Novel UK High Court claim against Amazon for a product sold via an online marketplace settles

A claim which was launched against an online marketplace in August in the English High Court had the potential to test the boundaries of the UK’s current civil liability regime for defective products and, specifically, how the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (the CPA) applies to online marketplaces. However, it has been recently reported that this claim has been settled at an early stage. 

Below, we explore the challenges that such claims face under current UK legislation, compare how such cases have been approached to date in the EU, and look at how the UK rules may change in future.  

Claim issued against Amazon in the UK 

A consumer injured by a power tool purchased from Amazon Marketplace issued what was said to be “first of its kind” claim against an online marketplace.   

The claim alleged that the power tool, which was the subject of an OPSS product safety report in 2023, was defective under the CPA. The claimant had also reportedly sued for breach of contractual conditions as to satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose. The claimant is said to have purchased the product before the OPSS safety alert, and suffered a finger injury in September 2022, requiring partial amputation.  

Under the CPA, individuals that suffer personal injury wholly or partly caused by a “defective” product can seek compensation from the producer of a product, an own-brander (white-labeller), or an importer of the product into the UK. A claim can also be pursued against other suppliers of the product, but only where they have not identified the actual producer of the product in a reasonable time. As such, the better view has always been that online marketplaces and other retailers are not liable under the strict liability regime in most circumstances, unless they are also acting as producer, importer etc. ‘Pure’ online marketplaces, in particular – which merely host listings for products sold by third parties – are generally regarded as falling outside both the product liability regime and the parallel UK general product safety regime. 

In this claim, the claimant alleged that Amazon was liable under the CPA on the basis that it held itself out as producer of the product, was its importer into the UK, or was the supplier into the UK. We assume it is likely that the claimant would also allege that Amazon played an active role in the supply of the power tool, rather than passively hosting a third party listing for it.   

Expanded scope of liability in the EU 

Until recently, the EU and UK product liability regimes were closely aligned, as the UK’s CPA regime was based on the EU Product Liability 1985. We are aware of few product liability claims against online marketplace platforms in the EU and those that have been brought have not succeeded.  

The EU has recently revised its product liability framework, with a view to addressing perceived difficulties of consumers when seeking redress for personal injury. The revised Product Liability Directive (revised PLD) will apply to products placed on the EU market from December 2026, and explicitly expands the scope for secondary online marketplace liability for third party products in certain circumstances.  

It provides that “any provider of an online platform” (Article 8(4)) may be held liable to an injured consumer where: an economic operator with primary liability for the allegedly defective product cannot be identified (including where the online platform fails to identify one), and only where they present the product or otherwise enable the specific transaction in a way that would lead an average consumer to believe that the product is provided either by the online platform itself or by a trader acting under its authority or control.  

Economic operators with primary liability under the revised PLD include the manufacturer, importer, authorised representative within the EU, and for the first time (in the absence of an importer or authorised representative within the EU) “fulfilment service providers” i.e. any person offering, in the course of commercial activity, at least two of the following services: warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching. 

Our briefing here provides further analysis on the revised PLD. 

What’s next for UK product liability? 

Given the recent reported settlement, the new claim against Amazon will not provide any opportunity for the High Court to weigh in on the novel claim. 

In any case, the UK Law Commission formally announced in August 2025 that it is reviewing the UK’s product liability regime. Early indications suggest that we may start to see some closer alignment with the position under the revised PLD. For more details on what’s next for the UK’s product liability regime, read our recent blogs, here and here.