Injured By Defective Goods?
Most lawyers will remember the case of the snail in a bottle of ginger beer that was decided in 1932. In that case, and which was probably the first product liability claim, the manufacturer of the bottle of ginger beer sold the bottle to a retailer who sold it to a customer who then gave the bottle to a friend. The friend drank the contents and then became ill. The manufacturer was held liable for the friend’s illness.
However, the friend in that case, as did all other victims of a defective product, still had to establish legal fault on the part of the manufacturer in order to recover damages.
On the 1 March 1988 the Consumer Protection Act 1987 came into force and which established a strict liability on the “producers” of a defective product for “death, personal injury or any loss or damage to any property including land.”
Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Well, yes and no. For example, “property including land” only covers property intended for private use, occupation or consumption and is intended by the “victim” mainly for his or her own private use, occupation or consumption. What this means is that business property is not given the same protection of strict liability on the part of the manufacturer for defective products.
Even though there is now a strict liability on the part of the “producer” of a defective product the “victim” still has to prove that the product was defective when it was supplied to him or her and that it did not become defective because of misuse or misapplication or even faulty installation. This does not give the “producer” a way out if the defect is a latent defect and is not likely to come to light for a while. So if a product has a life expectancy of say 10 -15 years but becomes defective after say 3 years and caused injury or damage because of the defect the “producer” will not be able to argue that the product was not defective a the time it was supplied.
A product is any goods or electricity and includes a product which is comprised in another product whether as a component part, raw material or otherwise. For example, not only is a car a “product” but so too are the brakes, the gearbox, the engine, etc. The term “product” covers a very substantial number of items and whilst they are primarily consumer goods they are not limited to these.
The “producer” of a product is defined in the 1987 Act. It is important to note that the term is not limited to recognised manufacturers of goods. For example, if you baked a cake then you would be the “producer” of that cake. Would you then be liable if you gave the cake to a friend or relative and after eating the cake they became ill because you had innocently used some bad ingredients? Thankfully, no. However, it would be a different situation if you put the cake up for sale to make a profit and the purchaser, having eaten it, became ill because of bad ingredients (or even poor baking!). In those circumstances you could be strictly liable under the 1987 Act. So if you intend to produce anything which you intend to be sold it might be a good idea to check if you have insurance to cover you in case anything goes wrong.
Barry Cramer
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