Exploding coffee machines, sofas that give off toxic fumes, collapsing bicycle wheels – all are examples of defective products that have caused injuries and led to successful claims for compensation.

The Consumer Protection Act 1987 makes the producers of products liable to those who are injured by their defective products.

For the purposes of the act the term defect is determined by reference to the safety of the product 'which persons are generally entitled to expect', which can include injury caused by misuse of the product as well as the usual design and manufacturing defects that most people would associate with the term 'defective product'.

It doesn't matter that the producer took reasonable precautions to avoid the defect, because the Act imposes a strict liability on the producer, meaning the normal concept associated with claims based in negligence do not apply.

The slow but growing number of product liability claims in England has seen a corresponding growth in the number of product recall notices issued by manufacturers. Last year alone there were a record 229 product recalls covering consumer goods, including pharmaceutical products, cars, everyday food items, and toys. The number of food-related recalls last year was fewer than the previous year. 

It is also possible to make a claim if the defective product was manufactured abroad?  The Act uses the term 'producer', and it includes the company/person who imports goods into the European Union. So the importer of a toy made in China and which causes an injury can be held liable. Last year, 62% of all consumer related recalls concerned goods manufactured in China.

A product that carries the brand name of a company, thus creating the impression it was made by that company, might make it liable as the 'producer', even though the product was manufactured by another company.

For further information about claiming compensation caused by defective products, please contact our helpline.

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