Limitation Act 1980
Section 24 Limitation Act 1980:
- No action can be brought upon any debtor after 6 years of the date of an enforceable judgement e.g. CCJ.
- And no arrears of interest in respect of any judgement debt is recoverable after the expiration of 6 years from the date on which the interest became due.
- As with most laws there are exceptions.
- A property mortgage is enforceable for 12 years after judgement
- Provided no new action is claimed then an apparently old case can still be enforced.
- If a debtor agrees to pay a debt over a time exceeding say six years then the debt continues to enforcible for a further 6 years beyond the last payment or acknowledgement of the debt.
- Some debts are enforceable for up to 20 years e.g. Crown debts.
- Lowsley v Forbes 1998 established than no new action can be enforced after 6 years but that a pre-existing judgement is enforceable within 6 years of the judgement date.
- E.g. say a rent debt is enforced after 5 years and 11 months (within the limitation), the creditor still has a further 6 years before becoming time barred, in this case 11 years and 11 months. Almost 12 years!
- Any extension of time beyond 6 years requires leave of a judge (i.e. permission) to enforce and would have to have good grounds for extending.
Published: 10 November 2013
Last Updated: 17 November 2021