No Win No Fee Our People About Us Contact Us MAKE A NEW CLAIM 0333 009 8097 TIME LIMITS ON CLAIMS Time Limits on Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Compensation Claims There is a legal time limit for personal injury claims within England and Wales. A claim must be made within three years from the date of the injury, although there are different rules that apply for children, clients lacking mental capacity, criminal injury compensation claims, accidents on aeroplanes and ships. The law requires an injured person to commence Court proceedings within the three year period and not just to consult a Solicitor with a view to proceeding with a claim. Where the child is the injured person the three year limitation period does not begin to run until they reach their 18th birthday. For patients under the Mental Health Act 1983, the time period does not begin until they cease to be a patient under the Act and their legal incapacity is removed. If an adult or a child dies as a result of their accident, bereaved relatives may bring a claim on their behalf within three years of the date of their death. The court is also able to extend the basic three-year limitation period at their discretion if the legal time limit period has expired. They only do so very rarely after examining a case and taking all the circumstances into account. The claim period for criminal assault cases is two years from the date of the incident. In these cases the two year period will not be suspended to start from the 18th birthday of a child. It is the parents or guardians responsibility to make an application for compensation within the two year period. Accidents that occur whilst on board an aeroplane or ship will usually be subject to a shorter time limitation period of 2 years although this can depend on the circumstances. Please note that the time limits above may change and we recommend that you seek legal advice as soon as possible after you have been involved in an accident and while the events are fresh in your mind. REQUEST A CALL Trusted & accredited NEW CLAIM ENQUIRY Complete the form to arrange a call with our Medical Negligence team. A member of our expert team will contact you to discuss your claim. Name * Email * Phone * Brief details of your claim: SUBMIT ENQUIRY Your details will only be used by Sheldon Davidson Solicitors for processing your enquiry and for no other purpose. Contact Us News Careers Privacy Policy Complaints Cookies Sheldon Davidson Solicitors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA No. 519502. Company Registered in England and Wales no. 6958532. ‘Sheldon Davidson Solicitors’, ‘SDS’, and 'Access Claims Solutions' are all trading styles of Sheldon Davidson Solicitors Limited. If you are a client and we have made a contract with you by electronic means, you may be entitled to use an EU online dispute resolution service to assist with any contractual dispute you may have with us. This service can be found here. © Copyright 2021 Sheldon Davidson Solicitors. All Rights Reserved. Web design by Katalysis By continuing to use this website you are agreeing to our use of cookies. OK More information Live Chat