INJURY CLAIM TIME LIMITS

Accident Compensation Claim - Time Limits For Personal Injury

There are time limits on almost all claims for damages within the UK. The general rule is that a personal injury compensation claim must have either been settled or proceedings must have been issued in a court of law within three years of the incident that caused the injury failing which the claim will be statute barred and the opportunity to claim compensation will generally have been lost forever.

Limitation Statute - Time Limit Exceptions for Personal Injury

There are some qualifications to the general 3 year rule. Time only starts to run when an injury is discovered or should have been discovered with reasonable diligence. As an example exposure to asbestos fibres can cause cancer over 30 years later. In this case time does not start to run from the point of exposure but from the point of professional diagnosis. These exceptions are rare in accident cases and mainly apply to medical negligence claims and industrial disease cases.

Statute of Limitation – Minors & Mentally Incapacitated

There are other exceptions that you should be aware of if you intend considering making a claim after the three year rule expires :-

• In the event that you were under 18 years old (16 years old in Scotland) when the accident took place then the three year time period starts running from the date of your 18th birthday (16th birthday in Scotland).
• Time does not run against those who are mentally incapacitated until such time as the person regains full mental capacity.

No Win No Fee Compensation Claims

If you have suffered personal injury in an accident you should consult a solicitor as soon as possible. In order to make a compensation claim the accident must usually have occurred within the last three years and have been caused as a result of negligence by another person. Many solicitors offer a no win no fee service which minimises the individual’s financial risk however the no win no fee scheme offered by this firm goes much further and can be summed up as 'win or lose no charge - compensation paid in full'. If you use our claims service there is no financial risk whatsoever and you are paid 100% of your compensation with no deductions.