Professional Liability for Product Design: The Basics

Posted on: June 18, 2015 by Huntersure

Product liability and all of its components cover an immense range of products. Essentially, any product that is man-made is susceptible to product liability claims. Because of the inherent threat, don’t forget to remind your clients to install a NY Product Design Liability Insurance policy to protect not only their product design, but also the manufacturing and distribution of their products.

Product liability is a general term that refers to the designer, manufacturer, or seller being held responsible for placing a defective product into the hands of the consumer, as defined by Find Law. In order to better understand the process, here is a breakdown of the three categories of product liability in which all cases are comprised:

1. Strict Liability- This component varies state to state. However, in its simplest terms: if your product is deemed defective and causes injury, you must pay damages. Although what actually constitutes a defective product can range drastically, SGR Law states a product is typically considered faulty they “fail to meet the consumer’s reasonable expectation” or the “risk in use of the product outweighs the product’s value to society.”
2. Negligence- While strict liability focuses on the product, negligence focuses on the conduct of the accused company. In order to be successful in this component, the plaintiff must prove the defendant had a legitimate duty to uphold, failed to comply, and therefore caused injury.
3. Breach of Warranty- Unlike the first two components, this is a contract based liability. While any victim of injury qualifies to be a plaintiff with strict liability and negligence, breach of warranty is conceptually different. For someone to qualify to sue using this component, he or she must be the direct purchaser. In contrast to the first, this involves the particular attributes or results that the product offered being challenged i.e. size, weight, speed, endurance, etc.

Huntersure offers competitive professional liability coverage to protect the numerous risks associated with designing, manufacturing, and distributing products. We have developed close relationships with brokers to provide superior service that exceeds client expectations. For more information, contact us today at (855) 585-6255.

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Tagged: NY Product Design Insurance NY Product Design Liability Professional Liability Insurance