Sofa caused Severe Allergic Reaction and Blistering

Our client bought a Marko suite of 2 two-seater sofas and one recliner chair from his local Walmsley store.  Approximately 7 – 14 days after using the sofa, our client felt an itchy sensation in his lower back.  After a couple of days, the area started to blister and our client felt a burning sensation spread over his back and his arms. 

 

Our client saw his GP on several occasions and attended the GP unit at his local hospital where he was given cream and antihistamines.  However, the cream and antihistamines didn’t help so our client returned to the GP unit.  His symptoms got worse and he attended the accident and emergency department which referred him back to his GP.  Shortly after, our client began to shake and tremble and felt paralysed.  An ambulance was called and our client was admitted to hospital where he was given steroid medication after his arms began to swell.  After allergy tests and seeing a newspaper article about problems with some sofas sourced from China and sold by Walmsleys and other outlets, our client linked his problems with the sofa suite.

 

Lawson-West began a personal injury claim as there are implied terms in the sale agreement between Walmsleys and our client that the sofa would be:-

 

·         of satisfactory quality; and

·         fit for the purpose for which it was intended and provided.

 

Those terms had been broken as our client was left with a sofa that he could not use without triggering a severe allergic reaction and had suffered personal injury in sustaining blistering after using the sofa.

 

Lawson-West recovered compensation of £3,500 in respect of our client’s injuries and further compensation for the time our client had to take off work whilst in hospital and attending his GP.  This claim was settled without a medical report.