Cartledge v Jopling and Sons, [1963] 1 ALL ER 341
Citation:Cartledge v Jopling and Sons, [1963] 1 ALL ER 341
Rule of thumb:When does time-bar start from? The Court affirmed that time-bar runs from the point that the reasonable person would have known that they had a claim. It is constructive knowledge of the claim rather than actual knowledge.
Judgment:
The Court in this case affirmed the test for the moment personal injury time-bar clock starts running. Time-bar does not start running from the point of the official diagnosis, rather it runs from the point of first noticeable symptoms where a person clearly knows that something is wrong with them and know of the cause of it if they investigated it, although this does still allow a person a period of time to put up with mild symptoms and does not expect them to be a deep researcher into the cause of injuries and illnesses. Although that is required is reasonable enquiry, although this can leave a grey are and leave a decision for the Judge to make, for example, if damages from the injury are only de minimis, and do not yet interfere with day to day life, the clock may not start running at that point.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘If this were a matter governed by the common law I would hold that a cause of action ought not to be held to accrue until either the injured party discovered his injury, or it would be possible for him to discover it if he took such steps as were reasonable in the circumstances’, Lord Reid
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.