Recently I encountered several individuals seeking my assistance with their claims. I regret that I had to advise them that they were too late in bringing their claims forward before I send them home.

In Ontario we have a statute that prevents a plaintiff from bringing a claim in court after certain amount of time has passed; in law we call this period the “limitation period.” This rule applies to all cases in Ontario, with only a handful of exceptions.

In Ontario, the basic limitation period is 2 years from the “discovery” of the claim. In most civil litigation cases, that would be the day the dispute arose. Therefore, if you’ve had a slip-and-fall accident today, August 22, 2008, you will have until August 22, 2010 to file your claim. If you wait until August 23, 2010 to file the claim, the defendants may ask the court to dismiss your claim entirely as the limitation period would have expired.

As mentioned above, there are several exceptions under this rule. Most notable among them, are the exception regarding minors, and victims of assault or sexual assault.

For minors, the limitation period does not run (that is, it doesn’t start) until the minor is appointed a litigation guardian, or reaches the age of majority (18 in Ontario), whichever occurs first.

For victims of assault or sexual assault, the period does not run when the victim is incapable of commencing a claim because of his or her physical, psychological, or mental condition.

If you have a potential claim, you need to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. You must not rely on what non-lawyers tell you, or you may end up in a very cold place.