Claiming Personal Injury Compensation? Watch out for that Time Bar
If you want to pursue a claim for personal injury, the Court of Session in Edinburgh recently highlighted the importance raising a court action within the correct time limit.
The law relating to the time limits for an action to be raised has been in place since 1973. Section 17 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets out the time limit for raising an action for compensation where someone has been injured and Section 18 covers the position where someone has died.
The general rule of thumb when making a claim is that if a court action is needed, it must be raised within 3 years of the date of the accident.
However, there are certain types of claim where the time limit for raising the action is limited by other legislation. In this particular case, the time limit was 2 years instead of the normal 3 years.
This case concerned an action by the widow of a scuba diving enthusiast, Lex Warner. On 11th August 2012, he chartered a boat to pursue his hobby and, three days later, lost his life. It was claimed Mr Warner had fallen on board the vessel and had injured himself. Despite that, the instructors employed by the Defenders, Scapa Flow Charters, apparently allowed him to proceed with his dive where he got into serious difficulties. Mrs Warner claimed that the instructors’ negligence had led to her husband’s death.
The action was raised in the Court of Session on 14th May 2015 which, in terms of the 1973 legislation, is within the 3-year time limit.
The Pursuer and Defender agreed that the terms of the Athens Convention applied. The Athens Convention declares a carrier liable for damage or loss suffered by a passenger if the incident causing the damage occurred in the course of the carriage and was due to the fault or neglect of the carrier. You can view the Athens Convention by clicking here. Lord Boyd, in his judgement, explains that “Any action for damages arising out of the death of or personal injury to a passenger or for the loss of or damage to luggage shall be time-barred after a period of two years”. Having made such a determination, then dismissed the action as being time barred.
If you do have an accident and wish to claim compensation, it pays to make sure you examine all aspects of the law relating to it. You should not simply assume that UK law is the only law that applies. You can read the judgement in full by clicking here.
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