Limitation – the House of Lords decision in Cave v Robinson

The long-awaited judgment of the House of Lords in Cave v Robinson, Jarvis & Rolf was handed down at 2.00pm today. The decision overturns previous judgments of the Court of Appeal, in Cave itself and (in part only) in Brocklesby v Armitage & Guest. The case concerned the interpretation of s32 Limitation Act 1980, in particular what does and does not constitute 'deliberate concealment' of a wrongful act. If there is 'deliberate concealment' of a fact, the limitation period will not be triggered until the concealed fact is discovered or could with reasonable diligence have been discovered. This may be many years after the original event. The settled pre-Brocklesby meaning of these words is now restored. In order for a claimant to obtain postponement of the relevant limitation period and bring a claim out of time there will have to have been deliberate concealment on the defendant's part, in the ordinary meaning of those words: i.e. hiding of the fact of the wrongful act or omission.

The decision is an important one and is of general application, even though Cave and Brocklesby were claims against firms of solicitors. It will be welcome and of particular significance to all professional advisers, construction professionals and their professional indemnity insurers because it removes the spectre of exposure to an indeterminately long tail of claims where a limitation defence would have been practically ineffective.

For more information please contact Simon Chandler or Peter Mansfield by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected] or by telephone on +44 (0)117 930 0200. A full copy of the transcript is available at: www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld/ldhome.htm