Occupier’s liability refers to the responsibility of landlords, tenants, or independent contractors for injuries on their property. The common law provided no protection, but laws developed to protect the injured person. The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 held landowners liable for injuries caused by faulty or unsafe conditions. The 1984 act added detail on how negligent the occupier must be to be held accountable and included offenders in compensation.
Occupier’s liability refers to what responsibilities a person occupying real estate has, whether through rent or ownership, should someone be injured on their property. The occupant of the property can be defined as the landlord, the tenant or both, depending on the circumstances under which the damage occurred. An independent contractor working on the property can also be claimed to be the land occupant if the injury occurs around their work area. Occupant liability laws have been discussed and amended over the years with the intention of clarifying the rules and regulations.
The first law that was used to regulate the liability of the occupiers was the common law which stated that the landowner had no liability to the person who was injured on their property. The common law provided no protection or compensation for the injured person. Eventually, the lack of provisions for compensation led legislators to develop official rules aimed at protecting the injured person. These laws would also make landowners liable to compensate the injured person.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act of 1957 was the first law created that held landowners liable for injuries. The act stipulated that for the landowner to be held liable for damage there must be a faulty or unsafe condition of the property which was the cause of the damage. In other words, the landowner must be negligent and leave his property in a dangerous condition to be held liable for occupant liability. This act also made the distinction between a visitor and an offender, and only gave the right to compensation for visitors. They defined a visitor as someone who had been granted, express or implied, permission to be on the property.
After much discussion this law was decided it did not go far enough to protect the injured person so the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 was enacted. This act was designed to now include offenders to be able to receive compensation if injured. This act also added further detail on how negligent the occupier must be to be held accountable. It states that to be held responsible for occupant liability, the occupant must know, or should have known, that the danger existed before the person was injured, and that they must also know that the person is close to the danger and not warn them of the risk. This act determined that a person expects a certain level of protection when on someone else’s property.
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