'Toxic sofa' victims dealt injury compensation blow

18/03/2010

Hundreds of people seeking injury compensation over so-called "toxic sofas" have been dealt a blow by a High Court ruling.

Lawyers for Zurich, the insurer for Land of Leather, claimed that the company's deal with Linkwise, which supplied the Chinese-made sofas that contained the chemical DMF, breached the terms of its insurance policy, BBC News reports.

More than 300 people suffered burns from the sofas and were hoping to receive injury compensation from Zurich after Land of Leather went into administration last year.

A number of test cases concerning sofas made by Land of Leather which contained DMF but were not made by Linkwise are due to go before the court in May.

The total bill for damages over the case was originally predicted to reach as high as £20 million, the largest consumer injury action in UK history, although following the High Court ruling this is likely to be reduced unless it is overturned.

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