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When anyone ever purchases goods or receives a service, there is a standard expected by buyers (and in law) that the goods/service should be: of a satisfactory quality; fit for purpose; and as described. If these requirements are not fulfilled and the product has caused you personal injury as a result, you could be entitled to make a claim.

The Law

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 regulates this. The Act’s key purpose is to give protection to you as a consumer from suffering personal injury as a result of inadequate standards. Claims of this nature often arise out of defects with food, furniture, vehicles, cosmetic products and electronic equipment that can cause an array of problems. Claims can be made from accidents causing mostly minor injuries like sprains and electric shocks to more severe injuries that have had a life changing effect – no matter how big or small you could still make a successful claim.
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Have you been injured in an accident due to a faulty product you recently bought? No matter how minor or serious your injury may be, you may be able to claim compensation for it.

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 states that, as a consumer, if you are to be provided a good or service, you enter into a contract for those goods and/or services. As such, it is acceptable for you to expect that reasonable care and skill has been applied to the product / service that you have been provided.
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When anyone ever purchases goods or receives a service, there is a standard expected by buyers (and in law) that the goods/service should be; of a satisfactory quality; fit for purpose; and as described.

If these requirements are not fulfilled and the product has caused you personal injury as a result, you could be entitled to make a claim.
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The Consumer Protection Act 1987 was brought in to help customers who have suffered death, injury or damage to their property from a defect in a product. An important aspect of the Act is that it makes producers strictly liable for their defective products which have caused harm. This means that to make a claim you do not have to prove that the manufacturer acted negligently.

It does not matter if you purchased the product or you were injured at work.

Who should I blame?

Producers who are responsible for the defect. This includes those who made part of the product which was defective or those of an industrial process who made the particular part of the product which caused a defect.
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When supplying products to consumers, the products must always be safe. It is the responsibility of producers, manufacturers, shops and wholesalers to ensure the safety of the product they are selling. Injury may occur when a product is sold in a defective manner, or have been sold to the consumer without adequate instruction and warning.

Under the Supply of goods and Services Act 1982, all products which are sold must be safe. Manufacturers or sellers of the product must ensure that they:
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When we purchase or use a product, whatever the type of product, we expect certain standards. Most of us are aware that products should meet certain standards before they are allowed to be sold to the public. Indeed businesses making products for consumers must adhere and comply with product safety laws and regulations.

It could be said that the biggest burden or responsibility lies on the producers or manufacturers of a product. Although the product may be sold by a shop it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to comply with product safety laws. If something is wrong with the product and injury is caused as a result, any claim is likely to be directly against the manufacturer. It should be noted that shops and distributors do also have legal responsibilities.
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If you have been injured due to a faulty or dangerous product, here is a little advice about how to get a claim started – i.e. what sorts of things you need that can help us lawyers assess a claim and start a claim.

Photos

Photos of the product are always extremely useful for us to have a look at – especially if they show the dangerous part that caused you an injury. It can also help us to better understand the mechanics of the product because not everyone knows what damp proofing membranes look like.

Receipts and Documentation / Packaging

All this is useful to allow us to assess what warnings or instructions for use come with the product. You would think that if you were using the product as it is intended to be used and you end up injured, something isn’t quite right. The receipt is also useful for proof of purchase too, and this is normally required by the other side when they start their investigations.
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Have you ever bought something that wasn’t exactly up to standard? The common answer to that is most probably yes – but has the product caused injury or loss?

The consumer protection act is the law that protects consumers from the risk of illness or injury due to faulty products. This could be from a food source to any household item bought. The act protects the consumer from the products which do not meet a reasonable level of safety.

Of course, 100% level of safety cannot always be guaranteed, but has to be as safe as reasonably possible.

Some cases involving product liability can include:
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If you buy a product in England / Wales, you should be covered by the Supply of Goods and Services Act that legislates that all products provided to a person must be as described, of an expected quality, fit for purpose, and should not cause you harm.

So, the huge question is – what happens if you are injured as a result of a poor product? If a product injures you due to it being defective or having some form of underlying issue, you may be covered under the act. You must prove though that the product is defective. If you are injured because a banana pops out of its skin whilst you’re peeling it, and unfortunately it hits you in the face, I’d say that’s not really a defect but an unfortunate turn of events…

However, if you buy a new toaster, you put your bread in as instructed, and it blows up, I’d say there was a potential issue. Or perhaps if you bought a new chair, sat down on it for the first time and it collapsed, there could be an underlying defect or it may not have been manufactured correctly.
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I was thinking the other day about product liability claims in general as we have a lot of claims for personal injury caused by products.

The official definition to say whether you have a claim for product liability is when damage, loss, and/or injuries are suffered as a result of a manufacturing or design fault or failure to inform of a defect in a product. This means that the person responsible for the retail or production of the item in question both have the responsibility of informing the consumer of any instructions on how to use the product safely and avoid danger, any restrictions there may be with regards to age, weight or height etc. to prevent this from happening. And if any defects arise, they must inform all who have purchased the products that could cause fault to try and stop anyone from coming to harm.
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