Accidents can happen when and where you least expect them. Even places that should feel safe, like a friend, family member, or neighbour’s home, can be dangerous. Whether it’s icy front steps or a loose handrail on a staircase, many potential hazards can cause injuries on residential property. In BC, the Occupiers’ Liability Act (OLA) holds homeowners and tenants responsible for maintaining reasonably safe premises. If you’re hurt on someone else’s property, you may be entitled to damages. Understanding your rights and the role of homeowner negligence is key to knowing what to do next.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act and Homeowner Negligence
Under the OLA, anyone who owns property has a legal duty to keep their premises, or property, reasonably safe for visitors. In this case, this includes homeowners or property managers who are responsible for controlling property access and maintenance. The law applies to virtually anyone who enters the property legally, such as friends and family, service providers, delivery drivers, and postal workers.
The obligation to provide a reasonably safe environment covers three main areas:
- The property’s physical condition: This includes things like broken steps, loose carpeting, icy driveways, and poor lighting. Property owners should routinely inspect and maintain their premises to prevent these types of physical hazards from causing harm.
- Activities carried out on the premises: Homeowners are also responsible for how their own actions (or inactions) affect the safety of the property. For example, during renovations homeowners should ensure tools and materials are safely stored and that guests are warned of temporary hazards like exposed wiring.
- Third-party behaviour: This can include guests, tenants, contractors, or even pets. If a homeowner is engaging in dangerous or reckless behaviour, they have a responsibility to manage the situation and minimize risks to others. Failure to mitigate these risks could amount to homeowner negligence if someone ends up hurt as a result.
What Counts as Reasonably Safe?
The OLA doesn’t demand perfection from property owners. A home doesn’t technically need to be free from hazards. Rather, the law states that known foreseeable dangers must be dealt with in a timely, proactive manner. If a homeowner does know about a potential hazard and either doesn’t take any action to fix it or fails to warn guests about it, they could be deemed at fault if someone is injured as a result.
Visitor Responsibility and Contributory Negligence
Just because homeowners must uphold a certain duty of care to guests doesn’t mean that those same visitors are immune from liability. Personal injury claims can be affected by contributory negligence. This means that someone could be partially at fault for their own injury if they failed to exercise reasonable care to avoid obvious dangers. Contributory negligence doesn’t automatically bar someone from pursuing damages, but it does reduce the amount they may be awarded.
Visitors are expected to:
- Use caution around obvious hazards: If a risk is clearly visible, guests should take care to avoid it. Failing to do so, especially when a hazard is in plain sight, undermines a personal injury claim.
- Pay attention to posted signs and warnings: Homeowners who are aware of a dangerous condition may post signage about risks. Ignoring these warnings and getting injured as a result may lead a visitor to be found partially or fully responsible.
- Heed verbal notifications: When guests receive verbal warnings about potential risks, they have a responsibility to heed that information. Choosing to disregard warnings likely limits or eliminates their ability to claim damages.
Does Homeowners’ and Tenants’ Insurance Cover Guest Injuries?
Most standard homeowners’ and tenants’ insurance policies include personal liability coverage, which can help pay for medical bills, legal expenses, and other costs if a guest is injured on the property and the homeowner is deemed liable. This means that if you’re hurt and the homeowner or tenant is responsible, their insurer covers your damages.
Establishing Liability After a Residential Injury
To succeed in a personal injury claim after being hurt at someone’s home, you’ll need to establish:
- Duty of care: The homeowner or occupier owed you a legal duty to keep the property reasonably safe.
- Breach of duty: They failed to take reasonable steps to address a known or foreseeable hazard.
- Causation: That failure directly led to your injury.
- Damages: You suffered losses because of the injury, such as medical expenses, lost income, or pain and suffering.
In BC, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury claim. It’s important not to delay, as evidence and witness accounts can become harder to obtain with time.
What to Do If You’re Injured at Someone’s Home
First, you should get checked out by a doctor. Even if you think your injury seems minor, it’s important to establish a medical record. It’s possible your condition could worsen over time, and this initial documentation may be the critical link that proves your injury is due to an incident at someone else’s home.
When possible, take photos or videos of the location where the injury occurred. Be sure to capture the specific hazard from multiple angles. If there is surveillance footage, ask the homeowner or a lawyer to preserve it. If anyone saw the accident, collect their contact information and ask them to share their account.
It’s also important to write down everything you remember. Include relevant details like the date, time, what you were doing, the weather conditions, and any conversations you recall about the hazard. Avoid discussing the accident on social media or with other people. What you say could be used against you by insurance companies or defence lawyers.
If you don’t already have a trusted lawyer, you should find one as soon as you can following your injury. A personal injury lawyer can help you assess your case, gather critical evidence, handle communications with insurance companies, and advocate for fair compensation.
Contact Stephens & Holman
If you’ve been injured on someone else’s property and believe homeowner or tenant negligence may be to blame, you don’t have to navigate the legal process alone. The team at Stephens & Holman has decades of experience helping clients understand their rights, deal with insurance companies, and pursue fair compensation. Call one of our offices today to schedule a free consultation.