A man who suffered from severe chemical burns from his sofa has received a large compensation payout. The furniture company who made the sofa did not contest the case and the individual, Mr Maurice Heminsley, 68, also received a full refund on the product according to his solicitors Irwin Mitchell.
Mr Heminsley suffered a rash within days of getting the sofa, which increased in severity and led to him being admitted to hospital. The injuries are alleged to have been caused by a chemical in the furniture called dimethyl fumarate which is used to try and prevent mould.
The chemical has been banned by the European Commission since May of his year, but it was found in thousands of sofas imported from China in a BBC investigation earlier this year.
Mr Heminsley’s rash spread across his back, neck and legs over a period of 3 months and left him with open sores. He obtained the sofa at a cost of £1,100 in November 2007.
A claim for product liability can be brought under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. This act imposes strict liability on producers of products where they cause harm. Anyone injured by a defective product has the potential to make a claim for compensation provided they can prove causation. This means that there needs to be proof not only that the product was defective but also that the injury was caused as a direct result of that defect. This appears to have been the case for Mr Heminsley, with the furniture company making no attempt to contest the case regarding that the sofa was the cause of his injuries.
