December 22, 2022
The Limitation Act 1980 (as amended) sets out various limitation periods, which are the periods of time within which a party can issue legal proceedings in England and Wales to prevent the claim from becoming time-barred.
If the limitation period has expired, you are entitled to commence a claim however, the general rule is that the Defendant will have a complete defence. Therefore, it is pivotal that claims are issued within these fixed periods.
Limitation periods vary depending on the type of claim involved and the circumstances of each case. For most claims in contract or tort, the limitation period is six years from the date of the cause of action. However, to prevent Defendant’s being indefinitely open to the risk of proceedings being issued against them, there is a long-stop limitation period of 15 years from the date of the alleged breach of duty under s14B Limitation Act 1980.
Limitation periods in England and Wales
The general rules for limitation periods are set out below;
- Claims regarding a contract (excluding personal injury): the statutory limitation period is six years from the date of the breach of contract.
- Contractual limitation: it is important to check whether a contractual limitation period has been specified in the contract as this may be a shorter period than the statutory limitation of six years.
- Action to recover land: the limitation period is 12 years from the cause of action accrued. However, if a case is brought by the Crown, the limitation period is extended to 30 years.
- Action to recover rent: the limitation period is six years from the date rent arrears become due.
- Enforcing judgement: the limitation period to enforce a judgment is six years from the date upon which the judgement becomes enforceable.
- Tort (excluding personal injury and latent damage): the limitation period is six years from the date the damage is suffered.
- Negligence (in respect of latent damage): the limitation period expires either six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued or three years from the date on which the Claimant had the requisite knowledge of the damage. However, this is subject to an overriding time limit of 15 years, regardless of when the damage was discovered.
- Action under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (damage caused by defective products): the limitation period is three years from the date the damage is suffered, or the date of knowledge of the Claimant, whichever is later. However, there is an overriding time limit of 10 years from the date on which the defective product was supplied.
- Personal injury/death: the limitation period is three years from the date the damage occurred or the Claimant’s knowledge of the damage, whichever is later. However, the Court has discretion to exclude this time limit.
- Defamation/slander/malicious falsehood: the limitation period is one year from the date of publication of the defamatory act.
Exceptions
There are some causes of action which are not subject to a limitation period, for example, actions for fraudulent breach of trust or actions to recover trust property/proceeds of trust property from the trustee.
If you are unsure about the limitation period which may apply to your claim, we strongly recommend that you seek legal advice as soon as possible and a member of our Dispute Resolution team would be happy to provide further advice.
Wallace Robinson & Morgan Limited are based in Solihull & Dorridge and serve clients across Birmingham and the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and further afield. Our team of Dispute Resolution Lawyers are happy to help if you have any queries regarding the limitation period in your matter and/or you would like advice in issuing or defending a claim. If you would like to discuss your matter, please call 0121 705 7571 and ask to speak to a member of the Dispute Resolution team or email us at litigation@wallacerobinson.co.uk
This article is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute technical, financial, legal advice or any other type of professional advice and is no substitute for specific advice based on your individual circumstances. We do not accept responsibility or liability for any actions taken based on the information in this article. For more information, please click here.
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