Occupiers Liability Explained

Occupiers liability, also sometimes referred to as public liability, relates to the legal obligation of someone that owns, occupies or has a level of responsibility over a premises or land to keep others safe on their property. The occupier has a legal duty of care to ensure the reasonable safety of any visitors that they permit to attend the premises, under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957. Failure for the occupier to comply with these safety measures can result in an occupiers liability claim from the injured party.

Who has a duty of care?

Examples of people who have a duty of care under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, are landlords, homeowners, shopkeepers, business owners, hotel owners etc. All of these people could be held liable for another persons injury that occurred on the property or premises they are responsible for.

The occupiers duty and public liability

Occupiers have a duty to ensure the premises are safe at all times. This includes timely maintenance should any situation arise that compromises anyone’s safety. For example, if you are a shopkeeper and there has been a spillage in one of the aisles, it is the occupier's responsibility to identify the safety hazards and deal with the matter quickly and efficiently by cleaning up the mess and clearly displaying signs to advise of a wet floor. Failure to do this may result in the injured party making a public liability claim.

It is also important to consider the types of visitors you expect on the premises. For example, certain safety measures may have to be altered for children. An occupiers duty of care is increased in these circumstances – a young child cannot read a hazard warning sign, so other measures would have to be incorporated to ensure their complete safety at all times.

Protect yourself as an occupier

Firstly, occupiers should always take out occupiers' liability insurance to protect themselves against potential compensation claims resulting from injury on their premises. There are many different types of cover available and comparing the price of an insurance policy to the thousands of pounds you could find yourself liable for should someone claim against you, is a safety net that is definitely worth having.

Most policies also include other costs incurred, such as hospital costs for the injured party and legal expenses for your representation in court.

The public has a responsibility too

There are some circumstances when the occupier may not be held liable for injury – if a landlord or person of responsibility isn’t informed when a potential hazardous situation occurs. For example, if you are living in someone else’s property as a tenant and something suddenly becomes dangerous – i.e. a floorboard has come loose and poses a risk of injury – it is the tenant’s responsibility to inform their landlord about the problem. The occupier can only be held liable if the defect has been raised with them previously, and no action was taken to rectify the problem.

Making a claim against your landlord

Although as a tenant you have a responsibility to report any hazards to your landlord, you do have grounds to claim against your landlord if you sustain an injury from a rectified hazard, which you previously reported.

Our client, Mr J, was living in a rented flat. As he left his flat to take some rubbish to the communal bin, he slipped on wet wooden decking while carrying the rubbish bag. Although there was a wooden rail around the decking, it was out of his reach, so he fell to the ground and landed heavily on his hand.

Winns assisted Mr J in making a personal injury claim against the owners of the accommodation, on the basis that they had breached their duty to Mr J under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957.

Mr J sought medical attention and required surgery to repair his fractured hand. His hand took several months to heal, and required further investigations by an NHS consultant, as well as physiotherapy to aid his recovery.

As the claimant lived alone, he required significant care and assistance following the accident, and was unable to manage his domestic chores, shopping and household maintenance due to his injury, particularly as this was his dominant hand.

We were able to assist Mr J in detailing his financial losses, including a large claim for the care and assistance he was provided following the accident.

Mr J was awarded £10,000, in order to compensate him for both his injury and the care he was provided with following the accident.

If you notice something which may be dangerous, always report it to your landlord and urge them to correct the problem to avoid any unnecessary injury to yourself or anyone else on the premises. If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself victim of an occupier's negligence, contact Winns for a no-obligation discussion on 0800 988 6288 or use Live Chat to find out more.

FAQ

Can I get public liability?

Regardless of size - you may be a sole trader or a multi-site company - you can get public liability cover to help should an accident occur in an area you are responsible for.

Do you legally need public liability?

It is not a legal requirement to have public liability.

Is public liability expensive?

It depends on the size and scale of your operation so it would be best to discuss this with a professional.

What happens if you don't have public liability insurance?

If an accident took place in an area that a company was responsible for then a potential claim for compensation could be raised if the accident was caused by negligence on the part of said company. Depending on the circumstances, this can leave them liable for a large compensation bill to pay.

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