Product Liability

Question 1

What must be shown to establish a duty of care under the ‘narrow rule’?

Answer 1

C must establish:

D is a manufacturer;
Item causing damage is a product;
C is a consumer; and
Product reached consumer in form where it left manufacturer with no reasonable possibility of examination

Question 2

Who is a manufacturer?

Answer 2

Any person who works in some way on a product before it reaches the consumer.

E.g. a supplier could be considered a manufacturer if they ought to have reasonably inspected or tested the products which they supplied.

Question 3

Who is a consumer?

Answer 3

Anyone who ultimately uses the product but also anyone whom D should have in mind as likely to be injured by D’s negligence.

Question 4

What is meant by ‘intermediate examination’?

Answer 4

If there is a possibility of intermediate examination, and the manufacturer believes this to be the likely case, the manufacturer will not owe a duty of care.

Question 5

What type of loss is recoverable under the narrow rule?

Answer 5

Any injury to persons or damage to property done by the defect in the product, except for any loss or damage flowing from the damage to the root product itself.

Question 6

What is the standard of care owed?

Answer 6

The standard is to exercise reasonable care, so, to act as a reasonable X manufacturer.

Question 7

What are the defences to product liability claims?

Answer 7

Consent - Where a risk is clear but the consumer takes the risk anyway;

Exclusion of liability - Cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury;

Contributory negligence - Partial defence, C contributed to their eventual loss.

Question 8

Who can sue under the CPA 1987?

Answer 8

Anyone who establishes that:

they have suffered damage caused by a defect in a product.

Question 9

What is ‘damage’ under CPA 1987?

Answer 9

Damage is given its normal definition, however, damage to private property must exceed £275 before a claim for it can be brought.

Also, damage to business property falls out of the scope of the act.

Question 10

How to determine causation under:

(i) CPA; and

(ii) Negligence

Answer 10

(i) The CPA is ‘but for’ the defect, the damage would not have been caused;

(ii) Negligence is ‘but for’ D’s breach of duty, the damage wouldn’t have been caused.

Question 11

How is a defect established under the CPA?

Answer 11

When it is ‘unsafe’. What is unsafe has several considerations:

• the presentation of the product, e.g. any packaging, instructions or warnings;
• what the expected use of the product is; and
• the age of the product in question

Question 12

Who is liable under CPA 1987? are there any caveats?

Answer 12

• The producer of the product;
• Someone who holds themselves out as being the producer;
• An importer;
• A supplier (only if they can’t identify any of the people in the supply chain)

Question 13

What are the defences under the CPA?

Answer 13

• Defect attributable to legal requirements;
• D supplied the product otherwise than in the course of business;
• The defect didn’t exist when D supplied the product;
• D manufactured the product with the state of knowledge at the time, which meant the defect was unknown to the reasonable manufacturer;
• Contributory negligence

Question 14

Can D exclude their liability under CPA 1987? How can they?

Answer 14

No, they cannot.