Limitation Act 1980: time limits in UK professional negligence claims

Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director · Last reviewed 2026-09-14

Why limitation matters to a professional firm

Limitation is the rule that decides how long a claimant has to issue proceedings. It does not extinguish the underlying complaint in most cases, but it hands the defendant a complete procedural defence once the clock has run. For a professional firm that question has a direct commercial consequence: the length of the limitation tail is the length of time a firm, or its successor, needs professional indemnity cover in place for work already delivered. It is the single most useful number when deciding how long to buy run-off for.

The governing statute in England and Wales is the Limitation Act 1980. Scotland runs a separate regime under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, and Northern Ireland under the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. The commentary below deals with England and Wales.

The primary periods

• Section 5 - six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued, for an action founded on simple contract. For a professional retainer, accrual is normally the date of the breach itself.
• Section 2 - six years from accrual, for an action founded on tort. In negligence the cause of action does not accrue on breach; it accrues when the claimant first suffers actionable damage, which may be considerably later.
• Section 8 - twelve years where the obligation is contained in a deed. Consultant appointments and collateral warranties in construction are frequently executed as deeds for exactly this reason.
• Section 14A - inserted by the Latent Damage Act 1986. Three years from the date the claimant had the knowledge required to bring an action, where that expires later than the primary six-year period.
• Section 14B - a fifteen-year longstop running from the negligent act or omission, which caps the section 14A extension.
• Section 32 - postpones the start of the clock where the action is based on fraud, where a fact relevant to the right of action has been deliberately concealed, or where the action is for relief from the consequences of a mistake.

Section 33, the court's discretion to disapply the limit, applies to personal injury and fatal accident claims under sections 11 and 12. It is not available in an ordinary professional negligence claim, so a limitation defence in that context is a hard stop rather than a matter of judicial indulgence.

The contract clock and the tort clock run separately

A claimant suing a professional adviser will usually plead breach of contract and negligence together, because the two periods expire on different dates. The contractual period starts on the day the deficient advice was given. The tortious period starts only when measurable loss crystallises. In Nykredit Mortgage Bank plc v Edward Erdman Group Ltd (No 2) [1997] 1 WLR 1627 the House of Lords held that a lender's cause of action against a valuer accrues when the lender is, on a comparison of the actual transaction with the transaction it would have entered on correct advice, measurably worse off. That can be years after the valuation.

The practical effect is that a firm which stopped acting on a matter in 2019 is not necessarily safe in 2026. Practices covered on the surveyors PI pillar and the solicitors PI pillar commonly see notifications arrive well beyond the six-year mark, because the loss only became measurable when a property was sold or a transaction unwound.

What this means for cover

Professional indemnity is written on a claims-made basis, so the policy that responds is the one in force when the claim is made, not the one in force when the work was done. Limitation therefore sets the period over which a firm remains exposed, and the run-off decision should be taken against that period rather than against a round number chosen for convenience. Regulated professions set their own minimum run-off terms on top of the statutory position, and accountants and solicitors sit under materially different requirements.

Apex Insurance Brokers works through the limitation position with a firm before advising on run-off length, rather than defaulting to the shortest permitted term.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952. This entry is general information, not advice on any particular policy.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.