Filing a product liability claim will allow you to gain compensation for your injury, in addition to guarding against others suffering similar injuries in the future.
The first step to take is to ascertain who is actually liable for your injury; pursuing a claim from the wrong party can waste your time and money. Usually, it is advisable to pursue the manufacturer of the product rather than the seller, as they are in charge of distribution of the product rather than the manufacture and quality control.
If the problem was caused by a fault in the production process, then the manufacturer will often settle the claim and admit liability. If they dont wish to settle at this stage, they will have to prove one of six possible defences:
1.The defect is a direct result of their compliance to other laws.
2.They could not reasonably be expected to discover the safety defect; often in the case of scientific discoveries coming to light after manufacture.
3.In the case of a component manufacturer, they are not liable if the injury was caused by those who assembled the product.
4.The product wasnt supplied as a course of business; it was a gift and therefore was not sold to the claimant.
5.Another party caused the defect after the manufacturer supplied them with it.
6.They did not supply the product; it was a counterfeit copy of their product or was stolen.
If they cannot prove one or more of these defences, then you will have a case for making a claim.
Product liability is the name given to a compensation claim where someone has been affected by a faulty product that has been sold to them. There are a variety of faults that a product could have that could cause an injury. It could be something in a food that shouldn't be there or it could be as simple as a faulty part.
We've all read stories in the papers about products that have been sold to people that were clearly unsafe and could cause serious injury. An example of this would be a soft toy aimed at small children that has loose stitching on the outside and something sharp on the inside which could potentially hurt the child.
The increase in product liability claims in recent years can only be considered as being a good thing in terms of protection for us and it can also be seen as another tool that can be used by the consumer to maintain their rights. Often consumers feel like they don't really have much in terms of rights after they've handed over their money for something, but this isn't the case.
In recent times many consumers probably didn't even realise that they could make a claim for compensation based on a faulty product. But just like any other personal injury case, if you were affected by something that wasn't your fault, then you have a feasible claim for compensation. Regardless of the situation that rule remains constant with all claims.