Rental Property Accidents can cause permanent injury. If you are unable to work due to sickness, disability, or a permanent injury resulting from the accident, you may be entitled to claim compensation through your super as a Total and permanent disability (“TPD”) or income protection claim.
The owners of rental properties also owe a duty to a tenant and visitors to take reasonable care for their safety who foreseeably enter onto the property.
The owner is not liable for defects in the premises of which he or she is unaware and in respect of which it would have been unreasonable for them to have inspected to become aware.
Suppose an owner or property manager is aware of a defect which could reasonably foreseeable result in an injury. In that case, the owner can be liable for the injury that which results if the hazard is not rectified.
At the commencement of any residential tenancy, the owner (or property manager on the owner’s behalf) and tenant are required to complete a report on the condition of the premises. This is a statutory obligation which arises under laws relating to residential tenancies. If any defect is notified in that report and that defect eventually causes an injury, the owner may be liable as a result. The same will apply if a tenant has brought a defect which subsequently causes an injury to the owner’s attention .
In both cases there must of course, have been a reasonable time interval which would have allowed the owner or property manager to have completed the repairs.
It may be easier to establish that the landlord was or ought to have been aware, of a defect existing before the commencement of the tenancy than one which arose later.
Where a landlord has engaged a competent contractor to carry out work on the premises and such action is defective, the owner is unlikely to be liable to the tenant for any loss resulting from that contractor’s breach but the contractor may itself be liable.
These claims are subject to the Civil Liability Act 2003 and Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002. The Civil Liability Act 2003 limits liability for “obvious risks” and “dangerous recreational activities”. If you are unsure where to start, contact our expert public liability lawyers who will give you advice.