Consumer Protection Act 1987 CASES
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA) remains a cornerstone of UK product liability and safety law. It implements the EU Product Liability Directive and continues to impose strict liability on producers for damage caused by defective products. While some provisions have been repealed or supplemented by later legislation, its core role in defective product claims and product safety regulation endures.
Definition and Principles
The Act defines a product as defective if it does not provide the safety people are generally entitled to expect. Liability attaches to producers, own-branders, and importers into the UK, ensuring accountability across the supply chain. The regime removes the need for claimants to prove negligence, reflecting a policy of consumer protection and market responsibility.
Requirements for Establishing
- Defect: The product must fall below the safety standard that the public is entitled to expect.
- Damage: Claims may be made for personal injury and damage to private property over £275 in value.
- Causation: The claimant must show the defect caused the damage or injury.
- Defences: Statutory defences include compliance with mandatory regulations, the “development risks” defence, and proof that the product was not supplied in the course of business.
Practical Applications
The CPA 1987 has underpinned significant litigation, such as A v National Blood Authority (2001), which held that contaminated blood products were defective despite being consistent with scientific knowledge at the time. The Act also enables regulators to issue safety notices, require product recalls, and enforce safety standards in consumer markets.
Subsequent Developments
- Repeals: Part III of the CPA, on misleading price indications, was repealed and replaced by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
- Supplementary regimes: The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 sit alongside the CPA to ensure goods placed on the market are safe, even if they are not defective in the strict liability sense.
- Modern reforms: The Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides further protection in contracts for goods, services, and digital content. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 introduces new consumer rights (e.g. regulating subscription contracts), complementing the CPA framework.
Importance
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 remains central to consumer protection in the UK. It continues to provide a powerful strict liability regime for defective products, ensuring consumer safety and accountability of producers. At the same time, it operates as part of a wider statutory landscape, reflecting the evolution of consumer law and the need for ongoing regulatory oversight.
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A 13-month-old child ingested dishwasher powder after opening a 'child-resistant' cap which complied with British Standards. The Court of Appeal held that Tesco was not liable under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, as the product's safety met public expectations. Facts The claimant, Ben Pollard, a 13-month-old child, was found with the cap off a bottle of Tesco’s own-brand dishwasher powder. He had opened the ‘child-resistant’ cap and ingested some of the powder, causing a corrosive injury to his oesophagus. The cap was of the ‘push and turn’ variety and complied with the relevant British Standard (BS 6652:1985), which was in
Claimants infected with Hepatitis C from blood products sued the National Blood Authority. The court held that under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, the blood was 'defective' because the public is entitled to expect it to be safe, regardless of whether the contamination was avoidable at the time. Facts This was a group action brought by 114 claimants who had been infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a result of receiving contaminated blood or blood products. The blood was supplied by the National Blood Service, for which the defendant, the National Blood Authority, was responsible. At the time
