The Supreme Court has unanimously held that where a cause of action accrues at midnight (a “midnight deadline case”) the following day will count towards the calculation of the limitation period for commencing proceedings: Matthew v Sedman [2021] UKSC 19. The judgment provides an important clarification for parties calculating limitation periods in cases where accrual … Read more

The Court of Appeal has found that a defendant creditor could not rely on a limitation defence to a borrower’s claim that its non-disclosure of a very high rate of commission rendered the relationship “unfair” within the meaning of s.140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, as the borrower could establish deliberate concealment to postpone … Read more

The High Court has struck out certain of the claims brought against G4S under section 90A Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), in a judgment which emphasises the risks inherent in issuing complex group litigation shortly before the expiry of an arguable limitation period: Various Claimants v G4S plc [2021] EWHC 524 (Ch). The decision brings … Read more

The Court of Appeal has held that parties seeking to introduce a new claim after the expiry of the relevant limitation period cannot rely on previously struck out pleadings in order to demonstrate that the new claim arose out of substantially the same facts: Libyan Investment Authority v King [2020] EWCA Civ 1690. CPR 17.4(2) … Read more

In the latest decision in the long-running Franked Investment Income (“FII”) Group Litigation, the Supreme Court has held that, for a claim to recover money paid under a mistake of law, the statutory limitation period begins to run when a claimant could with reasonable diligence have discovered the mistake, in the sense of recognising that … Read more

The High Court has held that proceedings were time barred where the claim form was issued in the English courts before the expiry of the applicable Greek limitation period, but was not served until after that period had expired: Pandya v Intersalonika General Insurance Company SA [2020] EWCH 273 (QB). Whether proceedings had been brought … Read more

Two recent decisions illustrate short but important points of practice in relation to limitation. In the first, the High Court found that the six year limitation period for contract claims potentially applies where a party seeks to enforce a settlement under a Tomlin order, even if the claimant does not need to commence a new … Read more

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal held that a stay of proceedings applies to the service of the claim form in the same way that it applies to any other procedural step: Grant v Dawn Meats (UK) [2018] EWCA Civ 2212. Accordingly, the period of a stay will not count towards the timeframe … Read more