Our guide to Occupiers Liability

What is the occupier's liability?

Occupier's liability is an area of law which outlines the duty of care a person who occupies premises owes to those who visit it, providing they are lawful visitors. 

This means that an occupier has to take reasonable care to ensure visitors are kept reasonably safe when using the premises for the reasons they should be there for. 

The occupier has to ensure their visitors are safe from any dangers which are a result of actions which are permitted on the premises. If an occupier is aware of a danger, they must let the visitor know about it. They must also manage the risk involved.

If the occupier carries out their legal obligation of care, you or anyone else visiting their promises is unlikely to suffer an accident or injury. If they do not and you suffer an accident or injury, they may legally owe you compensation as you may have a personal injury claim against them.

An occupier of premises generally owes the same common duty of care to all people who visit their premises. However, dependent on the specific circumstances an occupier may owe some people:

• extra care for those who need it, such as children
• restricted care such as for ‘skilled visitors' who should have an awareness of the dangers on the premises and know how to keep themselves safe from them
• slightly different care
• no care at all, such as if a sign is provided to warn of danger, if the visitor wants to accept any risks of danger, or if the injuries the visitor suffers were their own fault.

Is it the same thing as an employer's liability?

Employer's liability and occupier's liability are different. Employer's liability is for when you have an accident at your workplace and your employee is liable. There is no occupier's liability in this instance, but employer's liability instead.

However, occupier's liability and employer's liability are very similar in that an employer has a duty of care to their workers like an occupier does to their visitors. An employer has to ensure that their work is safe which can include:

• providing safe work processes
• ensuring tools are safe
• ensuring all workers know what they're doing

Which premises are covered by occupiers liability?

For this, it Is helpful to first understand what we mean by ‘occupier'. An occupier is a person who has sufficient control over the premises and has the power to prevent a visitor from harm. 

An occupier does not have to physically occupy the premises. There can, therefore, be multiple occupiers for one premises, and an occupier can include individuals or businesses.

Premises can include, for example:

• buildings
• land
• vessels
• aircraft
• temporary structures such as scaffolding and ladders.

Premises which are covered by occupier's liability can be public buildings or private buildings, regardless of whether they are owned or rented. These could  include:

• shops
• shopping centres
• offices
• restaurants
• car parks
• museums 
• people's houses
• hospitals

When does occupier's liability apply?

Occupiers liability applies to those who lawfully visit a premises. There are three types of lawful visitors to the premises:

1. A person the occupier invites to the premises such as if you invite a friend to your house for dinner. Legally speaking this is ‘express permission'.
2. A person who visits premises because they are allowed to rather than because they have an invite such as when you enter a shop that is open. The legal term is ‘implied permission'
3. A person who has a legal right to enter premises such as a police officer.

Occupier's liability applies when a person lawfully enters premises and has an accident or injury on that premises due to the occupier failing to keep them reasonably safe. It applies when an accident could have easily been prevented and the occupier did not ensure this. For example, you could experience:

• a slip on a wet floor
• tripping on an object which should not have been there
• being hit by a falling structural object
• injury through the use of machinery not fit for purpose

Occupier's liability also applies when a person enters premises unlawfully such as trespassing where there is danger and this is not pointed out by the occupier. 

Think you could be entitled to make a claim?

If you have suffered an injury or accident on premises and believe the occupier may be liable,  you may be entitled to make an occupier's liability claim. At National Accident Helpline, we can help. An occupier's liability personal injury claim can occur as a result of a huge range of situations. If you have, for example, falling in a supermarket or tripped on a local pavement and suffered an injury or accident. 

If you have been injured or suffered an accident which was the fault of another,  you can get  free and independent advice from us about the potential to make a personal injury compensation claim.  We offer a no-win no fee claim so you can make a risk-free claim with us.  Why not calculate your potential compensation amount online now by using our compensation calculator? Call National Accident Helpline now on . Alternatively, you can request a call back here or start your claim online.