We recently settled a product liability claim against a food production company after our client purchased a contaminated loaf of bread.
The modern law of negligence is founded on the case of Donoghue v Stevenson, where a woman found a dead snail in a sealed bottle she bought at a restaurant.
Before this case, to get compensation there had to be a contract between the consumer and the producer. The Court decided that if it was reasonably foreseeable that someone might suffer loss as a result of a defective product then the producer would be liable without the need for any contract.
We recently dealt with a very similar case where our client bought a loaf of bread from her local grocery store. The packaging was undamaged when she bought it, but later she saw an insect crawl out of the loaf and suffered psychological injury as a result.
We wrote to the producer of the loaf and their insurers denied liability. We raised Court proceedings against the producer following the decision in Donoghue v Stevenson, and also sued under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 on the basis that the contaminated loaf was a defective product. We instructed a psychological report and successfully negotiated a settlement.
Our client said;
I was grateful to Lindsays for persevering with my claim after liability was denied and Legal Aid was refused. I was impressed with the way they identified and then instructed a psychologist to help with my case and for their efforts at negotiating a settlement. I was happy with the compensation I received and I would recommend Lindsays to anyone who has suffered injury because of a defective or unsafe product.
If you think you have suffered from a defective product, get in touch with our expert team who are experienced in dealing with product liability claims.
