Cleaner injured in my house

[Anxiousmum73]

Hi all, I have a regular cleaner who comes, we pay cash in hand as that is what she asked. They have injured themselves today while cleaning and will likely be out of work for a few weeks.
When starting I was sure to check they had insurance. I am very sorry they have had an accident, it was awful but I am concerned about any legal ramifications. Does anyone have any experience?
I don’t think they are the sort of person to sue, particularly as I can’t see any issue here with obstacles etc. but am a bit anxious about this.
thanks!

Home insurance often includes legal cover , we claimed when someone stuck their hand through our letterbox and the dog took their nail off - we have a letter cage now but insurance took care of it when they claimed

How did they injure themselves?

If they slipped on a wet floor they’d just mopped its very different to something falling and hitting them!

They fell on the stairs, no obstacle, just normal stairs.
we are renting and contents insurance does not cover legal

How badly injured are they? Surely theres nothing more than a bruise and soft tissue damage.

Check with your landlord and also ask the cleaner to look at their own self employment insurance. Hooe they're OK, how badly injured, how did it happen.

Surely there has to be proven fault?

If it's just a misstep on the stairs and there was no obstacle, you have appropriate bannisters etc then I can't see where anything legal comes in.

But I am not a solicitor or anything

If there were no obstacles on the stairs and they just fell as a result of tripping or stumbling etc then surely there just an accident? I'm not sure that they would be able to sue for any reason? I can't see any sort of argument that it would be someone else's fault they fell.

That’s a bit if stretch to assume it’s only ‘soft tissue’ aka nothing to worry about when someone ends up out of work for a few weeks.

a freak accident on steps but it’s a broken bone. Honestly didn’t even consider anything like this and questioned whether they had insurance to start with. It’s their own company, so I assume they have loss of earnings covered but I don’t know for sure.
There has been no mention of any legal action yet but just wanted to see where we stand and hopefully alleviate some anxiety about the whole thing

Highly doubt they have loss of earnings covered.

@Anxiousmum73 your cleaner should have an insurance, the same way than let’s say your plumber should have.

It’s up to them to ensure the area they are working in is ‘safe’. Not you.
It could be your responsibility if let’s say you had a wall build outside building regulation and it had fallen onto them. Or the stairs had no bannister.

But even then, as these would be more structural rather than ‘tidying the stairs’ (which I think is your worry), it would be your landlord responsibility I suspect.

More to the point, it’s not the OP’s problem!!

As a self employed person, she has the choice of whether taking an insurrance or not. A client cannot be held responsible for that.
If she is employed with a company, then it’s up the company to look after her.

If you are literally paying her cash, in her hand, and she's not giving you any invoice, she can't take it any further.

I very much doubt a domestic cleaner has loss of earnings cover. It is quite expensive.

Their business insurance will cover damages, thing like spilling bleach or your carpet or knocking a lamp over while hoovering, possibly covers tools and equipment and public liability.

They might have insurance but some people might not bother to insure their earnings though as they don't have to. liability insurance is another matter. Any reason why cash only are they not registered as self employed.

If she does decide to take it further (and I doubt she will) your LL will have liability insurance. Don't worry about it.

Not your problem. It was an accident.

Either she has insurance in which case she can claim against them or, as is more likely, she takes cash, doesn't declare it and doesn't have insurance, in which case she can hardly go to court and say she was a paid cleaner in your home can she?

Ring her up, check how she is, ask if she needs anything. Thats really all thats expected.

I dont think this is your responsibility...as long as your stairs were not obstructed, damaged or wet then I think she has to accept she had an accident.

I do not think you are liable just because she was working at your house. She should surely have insurance or wage protection insurance

I'd do nothing more than message to say hope she feels better soon

Don’t post in legal when you have zero knowledge of the law.

There may be many reasons why she cannot/would not take it further, but her being paid cash in hand is not one of them.You do know it’s not illegal to pay someone in cash? And that a contract can exist without anything being in writing?

OP.

You are required by the Occupiers’ Liability act to take reasonable care to make sure that visitors are safe in the premises that you occupy. This is your responsibility, not that of your landlord, but let’s say that the bannister was defective or a ceiling tile fell in her head- you could say that it was reasonable of you to have expected the landlord to maintain that.

On the other hand, let’s say you had left spilled oil on the painted wooden stairs and the cleaner slipped- that would be on you.

However the cleaner also has to take reasonable care eg not wandering about with headphones on or looking at her phone. If she was not taking care then any award could be reduced/extinguished to reflect contributory negligence.

The insurance your cleaner said she had will be mainly to cover her liability to you eg if she damaged your clothes or furniture, or to your landlord if she damaged a wall or window.

she’s unlikely to have insurance for loss of earnings. But if she does, those insurers could in theory pay out and look to recover from you.

If she has injured herself in a way which means she is permanently disabled or takes such a long time to recover that she can’t work for an extended period she may well look to make a claim. That claim will only succeed against you if you did not take reasonable care. She also has a duty to mitigate her losses eg by taking on a desk job.

People who go to no win no fee lawyers tend not to be advised to proceed unless the defendant (ie you) is insured because the no win no fee people can’t be sure you’ll ever have the money to pay the claim, which is what pays their fees when they take a percentage.

In summary:

1. any visitor to the premises you occupy can claim against you regardless of the fact that you are not the landlord and regardless of why they were there
2. she has to suffer actual losses in order to claim.
3. her own insurance is unlikely to be relevant
4. she probably won’t sue you unless you are insured.
5. if you took reasonable care you can defend on that basis so start making notes now, take photos of the scene etc
6. She also had a duty to take care.

I appreciate the update, and no I wasn't aware at all. It must be lovely up there on your high horse.

@HotCrossBunplease has it correct re occupiers' liability. An example from case law is the burglar who fell off sole scaffolding he was climbing to break into the house, and successfully sued the home owner. However, for liability to arise there has to be something "wrong" with the scaffolding/stairs/whatever. If your cleaner just slipped on the stairs with no obstacle there or other defect with the stairs, you aren't going to be liable for her injury.

Thats a really interesting way to respond. Deflecting.

Mine does.

There may be many reasons why she cannot/would not take it further, but her being paid cash in hand is not one of them.You do know it’s not illegal to pay someone in cash?

Cash in hand is not usually used to mean paying someone in cash, it is paying someone in cash without paying tax and NI either by the employer or the employee if they are self employed.

People can and do sue for any reason they like. Whether they succeed or not is another question but by the time that is resolved costs and inconvenience are incurred which you cannot recover so the Claimant hopes this will incentivise the recipient of the claim to pay something to make it go away