed its extremely low quality.

The cable was sold primarily at Woolworths now defunct Masters stores and was used to wire thousands of homes.

The wiring was first sold in 2010, meaning thousands of homes could be at risk now.

While some electricians have returned to properties where they installed the cable wire, others have been slow to do so meaning hundreds of homes remain at risk.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chair Delia Rickard says people need to take immediate action if they think they might have the Infinity and Olsent-branded cable in their house.

“The experts tell us that in a worst-case scenario, the cable could become defective as soon as April this year,” Ms Rickard told the ABC.

“There’s a whole range of reasons we think why people haven’t taken action, it seems some suppliers and electricians are more proactive than others in terms of going out and trying to locate it, there’s issues with electricians having very poor records about where the cabling was installed,” Ms Rickard said.

“I think there may be a sense of complacency from some home owners that they have time on their side so they don’t need to contact their installer to check.”

Woolworths has issued a statement saying it is working with the ACCC to recall the cable and will refund anyone who returns it to their Masters stores.

“Woolworths has worked collaboratively with the ACCC regarding our part of the industry response to this recall. We have made good progress in refunding, remediating and identifying impacted customers,” she said.

“As part of its announcement to exit its home improvement business, Woolworths has said it will honour all Masters product warranties and returns.

“Customers who have had Infinity cabling installed should register their details through our Infinity Cable Consumer Hotline (1300 236 787) for assistance.”

Have you been affected by this recall? Will you be checking your home to see if you have this particular cable in your house?