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0845 009 2017
ACCIDENT HELPLINE






THE LIMITATION ACT 1980
UK CLAIMS

Our solicitors will give free advice on The Limitation Act 1980 and are able to pursue or negotiate no win no fee claims on a completely risk free basis anywhere in the UK. You do not have to pay for any expenses as the claim proceeds, compensation is paid in full and win or lose there is no charge. We will give you clear unequivocal advice on your chances of success and the anticipated value of your claim. If you would like to talk to a specialist solicitor who is a member of The Law Society panel of personal injury experts either use the helpline number or just complete and send the contact form. If after talking to us you decide not to take matters further you are under no obligation to do so and you will not be charged anything at all.

In legal actions for claiming compensation for personal injury and loss there is a restriction under the law as to when proceedings must be issued to avoid being out of time. The primary period set by law is three years from the date of the negligence that caused the harm, however in certain cases this primary limit may be extended. The effect of this is that, a potential claimant, in order to preclude being barred from receiving compensation, must either have settled the claim or legal proceedings must have been issued in a court of law on or before the eve of the third anniversary of the accident. There are a number of important exceptions to the three year rule which include the following cases which are not exhaustive of potential applications that may be made under the The Limitation Act 1980:-

  • If the injured person is suffering from mental disability then the time limit does not start to run until mental capacity has returned. If mental capacity never returns then an action for damages can be started at any time in the future even though the primary limit is long past.

  • For minors, that is people who are under the age of 18 years on the date that they were injured the three year period does not start running until the eighteenth birthday. If a legal action for damages has not been commenced in the courts by the expiry of the three year period which starts to run on the potential claimant reaching 18 years old then the opportunity to claim compensation will have been lost unless the minor suffers from mental incapacity. The claim must therefore have been settled or proceedings must effectively have been issued in a court of law on or before the eve of the twenty first birthday.

  • The courts have wide powers to alter the time limits but the occasions on which this discretion is exercised are rare. If your claim appears to have been effected by the limitation statute then you should not hesitate to obtain legal advice as quickly as possible. Numerous claimants have managed to invoke various clauses within the act to rescue claims that are more than three years old.