Justice at Last for Land of Leather Toxic Sofa Victims

• Sofa Rash

15 December 2010

Consumers whose claims for compensation for burns from ‘toxic sofas’ were rejected by the High Court earlier this year have today won a settlement totalling three quarters of a million pounds, a few weeks before the Court of Appeal was due to hear their appeal.

At the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Mr. Justice MacDuff approved awards to 408 victims who purchased Linkwise-manufactured furniture containing the banned and highly sensitising fungicide DMF from furniture retailer Land of Leather.

Land of Leather went into administration in January 2009. Subsequently their insurers Zurich withdrew insurance cover for certain claims, stating the chain had breached the terms of its public and product liability policy by doing a deal with Chinese manufacturer Linkwise. The Claimants used a 1930 Act of Parliament to argue they could sue the insurer, and today’s hearing ends the litigation.

Richard Langton, senior litigation partner at Russell Jones & Walker and the solicitor who has led the group litigation said: “Because of the irresponsible use of a chemical, thousands of consumers have suffered serious and painful health problems. All have been upset that household goods could hurt them in their own home. For this group of victims, losing the right to compensation added insult to injury. Money was never the most important thing for my clients, they wanted recognition that a wrong had been done to them. I hope that they can now look to put this ordeal behind them.”

The settlement is a further step in the largest consumer injury Group Litigation in UK legal history. In April this year, 1600 victims of ‘toxic sofas’ represented by solicitors Russell Jones & Walker were awarded a record breaking payout of £20 million. There are still over 3000 people who believe their furniture has caused them injury but liability is denied. These claims continue.

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