What should I know if I want to file a product liability claim?

On Behalf of | Jun 7, 2017 | Products Liability

If you are injured by a product in Florida, you may be able to seek compensation from the party responsible for creating, designing or manufacturing the product. Remember that if you wish to file a lawsuit against someone for a dangerous product, you need to do so within the state’s statute of limitations. In Florida, the statute of limitation is four years for an injury and two years for a wrongful death.

Since there is a statute of limitations, it’s a good idea to start your claim as soon as possible. For example, if your child suffers burns from a toy oven that catches on fire, you may think it’s fine to wait to file the claim until your child has grown older and been through all the necessary surgeries or medical treatments.

The problem is that if you wait too long, you may be unable to file a claim at all. For that reason, it’s a good idea to get into contact with your attorney within the first several weeks of an injury to begin a claim.

There are limits on the damages you can collect thanks to the pure comparative negligence rule. This states that if you are partially at fault for an accident, you can file a lawsuit but will likely receive reduced damages. In your case, if your child left the product on the carpet and caused the product to overheat, the court might find that you’re 40 percent responsible and that the company is 60 percent liable. You could pursue compensation for the portion of liability the company holds.

Source: FindLaw, “Florida Product Liability Laws,” accessed June 07, 2017

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