Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957 (OLA 1957), the person who occupies land can be held liable when death, injury or property damage happens to a lawful visitor on that land. For a claim to arise there must be a duty of care and breach of duty, causing damage.
Under OLA 1957, the occupier of the property means a person in control of the land, premises, building, warehouse, office etc.
When establishing whether someone is in control of the premises the following factors can be taken into account:
The term occupier under OLA 1957 has been held to cover local authorities, companies, individuals and partnerships.
Section 1 of OLA 1957 defines premises to cover any fixed or movable structure. This can include buildings, factories, houses and land, as well as any vessel, vehicle or aircraft. Chairs, ladders, scaffolding and lifts have all been construed to be premises.
A lawful visitor under OLA 1957 is someone who has been invited onto the premises by the occupier, but also includes individuals who enter the premises in the exercise of a right conferred by law (eg, policemen and firemen).
Under s 2 of OLA 1957, the common duty of care is ‘is to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there’.
The standard of care can therefore vary according to the circumstances. Situations where the standard of care can vary are specifically highlighted in OLA 1957:
An occupier must be prepared for the fact that children may be less careful than adults. This means there is a higher duty of care placed on the occupier when children enter the premises.
When a person is in the exercise of his trade at a premises (eg, an electrician), that person will appreciate the special risks associated with his trade and will guard against them. This means the occupier will be free to leave the tradesman to do just that and will not have a higher duty of care placed upon them.
If damage has been caused to the visitor by something which the occupier had previously warned him about, the occupier will not be subject to a greater duty of care if it is found that the warning was reasonable enough to keep that person safe.
Where damage is caused to a visitor by a danger due to faulty construction, maintenance or repair by an independent contractor, the occupier will not be subject to a higher duty of care if the occupier acted reasonably when he entrusted the work to the independent contractor. All the occupier can be reasonably expected to do is to ensure the work has been executed properly.
The following are defences that can be used in an action for occupiers liability:
The Occupiers Liability Act 1984 (OLA 1984) deals with individuals other than visitors and is taken to mean trespassers or even those entering with criminal intent. A duty of care has to be established and occurs when:
Under OLA 1984, no duty will exist when a person willingly accepts a risk when they trespass on a certain type of land.
Nicola is a dual qualified journalist and non-practising solicitor. She is a legal journalist, editor and author with more than 20 years' experience writing about the law.
When you submit your details, you'll be in safe hands. Our partners are National Accident Helpline (a brand of National Accident Law, a firm of personal injury solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority). They are the UK's leading personal injury service. Their friendly legal services advisers will call you to talk about your claim and give you free, no-obligation advice. National Accident Law may pay us a marketing fee for our services.
By submitting your personal data, you agree for your details to be sent to National Accident Law so they can contact you to discuss your claim.
If you win your case, your solicitor's success fee will be taken from the compensation you are awarded - up to a maximum of 25%. Your solicitor will discuss any fees before starting your case.