Prescription and time limits: why waiting can cost you your claim
Claims expire. Some quietly, some quickly, and some in ways that surprise people — notice periods for state defendants, special RAF rules, and the narrow exceptions. Why 'I'll deal with it later' is the most expensive sentence in personal injury law.
In South African law, claims prescribe: after a defined period, the right to claim is extinguished. Prescription does not care how strong the merits were. It is the one issue in personal injury law where delay alone — nothing else — loses the case.
The uncomfortable variety of deadlines
- Many ordinary claims prescribe after three years — but that is a starting point, not a rule you should rely on.
- Claims against organs of state — municipalities, provincial departments, public hospitals, state entities — generally require written notice within months of the incident, long before prescription itself.
- Road Accident Fund claims follow their own statutory time limits, and hit-and-run claims (unidentified drivers) have shorter ones.
- Aviation and international-carriage claims can be governed by convention time limits that differ from all of the above.
When the clock starts — and pauses
Prescription generally runs from when the claim arises, but the details matter: knowledge of the harm and of the responsible party can affect the start, and the running of prescription can be delayed or interrupted in defined circumstances — for example for minors, or when a claim is formally pursued. These are narrow, technical rules. They rescue some late claims and give false comfort to others. Only an assessment of the specific facts can say which.
The practical rule
Treat every potential claim as urgent until an attorney tells you otherwise, in writing, with the actual dates of your matter in front of them. Getting advice early costs a conversation. Getting it late can cost the claim.
This article deliberately avoids stating specific periods as advice: which limits apply, and from when they run, depends on the type of claim and its facts. This website cannot determine or preserve legal deadlines. If in doubt, contact an attorney now rather than later.
About this article. General legal information for South Africa, current at the last review date shown above. It is not legal advice, it may not reflect changes in the law since review, and reading it creates no attorney-client relationship. For advice on your own situation, see Personal injuries or contact the firm.