Buying something for it to soon fail on you is, at the least, disappointing, but often dangerous. You can prosecute for damages and breaches of warranty if you’ve purchased a defective product.
Whether you were injured using the product or believe you purchased something that wasn’t as advertised, you can seek legal compensation mention those at https://diamondlaw.ca/blog/3-types-of-product-liability-claims.
Different Types of Defective Product Claims
According to LAWShelf, frauds, negligence, and strict liability are tort actions. On the other hand, breaches of warranty are contract actions. An attorney can help you figure out how exactly your case fits and what to do. Still, here are some general pointers to guide you:
Breach of Express Warranty
Express warranties are those written on labels, instructions, or marketing materials. For instance, if you buy climbing gear that claims to hold up to 12kN but fails under that amount of force, you could get seriously injured. If the packaging or an advertisement stipulated the force limit was above what it took to break the gear, you could prosecute.
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Breach of Implied Warranty
Some warranties are implicitly expected for specific products. A pair of sunglasses should protect your eyes from the sun. If they turn out to have no UV protection, you have a valid claim.
If you ask for a product for a specific purpose and the representative sells you one that fails to perform as expected, you can also file a claim. Say you buy a bike that the seller claimed to be fit for aggressive trails. If it ends up breaking without you crashing it, the seller might have breached an implied warranty.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/nature-sand-mountain-bike-90454/
Strict Liability
The Consumer Protection Act applies to products used at work or by consumers and introduces statutory liability. This means that when under the CPA, you don’t need to prove the manufacturer was negligent during manufacture. You simply need evidence that the product was defective.
Negligence
You can argue negligence in addition to a strict liability claim, or when the latter doesn’t apply due to the nature of the case or local jurisdiction. Proving negligence can be difficult. You must demonstrate that the manufacturer failed to exercise reasonable care when producing the goods.
Fraud or Misrepresentation
Sometimes, a company might sell a product that they know to be potentially dangerous or market it in an intentionally misleading way. The most common example is when a company had previous information about the potential dangers but chose to omit it from the consumers.
You can also report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission so they can investigate and protect other consumers as well.
Take Away
You have multiple ways of carrying out a defective product claim, but it’s always best to talk to an expert if some faulty gear injured you or someone loved. It’s essential to research before you buy something to which you’ll be entrusting your life, such as climbing gear. Even then, things can go wrong. You should now be better informed now if that ever happens to you.