Product Liability Flashcards
What is product liability?
A claim that can be brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, s 2(1) by anyone suffering as a result of damage caused wholly or partly by a defect in the product. Liability is strict!
Damage = damage to property, including land, death or personal injury.
NOT pure economic loss of the product itself or any product supplied using the defective part.
Against whom can a claim for product liability be brought?
The producer of the product
* person who manufactures, wins, abstracts or carries out the process to get the product;
* person who puts his name on the product using the trademark + holds himself out to be producer;
* any person who has imported the product into the UK to supply it to another.
Supplier: if C tries to identify the producer or importer themselves and asks for details of the producer and the supplier cannot provide this within a reasonable time.
What must the claimant show?
That the safety of the product is not such as persons are entitled to expect.
Safety: risk of damage to property, death or personal injury.
Entitled to expect: manner/purpose for which product marketed and any warnings, time when product supplied.
What are the limitations on the claim?
Must be brought within 3 years of becoming aware reasonably of the damage + long stop of 10 years.
- No claim unless amount to be awarded exceeds £275. Cannot claim for products used for business purposes!
What are the defences?
- Defect attributable to compliance with requirement imposed by EU law;
- only supply of product to another was not done in the course of business;
- defect did not exist in product at relevant time;
- state of scientific and technical knowledge at time was not such that producer / supplier / importer could be expected to discover defect;
- defect constituted defect in subsequent product and defect was wholly attributable to the design of that product.
*** Contributory negligence **
