Personal Injury Involving Occupied Land or Property
The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 laid down a rule that the occupier of a building or a piece of land must take such care as is reasonable to see that a person in or adjacent to a building or on land will be reasonably safe whilst he or she is there.
If you have been injured whilst in a building belonging to or maintained by another person, and your injury occurred because of the dangerous state of the premises, you may have a valid claim, but the law is never quite that simple. It can be difficult to decide who is a relevant occupier and persons who enter a piece of land under the right of way are unprotected by this Act.
Examples Where an Accident Could Occur
Here are some examples where an accident could occur in an area belonging to or maintained by another person –
- Shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs & bars
- Leisure centres, gyms and sporting facilities
- Offices and business premises
- Public buildings such as museums and libraries
- Schools and college buildings
- Parks and playgrounds
- Private buildings including private residences
- Private land including gardens and other external areas
What if the Occupier Was Unaware?
What if the occupier was unaware of the danger or provided a warning, which you ignored?
What if you weren’t supposed to be there in the first place or the person injured was a child, and what if it wasn’t a building at all – what if the accident occurred on a train?
What if your accident was caused by someone who repaired the building badly, some time ago but he no longer ‘occupies’ it?
It can be more complicated than you may think to apply these rules in practice.
