Tag archives: Prescription

Minimum facts required for prescription

This Supreme Court of Appeal judgment grappled with whether the claim involving latent and undisclosed defects discovered sometime after the claimant had purchased the property, had prescribed. It is well established law that the debt becomes due, and prescription begins to run, when the creditor has the minimum facts necessary to institute action. The running … Continue reading

Prescription of insurance claim

In this judgment, the policyholder unsuccessfully argued that the Prescription Act did not apply  because the insurer was confined to the time-bar clause in the policy which provided for a period of prescription from the date of the rejection of the claim and because no rejection was ever issued, the clause could not be invoked. … Continue reading

The law does not require impossibilities and its effect on prescription

In finding that the Road Accident Fund Act three year extinctive prescription period (with some exceptions) did not apply to the claimant who had become a person of unsound mind because of the motor accident, the Constitutional Court applied the impossibility principle (lex non cogit ad impossibilia).  It was held that the claimant’s action had … Continue reading

When does a healthcare practitioner’s claim for damages for malicious HPCSA proceedings prescribe?

A healthcare practitioner, who is the subject of malicious HPCSA proceedings, may institute a damages claim for malicious prosecution against the complainant who initiated the proceedings within three years from the date the HPCSA informs the practitioner of its decision to dismiss the complaint. The claim only arises, and prescription starts to run, from the … Continue reading

Tacit acknowledgement of a debt: payments and queries interrupts prescription

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Investec Bank Limited v Erf 436 Elandspoort (Pty) Ltd and Others gave useful examples of what constitutes a tacit acknowledgement of liability (which interrupts the running of prescription of a debt in terms of section 14 of the Prescription Act 1969). The case involved a debt related to … Continue reading

Condonation for late notice of intention to sue

Claimants who sue the State often have to apply for condonation for late notice, because the State must be notified of an intention to sue within 6 months of an incident occurring, and many claimants are unaware of this special time restriction. In Ndlovu v Member of the Executive Council for Police, Roads and Transport: … Continue reading

Condonation granted where no prejudice proved

A plaintiff who suffers damage usually has 3 years within which to sue the defendant. But a claim against the State must be notified within 6 months of an incident occurring. This notification comes before the summons is served. If a claim is not notified within this time period (set out in the Institution of … Continue reading

Offers of settlement and time-bars in insurance policies

In South Africa, for example, under the Policyholder Protection Rules or the Short-term Ombud’s Rules the running of statutory prescription and time-bar limitation periods provided for in an insurance policy may be suspended while a dispute is resolved. German law also provides for some circumstances in which the limitation period in an insurance coverage dispute … Continue reading

When does a claim under a liability policy prescribe?

A claim for indemnification under a liability insurance contract only arises when liability to a third party for a certain amount has been established. For purposes of prescription, the debt becomes due when the insured is under legal liability to pay a fixed and determined sum of money. Until then a ‘claim’ for indemnification under … Continue reading

Extinctive prescription: When is a debt due?

The Constitutional Court reaffirmed that a debt becomes due when it is immediately claimable or recoverable. Where the purchase price was not receivable under the Alienation of Land Act 1981 until the contract was recorded at the Deeds Office, prescription did not start to run until the recording of the contract took place. It is … Continue reading

Municipality’s right to reclaim undeveloped property prescribes after three years

The appellant municipality sold vacant immovable property to the respondent company subject to the condition that if buildings of a certain value were not erected on the property within three years from the date of sale, ownership of the property reverted to the municipality which could demand retransfer. It was held that because the municipality … Continue reading

Acknowledging indebtedness in without prejudice discussions interrupts prescription

An acknowledgement of debt made by a debtor to a creditor in the course of without prejudice negotiations will interrupt the running of extinctive prescription unless this consequence is excluded from the discussions. In KLD Residential CC v Empire Earth Investments 17, the Supreme Court of Appeal was asked to strike a balance between the public … Continue reading

The once-and-for-all rule for delictual damages

A person who claims for damages sustained as a result of injuries negligently caused by someone else has a single, indivisible cause of action and must sue for all damages in one claim. This proposition was reasserted in the context of a prescription allegation regarding a Road Accident Fund Act claim. The RAF Act only … Continue reading

Section 126B(1)(b) of the National Credit Act is not retrospective

Section 126B which prohibits dealing in a debt under a credit agreement extinguished by prescription, and allows the consumer to raise the defence of prescription (even though the consumer agreed to revive a prescribed debt without being aware of the prescription defence) came into force on 13 March 2015. Before section 126B was enacted an agreement … Continue reading
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