Product liability laws exist to protect citizens from being injured or suffering any sort of financial, physical or other damages due to a defective product. With millions of products on the market from which to choose every day, it can be easy to pick up one that is not well made or poses an undue risk, and you never realize it until it is too late. So, how can you tell if the product you’ve used was defective, and what are your options? Learn how to tell if you’ve got a product liability claim, what damages you can recover, and how an injury attorney can help.
Product Liability Claim
The first thing to understand in a product liability claim is that you need to be able to prove you were using a defective product in the first place. The general benchmarks used to prove a product liability case are that you were injured resulting in some sort of loss, the injury was due to defects in the product and that you were using the product correctly – as intended by the manufacturers.
Injury and Loss
Unless you actually suffered an injury or other losses, you may not have a strong case. Even if the product blows up, if nothing was damaged and you weren’t hurt, you may not be entitled to more than a replacement product. It is critical in such a case to be able to prove injury or loss.
Defective Product
Next, you have to be able to demonstrate two things. First, you must demonstrate that the product itself was defective. It’s difficult to put specific qualifiers on this, since every product is different. But there must have been defects that the manufacturer should have known about and corrected. This can be due to a manufacturing error, a design defect, failure of the manufacturer to warn about potential hazards under certain circumstances, or other factors based on the specific incident. Your attorney can help you determine if there is a product defect at work.
Cause of the Injury
This all comes together in the nature and cause of your injury. You must be able to show that it was, in fact, the defect in the product that was responsible for your injury or loss. The toaster burst into flame, damaging your kitchen and causing you burns because there was a faulty circuit or improper wiring within the unit, for example. To have a claim, your loss must be directly related to and caused by the defective product. This also means you must have been using the product properly, as instructed by the manufacturer. If you failed to clean the toaster and the crumbs inside caught on fire, for example, this could complicate your case.
If you have been injured due to a defective product, and you need help recovering damages, we are here to help. Check out our site for more information about product liability claims, and contact us for a case consultation today.