When does a claim become time-barred? Pick the kind of claim and the date the cause of action accrued, and get the date limitation expires, the last safe day to issue, and how much of the period is already gone.
An unpaid invoice, a car accident, a botched operation, a breach of contract: most claims in England & Wales expires three years after they arise, and once time-barred they cannot be enforced. The calculator gives the date, the last day to issue the claim, how much of the period has already run, and the same answer for every other kind of debt.
Limitation Act 1980, sections 2 to 15, and the postponements in sections 28 and 32.
| Debt | Period | Authority | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple contract (including an unpaid invoice) | 6 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 5 | Six years from the breach. Most fee recoveries, supply and service disputes sit here. |
| Tort other than personal injury (negligence, nuisance, conversion) | 6 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 2 | Six years from the date the damage was suffered, which is when the cause of action accrues in negligence. |
| Personal injury (negligence, nuisance or breach of duty) | 3 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 11 | Three years from accrual or, if later, the claimant’s date of knowledge under s 14. The court may disapply the period under s 33. |
| Fatal accident (dependants’ claim) | 3 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 12 | Three years from the death or the dependant’s date of knowledge, whichever is later. |
| Latent damage in negligence (from knowledge) | 3 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 14A | Three years from the date the claimant knew, or could reasonably have known, the material facts — subject to the fifteen-year longstop in s 14B. |
| Defamation or malicious falsehood | 1 year | Limitation Act 1980 s 4A | One year from publication. The court may disapply the period under s 32A. |
| Claim on a deed (contract under seal) | 12 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 8 | Twelve years for an action on a specialty, which is why guarantees and leases are executed as deeds. |
| Recovery of land | 12 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 15 | Twelve years from the date the right of action accrued. Registered land is governed by the Land Registration Act 2002 instead. |
| Action on a judgment | 6 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 24 | Six years from the date the judgment became enforceable. Enforcement by writ or warrant after six years needs the court’s permission. |
| Contribution between wrongdoers | 2 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 10 | Two years from the judgment, award or settlement that fixed the liability being contributed to. |
| Defective product (Consumer Protection Act 1987) | 3 years | Limitation Act 1980 s 11A | Three years from accrual or knowledge, with an absolute ten-year longstop from the date the product was put into circulation. |
Six years for most claims in contract or tort (Limitation Act 1980 ss 2 and 5): unpaid invoices, damages for breach of contract, professional negligence. Three years for personal injury (s 11). Twelve years on a deed (s 8) or to recover land (s 15). One year for defamation (s 4A).
From the date the cause of action accrues: the breach in contract, the damage in negligence. For personal injury and latent damage, from the claimant’s date of knowledge if that is later (ss 11, 14 and 14A). The 1980 Act says nothing about when the invoice was sent — it is the date the money fell due.
A written acknowledgment or a part payment of a debt restarts the period (ss 29–31). Fraud, deliberate concealment or mistake postpones it until discovery (s 32). A standstill agreement can suspend it by contract. In personal injury the court may disapply the period altogether (s 33). Sending a letter before claim does not stop the clock — only issuing the claim does.
Not until they turn 18. Where the claimant is under a disability when the cause of action accrues, the period runs from the day the disability ends (s 28), so a child injured at ten has until their twenty-first birthday for a personal injury claim.
The day before the anniversary on which the period completes. If a contract was breached on 10 March 2024, six years completes on 10 March 2030, so the claim form should be issued at court by 9 March 2030 — and served within four months of issue (CPR 7.5).
Yes. SolicitorOS keeps a firm-wide limitation register, flags every open matter with no limitation date and turns amber at 90 days and red at 30. It starts with a 7-day free trial and no card.
Once the period runs, the claim cannot be enforced. A listed solicitor can issue the claim or secure an acknowledgement of liability before the date.
Find a solicitor to act nowA firm-wide limitation register, every matter with no date flagged, amber at 90 days and red at 30, on the dashboard and the matter.