Limitation periods continue to feature prominently in the area of primary limitation and accrual of the cause of action. In respect of the primary limitation period applicable to claims in tort, the Limitation Act 1980 is brief: no claim shall be brought more than six years after the accrual of the claimant’s cause of action. The most important aspect of the enquiry into the date of accrual of a claimant’s cause of action is usually the investigation into when the claimant can first be said to have suffered some actionable damage.
Since 1982, and the decision of the Court of Appeal in Forster v Outred & Co [1982] , the classic enunciation of the test has been that the “actual damage” needed to complete a cause of action in negligence is “any detriment, liability or loss capable of assessment in money terms and it includes liabilities which may arise on a contingency, particularly a contingency over which the plaintiff has no control; things like loss of earning capacity, loss of chance or bargain, loss of profit, losses incurred from onerous provisions or covenants in leases”.
