Every day we use different consumer products. You trust them to work safely and correctly. But still, a few products can malfunction and can cause great harm. If any consumer products you have used caused injuries to you or your loved one, you could claim for defective product liability. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring their products are safe for consumer use. Contact a personal injury lawyer to learn more about a defective product liability claim.
Proving a defective liability product claim
Proving a product is defective is a complex process, and the burden to prove lies with you. You must understand the types of defective product claims to prove defective liability.
There are four elements to prove a claim and evidence to support a claim.
1. The defective product caused your injury
There is not enough to debate that you were injured due to using the product. You should show specifically the injury caused by the product itself. For example, if you suffered injuries while driving a vehicle that was prone to flip at corner turnings. If there is evidence that you were speeding while taking a corner, the manufacturer will argue about your reckless driving, not the car’s design.
2. You suffered losses or injuries
Every horrible thing may have happened to you, but without a proper monetary loss, you are missing an essential element of a product liability claim.
3. The product was defective
You also have to prove that the product you used has injured you, which is why it is defective. The difficulty in proving depends on the type of claim.
Types of defective product claims
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Defective design
Overall design flaws made the product defective. This is generally hard because you must prove the product design was faulty and not manufacturing.
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Defective manufacturing
An error while manufacturing the product made it defective. For example, it is easy to prove if a cloth steamer developed a crack in the wire during its manufacture, proving it is pretty easy.
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Failure to instruct
The product became defective due to poor instruction and warnings of the product use. You can successfully prove that the product is defective if you can show that the hazardous quality of the product was not warned to the ordinary customer.
4. You utilized the product as intended
You will generally use the product as the manufacturer intended consumers to utilize it. For example, if you start preparing noodles in your electric tea kettle and it explodes, you might not have a claim.
Evidence required to support the defective product claim
- The product itself which is defective (preserve it as best as you can)
- Every document, like sales contracts, receipts, etc., of the product.
- Injury documentation.
- Medical bills to prove the financial losses.
- Evidence that the defendant was aware of the defect.
