Topic 3
Topic 3
Occupiers’
liability test
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 1
What is meant by ‘occupiers’ liability’?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 1
Occupiers’ liability concerns the duty owed by
those who occupy land (and premises upon it)
towards the safety of those who enter onto the
land.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 2
Name the two statutes that deal with occupiers’
liability.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 2
Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 and Occupiers’
Liability Act 1984.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 3
How is the term ‘occupier’ defined?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 3
Neither statute defines the term ‘occupier’. Instead,
s.1(2) states that the common-law rules apply. Under
common law, the test as to who can be considered an
occupier is one of control, i.e. someone who has
some degree of control over the premises. This
means that the occupier need not necessarily be the
owner of the land or premises but may instead be a
tenant or an independent contractor employed to
carry out work. Indeed, there may be more than one
occupier at the same time.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 4
What is meant by ‘premises’?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 4
There is no definition of ‘premises’, but s.1(3) of
the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that the
term includes not only land and buildings but also
fixed or moveable structures such as vessels,
vehicles and aircraft.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 5
Who is a ‘visitor’?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 5
A visitor is someone with permission to enter the
premises.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 6
Define the two different types of permission that
a visitor may have.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 6 (1)
Express permission: a person has express
permission if he or she has actively gained
permission to be in a place, for example he or
she has been asked to enter the premises.
Implied permission: sometimes, a person may
not have express permission to be in a place but
may still be classed as a visitor if the courts
decide that he or she had implied permission to
be there.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 6 (2)
Permission can be implied in a number of situations.
The police, fire brigade, those who need to gain
access to read gas, electricity and water meters,
and sales people are all taken to have implied
permission and are classed as visitors. Those who
enter shops are taken to have permission to be
there. In addition, the courts may also imply
permission in certain circumstances, depending on
the facts of the case.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 7
What happened in Lowery v Walker (1911)?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 7 (1)
For 35 years, people had used the defendant
farmer’s unfenced field as a short cut to the
station. The defendant had asked them
repeatedly not to do this but had taken no further
action for fear that people would stop buying milk
from him. He then put a wild horse in the field
and the claimant was injured when the horse
attacked.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 7 (2)
The courts held that despite the fact that the
farmer had asked people not to use the field as a
short cut, the claimant did have implied
permission to be there and thus was to be
classed as a visitor rather than a trespasser.
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Question 8
Steven is injured when using a right of way. Can
he rely on the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957?
Topic 3
Occupiers’ liability test
Answer 8
No. A person exercising a right of way is not
classed as a visitor and so is not covered under
the 1957 Act. This is an old rule from the case of
Gautret v Egerton (1867).