Template:M intro contract Limitation Act: Difference between revisions

The [[Limitation Act 1980]], known fondly as the [[statute of limitations]], is a piece of UK legislation dealing with limitations on legal claims under {{tag|contract}}s, {{tag|tort}} and so on.  

====Torts and simple contracts====

The limitation period for torts and [[simple contract]]s (those that are not [[specialities]], of insurance contracts, demand loans and so on) is six years. But see below as to the significance of the accrual of the cause of action. It is different between torts and contracts. About those, and that curious expression “[[simple contract]]s”:

Where — Section 6 — the contract is a [[loan]] without a defined repayment date — for example, we think, a [[deposit]] — then (contrary to popular wisdom and ancient cases<ref>{{cite1|Re Brown’s Estate|1893|2Ch|300}}</ref>) the [[cause of action]] does not accrue immediately upon deposit, but only upon a demand in writing for repayment.  

Hence, banks have a perennial problem with “gone away” clients to whom they still owe money. The limitation period on a deposit account never starts to run if the depositor never tries to withdraw the money. If the depositor is whereabouts unknown, this money can be trapped indefinitely on the balance sheet, since there is no one there to demand it. Hence the [[Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008]] regime where banks can transfer the cash (and associated liability) away to charitable purposes.

====Defamation and malicious falsehood====

For what it is worth, no action can be brought after the expiration of '''one year''' from the date on which the cause of action accrued.