The Types of Damage or Loss compensated
There may be major difficulties in determining the types of damage or loss which will be compensated in product liability litigation and this is so whether the claim is based on the strict liability provisions of Pt 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 or the general law of negligence. In some cases it will be clear that the 1987 Act is inapplicable and hence that the standard requirements of the law of negligence must be met or the existence of a contractual claim established. For example, the defendant may not be a person who is potentially subject to liability under s 2 of the Act or the damage may be of a type which the Act does not compensate. Alternatively, a claim under the Act may be barred by virtue of the expiry of a limitation period or, and this is increasingly less likely with the passage of time, because the relevant product was supplied before the Act came into force on 1 March 1988.