Power Steering Fluid problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper

My '06 Mini Cooper s with about 87,000 miles is leaking power steering fluid and has been doing so for the last 3 years or 20,000 miles. I've been told I need to replace the electric power steering pump. I believe Mini should have to repair/replace the power steering pump unit because is likely a failure similar to the power steering failure documented and covered by NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000. While the steering mechanism is still functioning, can a catastrophic power steering failure be far off?.

Mini Cooper 2006 - power steering pump failure. Feb 2nd we had a major winter storm in kansas city , I was driving less than 10 miles /hr with about 2 feet snow my car stopped at the curb next to apt. Since then my steering which is somewhat mildly stiff for years(my friends had previously wondered if I even had power steering ) was very stiff , and made a scratching noise. I made an appointment at the Mini dealership and was told I had a mechanical breakdown power steering pump failure at 56000miles , and mine was the second car he had to change the pump on . In Aug 2010 I was told everything was perfect and in the past whenever I mentioned the steering wheel - they said its fine , no problems detected . This time they told me the fluid was low , probably leaking . If this had happened on the highway I dread to think what the consequences might have been , given from what it looks like from the class action suit that mine is not an isolated incident as I was led to believe. My insurance company person who inspected the car also stated this was unrelated to the winterstorm , and likely mechanical error.