If you’ve heard advertisements asking you whether you’ve had an accident in the last three years you might be forgiven for thinking that, once this deadline has passed, you are barred from claiming. However, there are exceptions to this rule:
Claims for children
In claims where a child is the injured party, the three year period does not begin to run until the date of the child’s 18th birthday. This could mean that a parent, or another adult on the child’s behalf could make a claim for an injury which happened, say, at the time of the child’s birth (for example, through negligent medical care before or during the birth) up to 21 years after that birth. There are some very rare instances where the 3 year period does not apply to children.
Claims for “protected parties”
A protected party is a person who does not have sufficient mental capacity, either through handicap or illness, to bring a claim in their own right. Such a person will be unable to make decisions relating to the claim as they are unable to understand the information relevant to the decision, retain that information and communicate their decision. A relative or other responsible adult would bring the claim on the injured party’s behalf as a “litigation friend”. In such cases the three year period does not apply, so a claim can be brought at any time after the injury occurred.
Claims following the death of an injured person
In a claim involving injury to a person who has died either as a result of that injury or subsequently, the three year period will run from the date of the person’s death, rather than the date of the injury. This has the effect of extending the deadline by up to a further three years.
Some claims involving negligent medical care
In circumstances where a person suffers an injury as a result of negligent medical treatment but is unaware of that injury, and thus the possibility of making a claim, at the time the injury occurs, then the three year period will start to run from the injured person’s “date of knowledge”, ie the first date on which he/she becomes aware of the injury.
In cases involving an injury which happened some years ago, it is sometimes difficult to locate medical records and other useful evidence, so it is advisable to consult a solicitor as soon as you believe there might be a claim. That having been said, the rules surrounding preservation of medical records usually ensure that these can be tracked down, even many years after an incident has taken place.