Ok, sorry about the poor title but basically I am looking at starting a company that imports sports equipment into the UK.
I have the warranty part covered. Easy.
However, because we're talking about stuff that someone could potentially hurt themselves on there is obviously a danger, in modern society, that I could get my ass sued.
The product is no way dangerous but accidents do happen and aslo quality contorls can fail.
I'll be buying the equipment from Europe and acting as both the importer and seller before looking to expand. As the importer am I completely liable for any compensation claim should something happen?
Also, can I only have some sort of insurance if I am properly registered as a company? For example if I sell through eBay can I still get the appropriate insurance cover?
Any advice / feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
James
In my experience, if someone sues you, your insurance company will try and pass the buck. This just heads to the manufacturer, well, their insurers anyway. (Assuming you do insure yourself - public liabillity I think).
An example that we got involved in - Bloke crawls under running machine, puts hand inside to clear blockage, loses finger tip, claims (no win no fee). His employers claim from us (importer and distributor of the machine) and our insurer claims from the manufacturer. End result - 2 legal teams based in Belfast, one based in London but travelling to Belfast for court and one based in Germany with office in London travelling to Belfast. Our customer had 3 members of staff at court, we had 2, and the german manufacturer also had 2. The insurers eventually did a deal to avoid court because we could only give a 99% gaurantee that the Bloke was telling Porkie Pies.
Just imagine the cost of all this.
(I think he got a payout in the region of £5000)
Had we not been insured, the cost of fighting this would have hurt us, so I geuss the moral of the story is cover yer arse!
Good luck!
I'm not trying to put you off - Honest!