Defective Product Claim
The Consumer Protection Act that was introduced in 1987 has now made it much easier for consumers to make a claim if they receive a defective product which results in their injury. Under this Act, if a product causes injury, the manufacturer is immediately responsible. This is due to the fact that everything we buy is subject to high regulatory standards in order to ensure quality of product, and upkeep safety.
However, on many occasions these safety regulations are breached as consumers complain of an accident or injury occurring from using the product. The injury or illness could be the result of anything, varying from the packaging of the product, to a mishap in the ingredients of food. If you have suffered as a result from purchasing a defective product, you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
A product is usually described as being defective when it fails to meet the safety standards a reasonable person would expect. These could range from physical problems with the product, to inaccurate instructions, or the suitability of the product for which it was advertised.
The types of injuries that can be caused by using a defective product are vast. However, some of them can include the following:
- using unsafe cosmetic products
- defective toys
- defective equipment and appliances
- defective pharmaceutical products
- food poisoning
The manufacturer responsible for the product can be held liable for various defects in the product. This could involve failure in the design of the product, the result of which made the product dangerous to use. On some occasions, the manufacturer fails to provide adequate product warnings to reflect the dangers and risks associated with using the product. Some manufacturers fail to respond to warnings about potential defects in their products, which makes them negligent.
Factors to consider before you make your claim
Before you make a claim it is important that you are able to provide evidence that it was the defect in the product itself which resulted in your injury, and not due to your own mishap. These situations can become quite legally complex as some people confuse a low-quality product with a defective product.
Secondly, it is important to note that you can only claim negligence if you can prove that you followed the instructions given in the manual and gained an injury as a result. In other words, you cannot blame the manufacturer for your injury if you did not follow the instructions provided in the manual.
Making a defective product claim can be a complex process, as sometimes it is not easy to decipher whether there was a genuine manufacturing error in the product. However, our solicitors will assess your case and help you in your claim for compensation, should a defect be found.
Author: Ayesha Salim is a law graduate who works fulltime with the UK Lawyers Network researching and writing about legal topics
Tags :
RSS Feed : 
