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Occupiers Liability Act 1957 - Coggle Diagram
Occupiers Liability Act 1957
An occupier of premises owes a duty of care to legal visitors, and if the duty is breached and the visitor is injured he is entitled to receive compensation for the injuries and damages caused.
Occupier
An occupier can be the owner, tenant or an independent contractor employed to carry out work.
S1 (2) of OLA of 1957 states that the common law rule applies. Under common law, the test is one of control and an occupier is one who has some degree of control over the premises.
There is no definition of an 'occupier' under the Act.
Case Examples
Wheat V E.Lacon -
the owner of a pub allowed the manager to rent out rooms, and one of the tenants fell on the staircase and died.
Principle - There can be more than one occupier of the premises.
Bailey V Arms -
the defendant lived above a supermarket, they allowed their child to play on the flat roof at the top, he also took a friend up who fell off and was injured.
Principle - Court of Appeal decided that neither the supermarket nor the defendant was the occupier and an occupier is someone who has 'sufficient control'.
In practice, a decision of who is in control of premises may be influenced by whose insurance policy covers the premises and is able to meet the claim. However, sometimes, the courts will find that no one is in control of the premises leaving the injured visitor with no claim.
Premises
(favours the claimant)
There is no statutory definition of premises except in S1(3) of the 1957 Act:
Premises is a 'fixed or movable structure, including any vessel, vehicle and aircraft'
Visitors
The Act states that an occupier of premises owes a duty of care to lawful visitors.
Licensee -
permission to be on the land for a particular period.
Contractual Permission -
a person who has bought and entry ticket for an event.
Invitee -
someone who is invited to your house.
Statutory Right -
to enter the premises, such as a police officer with a warrant.
Right of Way -
a person exercising a right of way is not classed as a visitor so is not covered under the 1957 Act.
The Duty of Care Owed
Adult
An adult visitor is owed a common duty of care. According to S2(2) this means to keep them reasonably safe.
Case Example
Laverton -
a women slipped over and broke her arm in the takeaway after it rained. They mopped and put in slip resistant tiles.
Principles - The shop owners had taken reasonable care to ensure their customers were safe. They were not liable as they did not have to make the shop completely safe.
Dean V Debell
Children
Defences