As a consumer, you expect access to products that are going to work as promised. You don’t want to have to worry about injuries and other types of damage as a result of defective products you have used. However, that isn’t always going to be the case.
Today, we will talk about what we should know as consumers when it comes to defective products and how much time we have to file a claim for an injury sustained because of a defective product.
Statute Of Limitations
In Florida, the statute of limitations is four years for an injury to a person or property. In those four years, you can file a product liability lawsuit. Florida also follows what is known as the pure comparative negligence rule. It states that if you are partially at fault for an accident, you can still file a lawsuit, but the damages you recover will be reduced to cover your percentage of the fault.
Possible Product Defects
To prove who should be held liable for a defective product, you need to be able to provide evidence that the product you were using led to an unreasonably dangerous situation. A product’s defectiveness can be attributed to a number of things.
Defective Design
In this type of case, the manufacturer had intended for the product to come out as it did, and the design is ultimately what caused the problems you encountered. In Florida, we use the consumer-expectation test. This allows us to see if the product failed to perform safely.
Manufacturing Defect
When you claim that there has been a manufacturing defect with the product, this means that something went wrong during the manufacturing process. So although the overall design was deemed safe, the product might not have left the manufacturing facility in pristine condition. You can file a claim if you are injured even if you had used a product as it was intended to be handled, and the manufacturer may be found liable.
Marketing Defects
A marketing defect includes claims in which the manufacturer and distributor failed to include an adequate warning about a product. If a proper warning was included, then it could have reduced or eliminated the risk of injury while using the product.
Proving That A Product Is Defective
When you make a defective product claim, there are several things you need to prove in your claim. You have to prove that you were using the product as intended, the product was defective, and you were injured or suffered harm as a result of the faulty item.
Some of the more common types of products on the market that are involved in defective product claims are medications, toys, baby products, and sports equipment. Proving your case can be complex, so you will want to reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney to assist you.
Compensation Limits
Economic damages you can claim in a defective product case include medical expenses, lost wages, the repair or replacement of damaged property, and other out-of-pocket costs that may arise as the result of your injuries. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, the loss of quality of life, and the loss of consortium.
When it comes to punitive damages, Florida law limits them to the greater amount between three times the compensatory damages and $500,000. However, a court can award four times the compensatory damages in extreme situations.
If you have been injured by a defective product and feel that you are entitled to compensation for your injuries, contact an experienced Florida personal injury attorney to help you file your claim.