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Practitioners are reminded of the provisions of Section 7 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004.  As and from 31 March 2005, the Statute of Limitations in respect of all personal injury actions expires after two years of the cause of action accruing.  In respect of the causes of actions that accrued before that date, proceedings shall not be brought after the expiration of two years from 31 March 2005 or three years from the date of the cause of action accruing, whichever occurs first.  Practitioners should therefore ensure that either a PIAB application is made and fully registered before the relevant date, or, in the case of medical negligence cases (and other limited exceptions), proceedings are issued.

Accordingly, 30th March 2007 may be the deadline for some personal injury actions.  Practitioners should ensure to examine their files to ascertain whether a PIAB application or proceedings should be brought on or before 30th March 2007.

Practitioners should also note that, pursuant to Section 50 of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003, the period beginning with an application to the PIAB and ending six months from the date of issue of an authorisation shall be disregarded for the purposes of calculating the limitation period.  Finally, please be aware that an application to PIAB is only deemed to be made and fully registered when a letter from PIAB is provided confirming it to be received and complete for the purposes of Section 50 of the 2003 Act.