The financial viability of this company depends on charging business and public sector bodies for our specialist advice, consultancy and research. We regret that we cannot offer a service of free personal advice to consumers, free help with student projects or free media briefings.
Everyone is welcome to make use any material on this website (with acknowledgement of the source), but please do not phone or write to us with queries unless you are willing in principle to pay for the consultation at professional rates you would expect a solicitor, accountant or surveyor. We shall not reply to e-mails that fail to make it clear that paid advice is being sought.
Citizen's Advice Bureau Consumer Service is a publicly funded and offers UK-wide consumer advice by phone (08454 04 05 06) and online about unsafe products . Their call centre will forward complaints about specific products or traders to the appropraite local authority trading standards officers. You can also report unsafe products by e-mail via their website .
If you are considering claiming compensation for injury or damage caused by a conusmer product you should get legal advice from a solicitor, law centre or citizens advice bureau. If you are advised that you need to pay for a report on the product from an expert witness, this will usually be arranged by the lawyer. However if you are following the small claims track in a county court you will probably need to find (and pay) one yourself. You can find local lawyers who specilise in product liability claims from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
If your interest is educational, journalistic or public spirited, start by looking at the product safety sites of: RoSPA, the UK Government and the European Commission's Consumer Protection Directorate.