Part Two Compensation, s.Three Miscellaneous Issues Relevant to Compensatory Damages, 16 Limitation periods

Subject(s):

Breach of contract — Limitation of liability — Remedies for breach of contract — Punitive damages

This chapter considers the law on limitation in relation to damages, covering the normal time limits and the main exceptions to the normal time limits. Although the law of limitation is, strictly speaking, separate from the law of remedies, the two are closely connected. For the purposes of limitation, no distinction has been drawn between compensatory and non-compensatory damages. Thus, the limitation period for punitive damages for a tort is the same as for compensatory damages. Indeed, although there are significant departures from this, the Limitation Act 1980 basically fixes the limitation periods according to the cause of action (breach of contract or tort) rather than the remedy.