Time Limits on Civil Claims
Being successful in Civil Litigation is not only about having a good case. A good case can be lost because of a failure to know your limitations. We already spoke about knowing your cause of action before you file a civil claim. However, you must know that a cause of action has a “shelf life”. Every cause of action has a time-limit. These time limits are established by statute. These limits are referred to as the ‘statute of limitations’. In Barbados, that statute is the Limitation of Actions Act, Cap. 231. https://www.barbadoslawcourts.gov.bb/assets/content/pdfs/statutes/LimitationofActionsCAP231.pdf
Personal Injury Claims
If you do not know your limitations, your cause of action can fail even before you begin. Let’s look at a personal injury claim. The statute of limitations on a personal injury claim in Barbados is three years. Therefore, a person who has been injured because of the actions of someone else has three years from the date of the injury to file a claim in the civil court. That three year period is referred to as the “limitation period”.
Any claim filed outside of that limitation period is unlawful. Fortunately, there are exceptions to every rule but under normal circumstances, your personal injury claim must be filed within the limitation period.
List of Limitation Periods
Here is a list of the usual cause of actions and the corresponding time limits:
- Tort (Negligence, nuisance…)-Six years
- Breach of simple contract (hire purchase)-Six years
- Breach of specialty contract (mortgage)-Twelve years
- Personal Injury-Three years
When you know your limitations you are better positioned to instruct an Attorney-at-Law to file your claim in a timely manner. If you have a good case and you know your limitations then your chances of succeeding are greatly increased.