SQE1 · FLK1 · Dispute Resolution
Pre-action conduct and limitation — SQE1 DR question
A worked single-best-answer question on pre-action conduct and limitation, with why each wrong option is wrong — the way SQE1 traps candidates.
Pre-action conduct and limitation
Priya was born on 5 June 2008. On 1 August 2019 she was knocked off her bicycle by a car driven negligently by Owen and suffered a fractured leg. Her parents never brought a claim on her behalf. Priya, who has full mental capacity, instructs a solicitor in October 2026 and wishes to claim damages for her injuries from Owen.
Which of the following best describes the time within which Priya must issue proceedings?
- AHer claim became time-barred on 1 August 2022, three years after the accident, unless the court exercises its discretion to disapply the time limit.
- BShe has six years from the date of the accident, as the claim is founded on tort.
- CShe has three years from the date on which she first instructed a solicitor, as that is when she acquired the relevant knowledge.
- DShe has three years from her eighteenth birthday, so proceedings must be issued by her twenty-first birthday in June 2029.
- EShe has six years from her eighteenth birthday, because a minor's claim is not subject to the personal injury time limit.
Show answer and reasoning
D is the best answer. A personal injury claim must normally be brought within three years of the date of accrual or the date of knowledge (Limitation Act 1980, s 11). Where the claimant is under a disability, which includes being a minor, time does not run until the disability ends (s 28). Priya's three-year period therefore began when she turned eighteen on 5 June 2026.
Rule: For a child claimant in personal injury, the three-year limitation period does not begin to run until the child reaches eighteen.
- A Time does not run against a minor, so the claim did not become time-barred three years after the accident and s 33 is not needed. (wrong rule)
- B Personal injury claims in negligence are subject to the three-year period in s 11, not the general six-year tort period in s 2. (wrong rule)
- C Date of knowledge depends on knowledge of the injury, its attribution to the defendant and his identity, not on when a solicitor is instructed. (wrong rule)
- E Section 28 postpones the start of the ordinary three-year personal injury period; it does not substitute a six-year period. (wrong rule)
Source: Limitation Act 1980, ss 11, 28 and 38(2)