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Sofa Ruling Leaves Hundreds of Victims Out of Pocket

• Sofa Rash

18 March 2010

Over 300 consumers who suffered burns from ‘toxic sofas’ purchased from Land of Leather will not receive compensation, the High Court has decided today.

At the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Justice Teare ruled that some claimants who purchased furniture containing a banned and highly sensitising chemical called DMF (Dimethyl Fumarate) from the now defunct retailer Land of Leather, did not have to be compensated for their injuries by the Zurich insurance company.

More than 4,000 people in the UK have experienced skin allergies, rashes and burns after using Chinese manufactured leather sofas bought from Land of Leather, Walmsley Furnishing and Argos.  EU manufacturers were already banned from using the dangerous chemical, and it has since been banned from use in imported products after consumers in at least five EU countries suffered skin burns and breathing problems due to the chemical.

Although all three retailers had previously admitted liability, in March 2009 insurers Zurich announced that they would not provide insurance cover for Land of Leather claims saying the chain had breached the terms of its policy with them. Land of Leather had struck a deal with one manufacturer which they claimed breached a condition of the policy not to do so. That decision has now been upheld by the courts. 

Richard Langton, senior litigation partner at Russell Jones & Walker, the solicitor who is leading the group litigation against the retailers in question said: “This is a devastating blow for victims who purchased their sofas from Land of Leather, all of whom believed for almost 12 months that Zurich were going to pay out. A group of over 300 innocent people who sustained in many cases severe injuries, due to an admittedly faulty product, will receive no compensation. Consumers must beware that buying products made in China is potentially dangerous and if something goes wrong they have less chance of redress. Zurich’s delay in notifying us added insult to injury by making our clients believe they would be paid. Unless this decision is overturned on Appeal by the Court of Appeal a great injustice will have been done.”

The case continues for the several thousand customers where insurance cover remains in place. The court will look at a number of test cases in May 2010 as the first step to compensating those who sustained injuries.

For more information on the sofa update featured on the BBC click here

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