Harper James advises businesses on commercial disputes under the laws of England and Wales, including the deadlines that apply before a claim is issued. A limitation period is the time within which a claimant must start court proceedings, subject to specific statutory rules, contractual terms and procedural requirements.
For many commercial claims based on a simple contract, the usual limitation period is six years from the date the cause of action arose. A claim on a contract executed as a deed generally has a 12-year limitation period. Claims in tort, such as negligence causing financial loss, usually have a six-year period from the date of the wrongful act or resulting damage, depending on the legal basis of the claim. These are general rules, not universal deadlines.
Other claims have different periods. A claim for damage caused by negligence involving latent damage has a special three-year period from the claimant's date of knowledge, subject to a 15-year longstop in many cases. Personal injury claims generally have a three-year limit, defamation claims one year, and contribution claims between parties commonly two years from the relevant judgment, award or settlement. Statutes governing particular sectors, insolvency claims and arbitration can impose different rules.
The starting point is identifying when the cause of action accrued, which is not always the date an invoice became overdue or the business first noticed a loss. The contract should also be checked for notice provisions, shorter claim periods, escalation procedures, expert determination or arbitration clauses. A party may lose its contractual rights by failing to give notice within the agreed period, even where the statutory limitation period has not expired.
Businesses should preserve the contract, correspondence, invoices, delivery records, meeting notes and evidence of loss as soon as a dispute appears. A limitation period is not extended simply because the parties are negotiating. In some cases, a written standstill agreement records an extension, while issuing protective proceedings may be necessary. The court can also apply procedural sanctions where a claim is issued in time but served or progressed incorrectly, so calculating the deadline and planning the pre-action steps should be treated as separate tasks.