A high court judge ruled this week that compensation claims by customers of Land of Leather, who claimed they had experienced burns and rashes as a result of buying sofas from the firm, will not receive any payouts.
Customers believe that the sofas purchased from Land of Leather, who are no longer trading as a company, were ‘toxic’ and caused serious injuries to anyone who sat on them. Personal injury claims were made by some 300 customers of Land of Leather, however a high court judge ruled in favour of the former sofa giant.
The sofas in question were manufactured in China and they were also sold by Argos and Walmsley Furnishing. According to reports from the Guardian, over 4,000 people have experienced injury from using them. The problems with the sofas came from a chemical agent that was used on them, called dimethyl fumerate. The agent is used to protect the leather, but it also caused blistering of the skin.
In a tragic misunderstanding a pensioner believed her dog was responsible for her blistering and had her dog put to sleep.
Even though Land of Leather is no longer trading, their insurance company, Zurich, answered the claims for personal injury which amounted to £3 million.
Personal injury lawyer, Richard Langton, commented:
The contract contains one condition which, if breached, rendered the insurance policy void. This condition was that Land of Leather should not settle claims without permission from the insurer.
When Land of Leather realised Linkwise sofas were damaging its reputation, it sought compensation from Linkwise, and the company agreed to pay Land of Leather $900,000. Zurich was consulted on and agreed to this.
But Linkwise then failed to pay up, so Land of Leather went back for more discussions. They slightly changed the terms of the agreement and Linkewise paid the $900,000, but this time Zurich was not consulted, which the insurer said rendered the insurance null and void.
It is not known if the claimants will appeal the ruling and attempt to claim compensation for their injuries.
Related Personal Injury News
- Sofa chemical victims receive £20 million
- Cancer victim told she can’t receive compensation
- Eye surgery lacks regulation warns the APIL
- Beachcroft acquires Kingslegal in Newport, South Wales
- Car insurance to become more expensive because of injury claims