If you purchase a defective product, it could inconvenience you and cost you money even if you’re lucky enough to avoid injury. But can you file a product liability lawsuit if you haven’t been physically hurt? The short answer is yes—even if you’ve only suffered economic losses it’s possible you could have a product liability claim. But, without a physical injury, suing over a defective product may not be worth it.
In this article we’ll discuss:
- What kinds of legal claims you might have if you’re sold a defective product
- how your monetary compensation might be calculated depending on your situation and what kind of case you decide to bring, and
- how to decide if it makes sense to sue even if you haven't been physically injured.
What Are Your Legal Options If You’re Sold a Defective Product?
A consumer who’s been affected by a defective product could be able to pursue two kinds of legal claims:
Breach of Warranty
The legal claim here is that the product or service didn’t work as promised, and you want the manufacturer or seller to make it up to you. Companies are required to fulfill the terms of their written warranties. Consumers can also generally assume that a product intended for a particular purpose can actually be used for that purpose—for example, you don’t need a written guarantee that your new umbrella is actually waterproof. This is called an implied warranty.
Product Liability Claim
This claim goes beyond saying that the product didn’t work—in a product liability case you have to show that:
- the product was defective (either because of a manufacturing mistake or because it was badly designed)
- you were injured or suffered some other loss because of the defect, and
- you were either using the product as intended, or using it in a way that the manufacturer should’ve anticipated—in other words, what happened wasn’t your fault.
This approach to determining responsibility makes product liability cases different from most personal injury cases. In other kinds of personal injury lawsuits, a plaintiff has to show that the defendant was negligent. Legally speaking, people (and companies) are negligent when they’re less careful than a reasonable person would have been in the same situation.
Product liability cases, on the other hand, are decided using a strict liability standard. Under strict liability, it doesn’t matter if a defective product was the result of negligence, or something that slipped through even though the company was being careful. All you have to prove is that the product was defective, and you were harmed as a result.
What Kinds of Damages Can You Collect If You’re Sold a Defective Product?
“Damages” is the legal term for the money paid to a successful plaintiff by the defendant in a lawsuit. Damages can include both money that compensates defendants for their losses (compensatory damages), and money that plaintiffs are ordered to pay to punish them for wrongdoing (punitive damages).
Damages In a Product Liability Claim
Your damages in a product liability case could include:
- economic losses like medical bills, lost wages and lost earning opportunities; and
- non-economic losses like your pain and suffering.
Keep in mind that your non-economic losses are closely tied to your economic losses. In many cases you can only receive compensation for pain and suffering if you can show that you’ve suffered a physical injury. And, since it’s difficult to put a price on non-economic losses, they’re often calculated by using concrete economic losses as a starting point.
Damages In a Breach of Warranty Claim
Breach of warranty claims are more focused on putting you in the position you would’ve been in if you’d gotten a product that worked properly. Let’s say you buy a riding mower that blows its engine after a day of use. Your damages in a breach of warranty case could include:
- the money you spent on the mower (or however much money you’d need to buy a comparable replacement)
- the money and time you spent trying to fix or replace the mower (including, potentially, your legal bills), and
- an estimate of the money you lost because you didn’t have a working product (for example, lawncare jobs you had to cancel, or couldn’t pursue in the first place).
Most lawsuits reach a settlement before there’s a trial, so you’re more likely to receive compensation through negotiations than through a jury award.
Should You Sue Over a Defective Product If You’re Not Injured?
Let’s say you buy an electrical outlet. You bring it home, install it, and plug your TV into it. When you come back an hour later, the outlet is partially melted and the surrounding wall has been blackened. And your TV won’t turn on—when you take it in for repairs you find out that you need a replacement. You weren’t harmed, and nothing else in the house was damaged.
Does it make sense to file a lawsuit against the company (or companies) that manufactured and sold the outlet? Here are two things to consider:
- You can’t assume that you’ll get a quick settlement or a satisfying jury award if you file a lawsuit. The legal process can be slow and frustrating, and even if you negotiate a settlement it could be for much less than you were hoping for. The company you sue will do its best to argue that the accident wasn’t its fault.
- You need to be realistic about the amount of your damages. In the case of the faulty electrical outlet, you do have damages—the cost of a new TV, of repairs to your damaged wall, and of a new outlet to replace the defective item. But you don’t have any medical expenses, and can’t recover damages for pain and suffering. So, your settlement would probably be a few hundred or a few thousand dollars (depending mostly on the cost of replacing your ruined TV).
As these points suggest, just because you have a defective product claim doesn’t mean that you should file a lawsuit. You have to weigh the likely value of the settlement (or jury award) against the time and expense of pursuing a court case.
In cases where you’ve been injured a lawsuit might be your best option when:
- you have significant medical bills and other economic damages and haven’t been able to negotiate a fair settlement, and
- you stand to recover non-economic damages for your pain and suffering, which often makes up a large percentage of the money a plaintiff receives in a personal injury case.
On the other hand, if you haven’t been injured then your award or settlement in a lawsuit could be minimal. You won’t be seeking compensation for medical expenses, and also won’t have a good argument that you’re entitled to money to make up for your pain and suffering.
In a case like that a lawsuit probably wouldn’t be worth it. That’s especially true because products liability cases can be very complicated and expensive to prosecute. For example, they often require testimony from expert witnesses to establish the key elements of the claim.
If what you’re really concerned about is compensation for the money you spent on a product that didn’t work as promised, then bringing a breach of warranty case could be a better option than a product liability lawsuit.
Remember, too, that if a manufacturer or seller deliberately lied about their product, and you suffered losses as a result, you might be able to sue for fraud or deceptive marketing.
Taking the Next Steps With Your Product Liability Claim
If you’ve been sold a defective product—and especially if you’ve suffered a significant injury or economic loss as a result—it’s important to understand your legal options. A good lawyer will be able to help you decide if it makes sense to sue, or to take another approach. If you do decide to go ahead with a product liability lawsuit, an experienced attorney will be able to gather evidence, negotiate with the lawyers on the other side, and present your case to a judge and jury. You can learn more about how to consult with and choose an attorney, or get in touch with one now by using the features on this page.