The House of Lords has recently given judgment for the first time on Section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980. This decision is likely to be of particular importance for professional negligence claims.
The normal limitation period for negligence claims is six years running from the date when the cause of action accrues. S14A provides an alternative three-year limitation period for negligence claims (other than for personal injury) starting from the date on which the claimant first had the knowledge, or could with reasonable diligence have acquired the knowledge, required to bring an action in respect of the relevant damage. S14A(9) specifies knowledge that any act or omission did, as a matter of law, involve negligence is irrelevant. The House of Lords in Haward v Fawcetts addressed the issue of exactly what knowledge the claimant must have before the three-year period under S14A starts to run.
