PRODUCT LIABILITY SOLICITORS - COMPENSATION CLAIMS

Matters relating to defective products fall into four main areas being consumer goods, food products, biomedical devices and pharmaceutical drugs. Our product liability solicitors deal with compensation claims for personal injury caused by defective products using a conditional fee arrangement otherwise known as the no win no fee scheme. In most product liability cases we pay compensation in full and you do not have to fund or finance your claim however our terms may vary for certain unusual high risk multi party actions. All of our product liability solicitors are members of both the Law Society panel of personal injury experts and the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and will confidently deal with legal action for product liability using the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and its subsequent amendments.

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Almost all product liability claims for personal injury caused by defective items fit into one of four main categories which are relevant to consumer goods, food products, biomedical devices and pharmaceutical drugs :-

Defective Design – this means that even though a product is manufactured properly and up to full specification, it is inherently dangerous because of an intrinsic flaw caused by inadequate design. This is a problem that often exists with biomedical devices.

Defective Manufacture – this problem occurs in the production process however inadequacies are usually recognised and the individual item is then removed prior to sale. Failure to achieve this objective is usually caused by a failure of quality control often due to the entire QC system being inadequate rather than isolated errors of application of the system thereby ensuring that numerous failed items pass inspection and are thereby made available to the public. This is mainly a problem that exists in consumer goods.

Defective Warnings – this situation occurs where a consumer has not been properly advised of any known dangers that may be associated with the product and as a result has not been able to exercise their own judgement as to whether or not to risk using the product, due to a lack of information. In addition to inadequate warnings there are situations where adequate warnings are minimised by a salesman thereby inducing a consumer to use a product that they might otherwise have rejected. This situation is a common factor in regards to legal action relating to pharmaceutical products.

Negligent Surveillance – sometimes defects and problems are discovered after a product has reached the market and are in the possession of a consumer. It is incumbent on manufacturers of defective products to warn customers about the subsequently discovered lack of safety often by national advertising which may also involve product recall. This is frequently seen in supermarket food product recall and the motor industry and has of late occurred with some dangerous IT products particularly fire risk batteries.

SOLICITORS HELPLINE 0870 174 0140

Defining the limits of what constitutes defective products is not easy. In general terms a defective product is one where the level of safety of the item is less than that which the public are entitle to expect. In assessing whether or not a product is defective consideration is given to marketing methods, instructions and warnings provided with the product, the stated purpose, anticipated usage and the date of supply.

NB It should be noted that an earlier product does not become a ‘defective product’ merely because a safer new model of that product is subsequently introduced. Goods do not become defective products merely they suffer from poor manufacturing quality.

SOLICITORS HELPLINE 0870 174 0140

If you feel that you may be entitled to compensatory damages based on defective or substandard consumer goods, food products, bio-medical devices, and pharmaceutical products, call us today on our helpline or submit the contact form for a completely risk-free, no obligation consultation with one of our experienced product liability solicitors.