A Michigan insurer is chasing nearly $940,000 from Samsung and Best Buy after a recalled electric range allegedly sparked a house fire in Ohio.
Auto-Owners (Mutual) Insurance Company filed suit on January 28, 2026, in federal court in Cleveland, targeting both the electronics giant and the retailer that sold the appliance. The case centers on a Samsung Electric Slide-In Range that the insurer says activated on its own and ignited a blaze at a home in Medina, Ohio, in February 2024.
The insurer, acting as subrogee for its policyholders James and Sherri Adkins, is seeking to recover the $939,023 it paid out following the fire. The case has not yet been decided.
According to court filings, Mrs. Adkins had briefly stopped home on February 5, 2024, setting her coat and bags on or near the range before leaving to pick up her son from an elementary school program. When she returned, heavy smoke filled the house. The family dog did not survive.
Fire investigators determined that Mrs. Adkins had inadvertently activated a burner control. The insurer alleges this happened because the range's front-mounted knobs could be triggered by the slightest contact—a design flaw that Samsung allegedly knew about for more than a decade.
Six months after the Adkins fire, Samsung recalled over 1.12 million slide-in electric ranges. The Consumer Product Safety Commission noted that the front-mounted knobs could be activated by accidental contact from humans or pets, posing a fire hazard. By that point, according to court documents, Samsung had logged more than 300 reports of unintentional activation stretching back to 2013, with those incidents tied to over 250 fires and at least 40 injuries.
The timing of the recall is central to the insurer's case. Auto-Owners alleges that Samsung sat on this information for years, continuing to sell ranges it knew posed a danger. Best Buy, the retailer that sold the range to the Adkins family at its Akron, Ohio location, is also named in the suit. The insurer claims the retailer had access to customer reviews, returns, and complaints that should have raised red flags.
Both Samsung and Best Buy allegedly failed to fulfill their mandatory reporting duties to the Consumer Product Safety Commission under federal law—a failure the insurer says allowed defective products to remain in homes.
The suit advances claims under the Ohio Products Liability Act, breach of implied warranty, and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Auto-Owners has requested a jury trial.
For insurers handling property claims, the case underscores the complexities of subrogation involving recalled products—particularly when the recall arrives after the damage is done. It also raises pointed questions about retailer liability and the obligations of sellers who may have early warning signs at their fingertips.
The matter remains pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
