The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 contains no official definition. The term, one of convenience, denotes a person who has a sufficient degree of control over premises to put him under the ‘common duty of care’ to lawful visitors. Control is the decisive factor and it is immaterial that the occupier has no interest in the land. The occupier’s control does not preclude others from being liable, e.g. repairing landlords (q.v). See COMMON DUTY OF CARE; OCCUPIERS’ LIABILITY ACT 1984.

The occupier owes the ‘common duty of care’ to lawful visitors. The Act gives particular guidance on how to accommodate the different needs of visitors, e.g. being prepared for children to be less careful than adults. The occupier can expect persons exercising a trade to guard against risks incidental to their trade. He will not be liable for the negligence of independent contractors unless negligent in selecting them or checking their work. Account is also taken of all the circumstances, including warnings of dangers to ascertain if they been sufficient to make visitors reasonably safe. The occupier cannot (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977) use a notice or a contract to exclude liability for negligence leading to personal injury. See OCCUPIERS’ LIABILITY ACT 1984.

Section1(3) (4) provides a statutory duty of care owed by occupiers to trespassers. A duty is owed if the occupier is aware of danger and knows (or has grounds to believe) that the trespasser may be in the danger area. The duty is to take such care as in all the circumstances is reasonable to see that the trespasser does not suffer injury. Appropriate warnings may discharge the duty. The duty is built around the ‘common duty of humanity’, which took into account, along with the occupier’s skill and resources, his actual knowledge of the trespasser’s presence or likelihood of it. The duty is less onerous than the common duty of care owed to lawful visitors.

Liability policies are triggered by insured events ‘occurring’ during the policy period. Difficulty in pinpointing the time of occurrence of latent diseases and gradual pollution has produced theories, not universally accepted, from the US: 1. Exposure theory. Injury is simultaneous with first exposure. All insurers on risk during the exposure period are liable on a time on risk basis; 2. Manifestation theory. Injury is deemed to occur when it is first diagnosed. Only the policy in force at time of discovery is liable – this theory is rarely applied. 3. Injury In Fact Theory. Policies are triggered only if in force when an actual injury occurs or progresses. No liability is triggered during dormant periods. 4. Triple Trigger Theory/Continuous Trigger Theory. Injury is deemed to occur at time of first exposure, during continuing exposure and at time of manifestation. Any policy in force at any stage will be liable. Issues also arise as to how limits of indemnity should be applied. See OCCURRENCE; STACKING OF LIMITS.

A US term describing the insurance of seagoing hulls, cargoes and liabilities. This distinguishes those insurances from inland marine and sometimes from inland waterway hull, cargo and liability insurances.
***
Insurance coverage for vessels and property in ocean shipping. River marine is the term referring to coverage for inland shipments on water. Motor truck cargo refers to coverage for property transported over highways.

Most policies are issued for terms of one year renewable annually. Wherever the first period of insurance is longer than a year there is ‘odd time’ for which a pro rata charge is made.
***
A period added to a calendar year for the purpose of making the renewal date of an insurance the date required by the insured.

Resources and transactions that do not show on the balance sheet. It involves financing other than by equity or debt. It occurs in a variety of circumstances notably: (a) where a financial institution provides an operating lease that makes a fixed asset available to the firm in return for regular rental payments. The use of the asset is acquired but no capital expenditure has taken place and so does not appear on the balance sheet; (b) where a company securitises available assets and markets them to investors through a special purpose vehicle in the form of bonds secured on the underlying assets. It transfers the assets to the SPV but retains use of them as income generators. They come off the balance sheet’ to improve the return on investment and other financial ratios. See SECURITISATION.

the price at which an insurer allocates to a policyholder the units associated with a unit-linked policy.

Companies Act 1985, s.744, gives a limited definition: ‘officer, in relation to a body corporate, includes a director, manager or secretary’. Not everyone with the title ‘manager’ is sufficiently senior to be an ‘officer’ who must have a level of authority over the affairs of the whole company in a given area of activity. The term officer includes the company secretary and auditor. See DIRECTORS’ AND OFFICERS’ LIABILITY.

The state pension offset. A member’s pensionable earnings or a member’s pension are reduced to take account of the amount of state pension a member will receive.