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    Cheap isn’t always cheerful
    April 23, 2014


    Playing with toys shouldn’t lead to claims for personal injury compensation but cheap materials, limited product testing and shoddy workmanship can, and do, cause significant injuries. We recently acted for a child injured when clearing up his younger sister’s toys. She had been playing with a bead set bought from a well known pound shop. As he pushed the cork stopper back into one of the thin glass bottles in which the beads were stored, the bottle cracked and sliced part way through his thumb.

    The bead set had been manufactured by a company in China and imported to the UK by the store. As the store had imported the set from outside the European Union, they were the responsible party under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

    The store denied liability throughout saying that there had been no previous reports of problems and samples of the bead sets had been rigorously tested (although there was limited evidence of this). But, under the 1987 Act, it doesn’t matter how much something has been tested, if it fails and causes injury, the importer (or the manufacturer) will be liable. We issued proceedings and the store eventually settled the claim.

    The information contained in this article is intended for general guidance only. It provides useful information but it is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice as the articles do not take into account specific circumstances. So do please Contact US for legal advice on the issues raised.