Unauthorised visitors under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984—the duty of care


Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson
Practice notes

Unauthorised visitors under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984—the duty of care


Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson

Practice notes
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Background

The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA 1957) was created to provide for a common Duty of care owed by occupiers of premises. The duty was ‘common’ in that it was owed to various categories of lawful, or authorised, visitors, such as invitees, licensees and those whose right to be on the premises arose from a contract.

Under OLA 1957 no duty was owed to unauthorised visitors or trespassers.

The passing of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 (OLA 1984) introduced a new duty, owed by occupiers to unauthorised visitors. It should be noted by practitioners that this duty is more limited than that imposed under OLA 1957 in favour of lawful visitors.

Who is an occupier?

An occupier is anyone that would be deemed an occupier under OLA 1957, see Practice Note: Occupiers’ liability claims—lawful visitors—Who is an occupier?

Who is an ‘unauthorised visitor’?

An unauthorised visitor is anyone who does not have actual or implied permission to be on the premises. See Practice Note: Occupiers’ liability claims—lawful visitors—Who

Andrew Wilson
Andrew Wilson

Consultant Solicitor

Andrew has more than 25 years’ experience of working in the fields of personal injury and occupational disease litigation, acting for both claimants and defendants. He trained at L Bingham & Co, gaining early experience in a number of important high profile claims involving the MIB. During the 1990s Andrew worked at Hextalls and then Kennedys, predominantly for defendants across a range of motor, employers’ liability and public liability matters many of which involved serious injuries or death. More recently, he has dealt with cases for claimants who have suffered serious injuries or occupational disease. He was a partner in a large specialist practice. He has provided seminars to solicitors and other legal professionals both for an external conference company and in house on the workings of the Civil Procedure Rules in the context of personal injury claims, amongst other subjects.

He has now set up his own legal consultancy, providing advice and support to solicitors, particularly a specialist London practice, in connection with fatal accidents and very serious injury cases such as brain injury, mostly in the High Court. He has continued to develop his education and training activities, providing seminars and contributing articles and commentaries to legal information services.

Since his training, Andrew has retained a particular interest in issues of motor indemnity and the operation of the Road Traffic Act and Article 75.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Duty of care definition
What does Duty of care mean?

A duty of care refers to the circumstances and relationships giving rise to an obligation upon a defendant to take proper care to avoid causing some form of foreseeable harm to the claimant in all the circumstances of the case in question.

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