diff --git a/src/settings.py b/src/settings.py
index 3907dab..09a53c9 100644
--- a/src/settings.py
+++ b/src/settings.py
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ def load_settings() -> dict:
         if not isinstance(saved, dict):
             raise ValueError("settings must be an object")
         merged = {**DEFAULT_SETTINGS, **saved}
-    except (FileNotFoundError, json.JSONDecodeError, ValueError):
+    except (FileNotFoundError, PermissionError, json.JSONDecodeError, ValueError):
         merged = dict(DEFAULT_SETTINGS)
     _settings_cache = (now, merged)
     return merged
diff --git a/tests/test_settings_error_paths.py b/tests/test_settings_error_paths.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c289b4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_settings_error_paths.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""Error-path tests for src/settings.py load_settings().
+
+Covers the fallback-to-defaults behaviour when the settings file is
+missing, corrupt, or unreadable — including the PermissionError case
+that was previously uncaught and would crash the app.
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+_TMP = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="odysseus-settings-test-"))
+os.environ.setdefault("DATA_DIR", str(_TMP))
+os.environ.setdefault("DATABASE_URL", f"sqlite:///{_TMP / 'app.db'}")
+
+PROJECT_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+if str(PROJECT_ROOT) not in sys.path:
+    sys.path.insert(0, str(PROJECT_ROOT))
+
+
+def _fresh_load(settings_path, content=None):
+    """Write content to settings_path, clear cache, and call load_settings()."""
+    import src.settings as s
+
+    if content is not None:
+        settings_path.write_text(content, encoding="utf-8")
+
+    # Force cache invalidation so each test reads fresh from disk.
+    s._settings_cache = None
+    with patch.object(s, "SETTINGS_FILE", str(settings_path)):
+        return s.load_settings()
+
+
+def test_missing_file_returns_defaults(tmp_path):
+    """FileNotFoundError → defaults, no crash."""
+    import src.settings as s
+    missing = tmp_path / "nonexistent_settings.json"
+    s._settings_cache = None
+    with patch.object(s, "SETTINGS_FILE", str(missing)):
+        result = s.load_settings()
+    assert isinstance(result, dict)
+    assert result == {**s.DEFAULT_SETTINGS, **result}  # superset of defaults
+
+
+def test_corrupted_json_returns_defaults(tmp_path):
+    """Invalid JSON → defaults, no crash."""
+    result = _fresh_load(tmp_path / "settings.json", content="{not valid json")
+    import src.settings as s
+    assert result == {**s.DEFAULT_SETTINGS, **result}
+
+
+def test_wrong_type_returns_defaults(tmp_path):
+    """JSON array instead of object → defaults, no crash."""
+    result = _fresh_load(tmp_path / "settings.json", content="[1, 2, 3]")
+    import src.settings as s
+    assert result == {**s.DEFAULT_SETTINGS, **result}
+
+
+def test_permission_error_returns_defaults(tmp_path):
+    """PermissionError on unreadable file → defaults, no crash.
+
+    Pre-fix: PermissionError was not in the except tuple, so it would
+    propagate and crash any code path that calls load_settings() at
+    startup or request time.
+    """
+    import src.settings as s
+    settings_path = tmp_path / "settings.json"
+    settings_path.write_text('{"theme": "dark"}', encoding="utf-8")
+
+    s._settings_cache = None
+    with patch.object(s, "SETTINGS_FILE", str(settings_path)):
+        # Simulate unreadable file by patching open() to raise PermissionError.
+        with patch("builtins.open", side_effect=PermissionError("Permission denied")):
+            result = s.load_settings()
+
+    assert isinstance(result, dict), "Should return defaults dict, not raise"
+    assert result == {**s.DEFAULT_SETTINGS, **result}
+
+
+def test_valid_settings_merged_with_defaults(tmp_path):
+    """Valid file → custom values merged over defaults."""
+    import src.settings as s
+    result = _fresh_load(
+        tmp_path / "settings.json",
+        content=json.dumps({"theme": "dark", "web_search_enabled": True}),
+    )
+    assert result["theme"] == "dark"
+    assert result["web_search_enabled"] is True
+    # Defaults still present for keys not in file.
+    for key in s.DEFAULT_SETTINGS:
+        assert key in result