Most people would call a lawyer straight away if they were injured at work or in a public place and somebody else was at fault. You might also take legal advice if you are in a car accident and the other driver is to blame. But what about if you get injured by a defective product?
A lot of people don’t realize it but you do actually have legal protection if you are injured by a defective product and businesses that sell the product could be liable too.
Is The Product Defective or Not?
Firstly, you need to establish whether the product is in fact defective or not. This might seem like a simple question but it’s important to answer correctly because not every injury caused by a product will be due to it being faulty.
For example, if you use a hand tool and end up injuring your back then this could easily be considered an accident rather than an injury caused by a defect. If that was the case then no action would be needed and your business wouldn’t be liable. It is also worth mentioning that some injuries might cause minor discomfort and yet still not actually count as legal action material; however there are cases where people have been known to make false claims for compensation when their injuries were only very mild after all.
On the other hand, the product might be defective in some way. It’s important to be aware that you can still be liable for an injury if it happened because the product was faulty but this has nothing to do with you or your business. The part of the law in question is called “product liability” and it simply means that the producer, wholesaler or distributor of a defective product are all equally responsible when someone gets injured.
So, if there is no negligence on your part then you might still have to pay compensation even though there wasn’t anything wrong with your business practices.
Legal Challenges
It’s likely that the injured party will talk with a qualified lawyer who deals with defective product claims and you should do the same. It will be up to you to prove that the claim made by the customer is not legitimate, so you need a specialist injury lawyer that knows how to manage these cases and defend you. A lawyer deals with this kind of claim on a regular basis so they will know how to handle it from start to finish.
Consider Offering a Settlement
In some cases, it might be worth your while to offer a settlement to the customer. It’s in your interests to avoid going to court and it’s easier for the customer too, so they are likely to consider taking the money. However, if your offer is too low, it’s likely that they will still take you to court.
Going to court is expensive and time-consuming, so settling out of court is the ideal option. However, you are liable if a customer is injured by a defective product and you need to be prepared to deal with legal challenges.
