Time Limit for Personal Injuries Claims Ireland

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It is important that you act promptly in a personal injuries * matter as there are strict time limits within which you can commence proceedings.

Can I claim for a personal injury after 3 years?

Generally speaking, the time limit to issue legal proceedings is two years from the date that you know you are injured as a result of an accident.  In the majority of circumstances this is two years from the date of the accident.

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There are some exceptions to this rule :

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• If you are a minor, for example, then the two year period does not commence until your 18th birthday.

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• In the case of those who are mentally incapacitated the two year period does not start running until full mental  capacity is regained meaning that in many cases time never starts to run and the potential claimant can start legal action many years after the alleged negligent incident.

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• In circumstances where you do not know you have been injured for some time and you have taken all reasonable steps to ascertain if you are injured or not, then the two year period may not start running until such time as you have found out that you are injured.  For example exposure to asbestos can take up to 20/30 years for the injury to become apparent in some cases.

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Personal injury guidelines guidelines 2021 Ireland

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Once an application is lodged with the Injuries Board, the two year period is temporarily stopped for the period of time the application is with the Injuries Board and for six months after it has been released by the Injuries Board.

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It should be noted that there are other time limits which should be met in relation to a personal injuries claim. For instance, under the Courts and Civil Liability Act 2004 a claimant must notify a defendant within two months of the date of an accident where he is aware that he has been injured as a result of the accident.

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Time Limit for Personal Injuries Claims Ireland

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To give a working example:

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If we assume, for example, that “John” had an accident on the 1st of July 2008. John contacted his solicitor who made an application to the Injuries Board Ireland that was deemed received and complete on the 1st October 2008 (3 months after the date that the accident had occurred). The claim remained in the Injuries Board Ireland  until the 1st of July 2009 when it was released by way of Authorisation. The limitation period starts to run again 6 months later on the 1st of April 2010. A further period of one year and nine months remains (3 months of the two-year limitation period already having expired before the Injuries Board Ireland application was lodged) and so the limitation period for John’s claim will expire on the 31st of December 2011 (being the day before 1st of January 2012; i.e., 1 year and 9 months from the 6 month period).

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If we assume that “John” had an accident on the 1st of July 2010. John contacted his solicitor who made an application to the Injuries Board Ireland that was deemed received and complete on the 1st October 2010 (3 months after the date that the accident had occurred). The claim remained in the Injuries Board Ireland  until the 1st of July 2011 when it was released by way of Authorisation. The limitation period starts to run again 6 months later on the 1st of January 2012. A further period of one year and nine months remains (3 months of the two-year limitation period already having expired before the Injuries Board Ireland application was lodged) and before the limitation period for John’s claim will expire.

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All this might sound complicated however you should remember that you will not need to worry about the statute of limitations if you engage a solicitor through our website as soon as possible after an accident to ensure all relevant parties are notified of your injuries and to process your claim without delay.

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* In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement. This statement is made in compliance with Reg.8 of SI 518 of 2002.

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*First published March 26, 2013