How A Cigarette Leads to a Sofa Fire Lawsuit

The product industry is filled with businesses that design, manufacture, and sell tangible products. Furniture is one of the most popular products we see and use daily.

Furniture can be anything from your bed and cupboards to your dining table and sofa. When creating and selling furniture, every company must ensure the products are safe and ideal for their intended purpose. Furniture businesses should expect the worst and be sure they won’t injure the user in any way.

However, in this case, the business product was not tested against cigarettes. The furniture business did not predict a customer would sue them due to a sofa fire. The article will explain how a lit cigarette caused a sofa fire lawsuit and how the business dealt with it effectively.

Business Background

The case is about a furniture business that sells customised furniture all over Asia. They have showrooms in Hong Kong and China and an e-commerce website. Customers can choose their type of furniture, material and custom size. The furniture products are then delivered to the specific location.

When creating products, the business ensures the final product is safe and durable for its customers. The furniture goes through several product tests, such as mechanical testing, chemical testing, material and surface testing, and weight testing.

Each product undergoes specific testing tailored to its intended use. For example, a dining table must not have a toxic finish that could contaminate food. Unfortunately, when a business deals with thousands of products, it is very easy to make errors during testing or outsource parts that have not been tested.

How Does a Cigarette Lead to a Sofa Fire Lawsuit?

The furniture company sold a beautiful fabric three-seat sofa and delivered it to a customer for their living room. The sofa was a great place to rest and watch TV, and was comfortable enough to lie on. Unfortunately, the sofa was a bit too comfortable.

The customer was a regular smoker who frequently smoked on the sofa while watching TV. In this particular case, he fell asleep with a lit cigarette, and it fell on the sofa.

The cigarette kept burning and ignited the fabric on the sofa, and while the customer was sleeping, the flames slowly spread. In just a few minutes, the lit cigarette had led to a dangerous sofa fire and burned the customer.

Thankfully, the customer woke up and could control the fire before it burned the whole flat. However, even in a short time, a large amount of damage was done. The customer had 3rd-degree burns on their legs and arm, and the sofa fire burnt a large part of the wall.

The customer believed the sofa was at fault, and the business did not warn that the material was flammable. As a result, the customer sued the company for injury and damage compensation. 

How Product Liability Insurance Was a Solution to The Sofa Fire Lawsuit?

The injured customer claimed the sofa had no label or warning stating ‘one should not smoke on the sofa’. In addition, after an investigation, experts learned that the fabric flammable testing was not done to the best of their efforts, and there were errors. Therefore, the business was liable and had to hire a legal team to compensate the customer.

Fortunately, the business purchased product liability insurance. The insurance covers third-party injury and property damage claims due to product defects. The cover helped cover legal, medical, property repair and compensation costs.

In this case, the policy helped the business recover from the lawsuits with minimal financial loss. Product liability insurance reimbursed the following costs the business was liable to pay related to the case:

• Legal Costs: HKD 10,000

• Medical Costs: HKD 300,000 (cost of being hospitalised and skin grafting)

• Property Damage Costs: HKD 100,000

• Compensation Costs: HKD 5,000,000

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Total Amount: HKD 5,410,000

Why Product Liability Insurance is Vital?

Product liability insurance is vital for any company that designs, manufactures or distributes products. There is always a risk of product defects that lead to injuries or property damage. The business may still be liable even if the third-party injury or damage was due to the customer not using the product correctly.

Product defects could result from poor designs, manufacturing errors, or failure to warn. These lawsuits can lead to millions in losses and reputation damage. Having the right policy is the best way to deal with the lawsuit and the financial outcome.

However, the insurance will not cover any product recall costs. Product companies must purchase product recall insurance to cover the expenses of recall, communication and storage. The combination of both insurance policies can save product businesses millions.

In this case, it was a sofa fire, but every product business must prepare for the worst and have the proper protection.

To learn more about product liability insurance and protect your company from related product lawsuits, contact Red Asia Insurance.