Limitation Period For Injury Claims – How Long Do I Have To Claim?

When starting a personal injury claim, you may not know that there is a limitation period for injury claims that you must adhere to. This is the amount of time you have to begin legal proceedings. If you try and start your claim outside of this limitation period, you may be time-barred and be unable to receive compensation.

Within this helpful guide, we will inform you how long you have to begin a personal injury compensation claim, including the exceptions that apply to this time limit. Following this, we will discuss whether your claim needs to be completed within this limitation period. Finally, we will discuss how an expert solicitor from our panel could help you with making a personal injury claim within this time limit on a No Win No Fee basis.

If you have any questions while reading this guide or would like to discuss your case, you can contact a member of our advisory team:

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Browse Our Guide

  1. What Is The Limitation Period For Injury Claims?
  2. Are There Exceptions To The Limitation Period For Injury Claims?
  3. Does My Personal Injury Claim Need To Finish Within The Time Limit?
  4. Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Personal Injury Claim
  5. Read More About Personal Injury Claims

What Is The Limitation Period For Injury Claims?

So, what is the limitation period for injury claims? Regardless of whether you are making a personal injury claim for an accident at work, a road traffic accident or an accident in a public place, you have three years to begin your claim. This runs from the date the accident took place, as stated within the Limitation Act 1980.

To see whether you could be eligible to make a personal injury claim, and also whether you are within the time limit to begin the claiming process, you can contact one of our friendly advisors.

Are There Exceptions To The Limitation Period For Injury Claims?

While the limitation period for injury claims is usually three years, there are exceptional circumstances that you should be aware of.

Claims Involving Children

If your child has been injured in an accident, such as a car accident, they are not able to make a claim for themself until they turn 18. From this date, they will have three years to begin the claiming process.

During the time prior to their 18th birthday, you could apply to the courts to be appointed as their litigation friend. As their litigation friend, you would be eligible to begin a claim on their behalf. You would be expected to act in their best interests.

Claims Involving Those Who Lack The Mental Capacity

Those who lack the mental capacity to manage their own claim, either due to their injury or prior to the accident occurring, will have the limitation period suspended indefinitely.

A litigation friend could act on their behalf and make a compensation claim for them.

However, should the person regain the required mental capacity, they will have three years to begin their own claim from the date they recovered this capacity.

Fatal Accident Claims

Should you ever lose a loved one due to an accident due to someone else’s negligent actions, you may be able to make a fatal accident claim. If you have an eligible case, there is also a limitation period that must be adhered to.

This is three years, and can either run from the date of death or the date of knowledge. This can be formed on the date of an inquest or postmortem.

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Does My Personal Injury Claim Need To Finish Within The Time Limit?

In addition to wondering, ‘What is the limitation period for injury claims?’, you may also be asking, ‘Does my claim also need to be completed within this time limit?’.

The quick answer is no. Your personal injury claim does not need to be completed within three years, it just needs to have been started within this time.

Various factors can affect how long your claim takes to complete, such as:

  • The type of accident you were in.
  • What injuries you suffered, their severity and whether you have completely recovered from them yet?
  • Whether the defendant accepts liability or not.
  • Whether the claim has to go to court.

To discuss your case, or ask any questions about the personal injury claims process, you can contact our advisors.

Contact Us To See If You Can Make A Personal Injury Claim

If you have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, you can contact our advisors to see whether you may have an eligible personal injury claim. If they do, they may connect you with one of the solicitors on our panel.

Our panel of solicitors offer decades of industry-leading experience in personal injury claims. They can offer various services to you, such as:

  • Help with gathering evidence to support your case.
  • Ensuring your case is filed within the limitation period for injury claims.
  • Communicating with the defending party.
  • Negotiating your compensation settlement that accounts for your injuries (general damages) and subsequent financial losses (special damages).

Additionally, the solicitors on our panel can offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. This means you wouldn’t have to pay them for their services:

  • Upfront
  • As the claim progresses
  • If your claim fails

If your claim is a success you will pay a success fee to your solicitor. This fee is a legally limited percentage taken from your compensation.

To talk to our advisors today, you can:

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Read More About Personal Injury Claims

To learn more about personal injury claims, you can read our following guides:

Additional resources:

Thank you for reading our guide on the limitation period for injury claims.