Leaking washing machine - help?

[YouCanDoItYesYouCan]

I have a 3yr old front-loading Hotpoint washer-dryer. A couple of weeks ago it started leaking from underneath at the side. It's out of warranty and I don't have a lot of money. Any ideas what could be the problem? Should I try to find someone to fix it? How would I do that?
Also: is it normal for washing machines to break after just a few years?

Great. Not! Where would I find the filter? I'm clueless when it comes to things like that. Possibly guilty of occasionally overloading.

Does the machine have a removable plate on front of machine at the bottom?

Use a screwdriver to lever it off, filter should be able to be unscrewed, on mine it's on the right hand side.

Or google 'where's the filter on Hotpoint (model no.) Washing Machine'.

That's very useful, thanks all! Will check it out when DD is in bed.