Time limit on personal injury claims to be extended in Scotland - 02/04/2008

Proposals have been made by the Scottish Law Commission (SLC) to make the time limit on personal injury claims longer. The commission intends to extend the time a personal injury claim can take from 3 years to 5 years. The reasons the commission cites for wanting the reform focus heavily on helping those who are claiming for occupational diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

A prominent Scottish commercial law firm called DWF disagrees with the commissions plans saying that these decisions are “out of kilter with other developments which will have the effect of speeding up cases.” Under new proposals in the UK, insurance companies will have less time to settle a claim. This is the exact opposite of what is being proposed by the SLC.

In an interview with Insurance Daily the law firm added: “There will always be the odd case where the limitation period is an issue, where a claimant has delayed instructing lawyers, or where insurers can’t be traced at first and are found only much later. However these would be so rare that legislating for them beyond the court’s existing discretionary powers to waive limitation, in the context of a disease case is inappropriate.”