Occupier's Liability - Finished Flashcards
(39 cards)
What is Occupier’s Liability
A field of tort that concerns the duty of care owed in a reasonable or unreasonable visit to a piece of land whether it is lawful or trespassed
What are the 2 Acts that deal with Occupiers Liability
Occupiers Liability Act 1984
Occupiers Liability Act 1957
What is the use of the Occupier’s Liability Act 1957
A
Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 deals with lawful visitors
Allows compensation for personal injuries and also damage to propert
What is the main remedy that is seeked by defendants in Occupiers Liability
Compensation (financial benefits)
Define Occupier
No statutory definition for Occupier
Usually a person that owns a property, land etc.
Define Lawful Visitor
A visitor to a property with permission
Usually contractual permission or statutory rights of entry (police etc.)
What duty does an Occupier (owner) have to a lawful visitor
Occupier has a responsibility to make sure that the visitor is safe at a reasonable level when under their supervision/liability
Exception to Liability of Occupier
No liability if the danger is obvious and the trespsser is an adult
To what extent must an occupier ensure their visitors are safe
- Laverton v Takeaway
Occupier must ensure the visitors are safe to a certain extent
- Laverton visited a takeaway shop on a wet busy day
- Floor was mopped but Laverton still slipped and broke ankle
- Takeaway did their best to limit damage so are not liable
What was the main concept of the Laverton v Takeaway case
The premises do not have to be completely safe – The occupiers just have to take reasonable care
What is the difference between the 2 legislations concerning OL
Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 deals with lawful visitors
Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 deals with trespassers
Wheat v Lacon
- Explain summary of the Case
Employee of a brewer in a public house was staying over as a paying guest
- Stayed in the private area which wasn’t safe (suffered injuries after falling through hole)
- The staircase was unlit; it was not dangerous to those using it whilst taking the appropriate care, so weren’t guilty
Define Invitee
A person who comes onto another’s property, premises or business establishment upon invitation
Give an example of an expressed and implied invite, in terms of OL
Expressed - A verbal or written request by the property owner of occupant for another to come to the property for the purpose of providing a service to the owner or occupant (cleaner)
Implied - A corner shop being open to public is implying that anyone of public can access it
Why is there a significance when referring to care towards children
Children have much more limited minds in comparisons to adults
They may not have the development of making right and wrong decisions
Easily succeptible to Allurment
What does the OL Act 1954 say about children
Occupiers should be prepared for children to be less careful than adults and the premises must be reasonably safe for a child that age
If there is an allurement, can the Occupier be liable
No, if the damage is not foreseeable the occupier cannot be liable
What 2 exceptions allow the occupier to become not liable with a case with the involvement of a child
If the damage was not foreseeable
If a parent was meant to be suprevising the child (Phipps v Rochester)
What is the liability occurance when a trade is taking place
If a tradesman is injured while under terms of trade, the occupier is liable as they owe them a duty of care if they are on the occupier’s land/premises
However the injury must be related to the source of trade
Can a tradesman working on a traintrack sue an occupier for being hit by a random car that appears on the track
No, the occupier must be able to protect the tradesman from an incident occuring to a certain extent, but not if it was unforeseeable.
What is the occupier’s role in staff’s faults in concerns to damages
Occupier must insure staff hired are trained accordingly with experience, insured and know what they are doing.
What happens if the incident that occurs is not in the hands of the occupier
If the injury is not related to the premises, the occupier can be liable
What are the 3 requirements of s2 of the OL Act 1954
Contractor
The occupier must’ve not been able to do the work themselves, as to why they hired someone else
Contractor hired must be suitable for the job role; references and insurance must be checked
Occupier must check the work has been done properly
Haseldine v Daw
Lift - Contractor
Cliamant was killed when lift plunged fastly down
- Occupier couldn’t do work themselves so hired someone else
- Not liable
