Strict liability is a legal concept where a manufacturer puts a product on the market which has a defect and is unreasonably dangerous. In a recent case decided by the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, a fire destroyed a residential building insured by the plaintiff insurance company. The plaintiff paid its insured’s claim and filed a subrogation action against the defendant who manufactured the product, a device called “electric meter pan with circuit breakers,” which will be referred to as “the electric meter.” The plaintiff’s case was based on the theory of strict liability, alleging that the meter pan was defective and unreasonably dangerous and the fire was the direct result of the defect.
The plaintiff’s insured constructed a series of homes in which none sold and stood vacant for a number of years. The property owner retained a security monitoring company to monitor the electric power, which was left on in the vacant homes. On the night in question, it was very cold and snow covered the ground. About two hours after being alerted to the loss of power, one of the homes was severely damaged by fire. The insurance company paid the owner for the loss and filed the action for strict liability.