Definition of "Trespasser"

Person who enters property without the right to do so. For liability purposes, it has been held that property owners are not responsible for trespassers as long as they do not intentionally trap or injure them. On the other hand, a property owner can be liable for injury to a person who has been invited onto his or her property, including messengers, delivery people, and service people, as well as guests. However, trespassers are very narrowly defined. No one in a public place is considered a trespasser. Likewise, owners of an attractive nuisance have been held liable for injuries to trespassing children. Further, recent interpretations by the courts have sometimes made owners liable for injury to trespassers if the owner was negligent.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Latin phrase meaning "overpowering force"; an unavoidable accident or calamity; an accident for which no one is responsible; an act of god. ...

Dishonest statement to induce an insurance company to write coverage on an applicant. If the company knew the truth, it would not accept the applicant. Fraudulent misrepresentation gives a ...

Technique of breaking down the various losses as a whole into useful components called subsets (strata) so that no subset is overrepresented. The result is the classification of losses ...

Legal recourse available to survivors of a person who suffers a wrongful death. Under common law, only an injured person had the right to sue for damages. If a wrongfully injured person ...

Written statements on a form by a prospective insured about himself, including assets and other personal information. These statements and additional information, such as a medical report, ...

Type of grantor-retained income trust (grit) in which the grantor retains the right to the assets of the trust should he or she die before the term of the trust expires. ...

In a mercantile open-stock burglary insurance policy, the dollar amount of coverage as required by the COINSURANCE clause. This dollar amount is the MAXIMUM PROBABLE LOSS (MPL) of ...

Trust in which assets are controlled through several generations and makes use of generation-skipping tax exemption. ...

The cancellation provision clause appears in an insurance policy to leave a door open for the insurance company or insured to cancel a policy. This type of cancellation applies in instances ...

Popular Insurance Questions