What does “date of knowledge” mean in personal injury claims?

The ‘date of knowledge’ test provides that the two-year period within which you have to bring your personal injury claim will not begin to run against you until the date upon which you become aware of all of the following pieces of information:

• You have been injured.
• The injury which you have suffered is significant.
• The injury was caused by the fault of someone else.
• The identity of the person who caused you the injury.
• If the fault for the injury lies with someone other than the person who is liable to compensate you, the identity of the person who actually caused the injury and the legal basis as to why the person you are claiming against is liable.

How the date of knowledge rule applies in practice

The date of knowledge provision exists to prevent unfair outcomes in situations where an injured person could not reasonably have known they had grounds for a personal injury claim until some time after the incident occurred.

For example, imagine a patient who is prescribed inappropriate medication by a doctor over a prolonged period. The medication causes serious internal damage, but symptoms do not appear until several years later. If the standard two-year limitation period were applied strictly from the time the medication was prescribed, the patient’s claim would be out of time – even though they had no way of knowing they had suffered an injury, let alone that it was caused by medical negligence.

In such a case, the date of knowledge rule protects the patient’s right to bring a claim. The two-year time limit would only begin from the point when the patient became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that:

• They had suffered a serious injury, and
• That the injury was likely caused by someone else’s fault (e.g. the doctor’s negligence).

This approach ensures that injured parties are not unfairly penalised for delays in discovering the full impact or cause of their injury.