It is expected the total compensation amount to be paid will be around £20 million. Around 2,000 people made claims against Argos, Homebase, Walmsleys and a clutch of other, smaller high street retailers after the goods they had bought were found to contain high doses of the chemical Dimethyl Fumarate or DMF.
Unfortunately, those who had similar problems after purchasing their “toxic sofas” from the now defunct ‘Land of Leather’ could not claim after their former insurers, Zurich, argued that Land of Leather had breached the terms of its insurance policy.
It is expected that around 100,000 leather suites were infected by the Chinese manufacturing company. Sachets of the anti-fungal chemical had been inserted into the suites to combat the furniture from going mouldy during storage in Asia.
As it stands, no recall has yet taken place despite the high street retailers admitting liability and paying out the bumper compensation claims.