Product
Product Liability Claims
If you have suffered an injury caused by a defective (unsafe) product, you may be eligible to claim a compensation package.
Speak to The Personal Injury Bureau and we can find someone suitably qualified in your area to assist you with your application for compensation damages related to consumer product liability.
Product Liability Compensation
Legal protection is in place for anyone who experiences injury due to a faulty product, not just the person who bought the product.
In lots of cases injuries resulting from defective and dangerous products can be severe, including electrical burns, finger amputations, poisoning, broken limbs and worse.
If a company supplies a product to a consumer they need to make sure it is safe. If you have been injured, experienced loss of earnings, or suffered in other ways, you could receive a compensation award as a result of a product liability compensation claim.
What Is A Product?
What constitutes a product can be a very wide range of things including foods, electrical goods and toys.
In fact, a product can be pretty much anything:
- Chocolate
- Child seat
- Shampoo
- Toaster
- Gas supply
- A house
- Aspirins
Being just a few examples.
What Is A Defective Product?
In legal terms, a defective product is one that is not as safe as any reasonable person would expect.
A defective product is also regarded as a product that causes injury to someone because of some defect in the product.
This does not just mean a physical problem causing injury, but also injury due to inaccurate instructions or lack of warnings, manufacturing defects and design defects.
In many cases, product liability claims are complicated because it requires quite specialised technical information related to safety, design, manufacturing and distribution.
Who Is Responsible For The Fault?
Product liability refers to the liability of those parties along the supply chain who have produced the faulty goods.
The main responsibility for product safety falls on producers:
- Manufacturer
- Importer
- Business supplying own-brand products
- Firms changing the safety of the product – e.g. by customisation or servicing
This could include the manufacturer of the component parts, the assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retail unit owner.
Sometimes, several businesses might be involved in the production process.
Distributors, such as shops, are not normally liable for harm to consumers; or their property, resulting from an unsafe product as long as they identify the producer.
But, although the heaviest responsibility falls on manufacturers of the product, the distributor – such as shops and wholesalers – do also have legal responsibilities.
Who Can Claim Compensation?
Anyone who is harmed by an unsafe product can sue – even if they did not buy the product themselves. They can begin a court case up to three years from the date of the injury, and sometimes later.
Product liability compensation can be brought by the consumer or someone to whom the product was loaned.
Anyone injured by a defective product or anyone who has been injured or has suffered damage to personal property as a result of using a certain product can seek compensation.
Liability can not be avoided just by the supplier warning people the product is not safe.
Anyone contemplating making a claim should seek legal advice ASAP.
In the first instance, keep hold of the defective product as it will be useful evidence in your case for compensation.
Consumer Protection Act 1987
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 was created to provide protection for consumers against manufacturers who produce unsafe goods.
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 makes manufacturers liable for a range of injuries, including death, loss, or damage caused by an unsafe product.
The key rule of the act for consumers to understand is that people who are injured by defective products can sue for compensation without having to prove the producer negligent, provided that they can prove that the product was defective and the defect in the product caused the injury.
Companies are liable under civil law for any harm defective products do but it can also be a criminal offence if a manufacturer supplies an unsafe product.
