Defective Product Evidence Checklist 2025: What to Save After Injury

## The Cheapest, Most Powerful Thing You Can Do

After a defective product hurts you, the single most valuable action costs almost nothing: save the evidence. Product cases are won or lost on physical proof, and most people accidentally destroy their own case by throwing the product away, returning it, or letting it be repaired. This checklist keeps your claim alive.

Why Evidence Is Everything in Product Cases

Unlike a car crash with witnesses, a product case depends on showing the item was defective. The defendant's experts will inspect the product and argue it was misused, altered, or not actually defective. If the product is gone, you cannot counter those arguments, and courts may even sanction you for spoliation, the loss of evidence.

The Master Evidence Checklist

1. **The product itself.** Keep it exactly as it was when it failed. Do not repair, clean, disassemble, or return it.
2. **All packaging.** Boxes, inserts, labels, and warning sheets establish what warnings you received.
3. **Receipts and proof of purchase.** These show where and when you bought it.
4. **Manuals and instructions.** They show the intended use and any safety guidance.
5. **The model, serial, and lot numbers.** These tie your unit to recalls and litigation.
6. **Photographs and video.** The product, the failure, the scene, and your injuries before treatment alters them.
7. **Recall records.** Pull and save a dated copy the day you find them.
8. **Medical records.** They connect the defect to your specific injuries.
9. **Witness information.** Names and contacts of anyone who saw the failure.

Special Rules for Vehicles and Implants

• **Vehicles:** do not let the insurer total and salvage the car. Send a written preservation demand and the airbag, belt, tire, or electronics stay with it.
• **Implants and mesh:** if you face revision surgery, ask the surgeon in writing to preserve the removed device and tissue.
• **Devices like CPAP:** keep the unit instead of returning it for replacement; record the serial number.

How to Store Evidence Properly

Keep the product in a clean, dry, secure place where it will not be altered. Do not let anyone, including a helpful repair shop or a curious relative, take it apart. If it is large, like a vehicle, arrange paid storage and document the location. Maintain a simple log of who handled it, which supports the chain of custody.

The Cost-Benefit Math

Storing a product or a vehicle costs little. Losing it can erase a claim worth six or seven figures. A preserved tire in a rollover case can support a seven-figure result; a discarded one often yields nothing on the product claim. The evidence you save today is the leverage your lawyer uses later.

Steps to Lock Down Your Evidence

Step one: stop using and isolate the product immediately.

Step two: do not repair, return, or disassemble it.

Step three: photograph everything and record model, serial, and lot numbers.

Step four: send preservation demands for vehicles or removed implants.

Step five: contact a [product liability lawyer](/lawyer) who will issue formal preservation letters.

Frequently Asked Questions

The product is broken and useless now. Should I still keep it? Absolutely. A broken product is exactly what experts need to examine. Never discard it.

The manufacturer asked me to send the product back for a refund. Should I? No, not without legal advice. Returning the product hands your evidence to the defendant and can destroy your case.

What if I already threw it away? Tell your lawyer immediately. Photos, receipts, recall records, and medical proof may still support a claim, though it is weaker without the product.