Last updated 15th September 2025. If you have been injured in an accident due to someone breaching the duty of care they owed, you may be eligible to make a personal injury care. A duty of care is a legal responsibility to reasonably ensure someone’s safety. You are owed a duty of care while at work, in public places and on the roads, for example. It is important that you begin any personal injury compensation claim as soon as possible. This is because personal injury claims are subject to a limitation period. In this guide we explain what the personal injury claim limitation period is.

Additionally, we look at examples of exceptional circumstances in which the time limit differs or isn’t applicable. Next, we look at what the fatal accident claims limitation period is. Finally, we look at whether your claim must finish in this period and how a No Win No Fee solicitor could help you.

If you are ready to make a compensation claim, please contact our team.

• You can call us now on 0800 073 8804
• You can use the live support chat on this page.
• Or, start a claim online by completing our ‘Contact Us‘ form.

What Is The Personal Injury Claim Limitation Period?

As highlighted in our introduction, when starting a personal injury claim, there is a time limit in which to do so. This is often called the limitation period. The limitation period for personal injury claims is set out in The Limitation Act 1980. In most cases, this time limit is three years.

The three-year limitation period will begin on the date that you suffered your accident that injured you.

In addition to this, there are cases where the limitation period may differ or not be applicable. These exceptional circumstances are explored in the next part of our guide.

Check whether you are within the relevant personal injury claim limitation period by contacting one of our advisors today.

Are There Exceptions To The Personal Injury Claim Limitation Period?

Whilst above we explained that the (general) personal injury time limit is three years, there are exceptions to this. In regards to personal injury claims, there are two main exceptions to the three-year time limit. These are for accidents involving children or where those with a reduced mental capacity.

• Child accident claims. If a child has been injured in an accident, they are unable to start their own claim until they turn 18.
• Mental capacity. If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to make a claim on their own behalf, the time limit is suspended completely. They could only begin their own proceedings if they were to regain this capacity.

In either case where the claimant is unable to begin their own claim, one could be made on their behalf by a litigation friend. You can either apply to or be appointed by the courts as a litigation friend. This needs to be an adult who has the claimants best interests in mind.

A litigation friend may be a parent, relative or family friend or personal injury solicitor, for example.

For more information on how long you have to claim on behalf of someone else, please contact our team.

What Is The Time Limit When Claiming For Fatal Accidents?

A fatal accident claim could be made if someone suffered a fatal injury due to a liable party breaching their duty of care that they owed.

The three year limitation period does (generally) still apply to fatal accident claims. However, this time limit can either star from:

• The date that death occurred.
• 3 years from the date of either a post-mortem or an inquest. This is called the date of knowledge.

To see whether you may be able to make a fatal accident claim for either the deceased’s pain and suffering or for how the death has impacted you, contact our advisors.

Does My Personal Injury Claim Have To Finish Within The Limitation Period?

As we have stated, you must begin your claim within the personal injury limitation period.

However, this does not mean that your claim must be completed within this time. Some personal injury claims may be more complex and take longer to conclude. For example, if the other party does not except liability or your injuries have not yet finished healing, this can affect how long it takes your claim to settle.

In such cases, it may not be possible to conclude a case within the personal injury claim limitation period. As long as you have issued proceedings within this time, your claim can be finished outside of it.

You can find out more about how to claim and about the personal injury claims process by contacting one of our advisors.

How Long Does The Average Personal Injury Claim Take To Settle?

While we can tell you what the set personal injury claim limitation period is, we cannot give you a set average time for how long a personal injury claim can take to settle. This is because the length of personal injury claims depends on the specific circumstances of the case. 

Some factors that can influence the time it takes for a personal injury claim to settle include:

• How severe your injuries are. The more severe, the more likely your claim will take longer to settle. 
• How quickly the defendant responds to communications. 
• Whether the defendant accepts liability right away for your injuries or not. 
• How long it takes for all of your evidence to be gathered. 
• Whether the claim goes to court or not (while this is unlikely, this can delay the claims process from concluding).

If you connect with one of our solicitors within the personal injury claims time limit, then they will ensure that the claims process is as efficient as can be. Because they have numerous years of experience in winning personal injury claims, your claim will be in the best hands, and they will do their best to make the claims process as quick and easy for you as possible.

What Other Time Limits Are There?

Depending on the type of accident and where it took place, personal injury claim time limits can sometimes differ. Don’t worry, we’ve provided some examples below for you to have a look at:

Accidents On Boats Or Aircrafts

The personal injury claim limitation period for accidents that happen on boats or aircraft is typically 2 years. Notably, these accident locations require the intervention of the Athens Convention for boats and the Montreal Convention in the case of air travel. It’s important to note here that the legislation around boats and aircraft can be tricky to navigate, and we highly encourage you to get in touch with our team, who can help translate the more complex side of things.

Accidents Abroad

Package Holidays: The Package Holiday Regulations state that as long as your trip qualifies as a ‘package holiday’ by satisfying the eligibility criteria, then you can start a personal injury claim within the typical 3-year time limit.

Non-Package Holidays: Non-package Holidays tend to be more complicated as injuries are not covered by the Package Holiday Regulations. Instead, they are subject to the limitation periods in the country where the injury occurred. Please note that the limitation periods outside of England and Wales can be much shorter, so it’s important that you start your personal injury claim as quickly as possible.

These are just a few examples of the different types of limitation periods that exist. For a more in-depth discussion of the time limit for personal injury claims, please speak to our expert team today.

Claim For Personal Injuries On A No Win No Fee Basis

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are within the personal injury claim limitation period, you may wish to work with a solicitor. Our solicitors are experienced in handling many different types of personal injury compensation claims.

They may be able to handle your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). A CFA is a type of No Win No Fee agreement. It is a way for a solicitor to work on a case within the need for claimants to make either an upfront or ongoing payment for this work. Additionally, if your claim is not successful, you will not need to pay for your solicitor’s services.

However, if you are awarded compensation, your solicitor will deduct a success fee from this. The success fee is calculated as a percentage of your compensation. What percentage solicitors will take is legally limited. Your solicitor will also discuss this with you before working on your claim.

If you still have questions about the time limit for personal injury claims or how much compensation you could claim, please contact our team.

• Use the live support to talk to our team.
• Complete our ‘Contact Us‘ form to begin a claim online.
• You can call us now on 0800 073 8804

Read More About Personal Injury Cases

Read more guides by us:

• Learn more about the time limit for accident at work claims in this guide.
• The car accident claim time limit is explained in this comprehensive guide.
• You can claim compensation for financial losses. Check your eligibility to claim for special damages in this comprehensive guide.

External resources:

• Read more about how to provide first aid after an accident in this guide from the NHS.
• If you have had to take time off work, you can check your entitlement to Statutory Sick Pay in this government resource.
• If the injured person is not able to make decisions on their own behalf under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, you could act on their behalf.

Thank you for reading our guide to the personal injury claim limitation period.