Claim deadline planner

Damages claims in South Africa die of deadlines more often than of weak facts. The deadlines differ by defendant: a claim against a municipality needs a written notice within six months, a claim against the Road Accident Fund must be lodged within three years and sued on within five, a hit-and-run claim must be lodged within two, and every ordinary claim prescribes after three. A claimant who was a child gets longer; a claimant who sent a strongly worded letter instead of a summons gets nothing. This planner takes the incident date and the type of defendant and lays the deadlines out side by side, with the date the next one falls.

It is for anyone injured in an accident, by a product, at a hospital or by a public body, for families of people killed, and for anyone who has been "in negotiations" with an insurer for two and a half years.

What this calculator works out and who it is for

You enter the date of the accident, injury or loss, who you would be claiming from, the date you first knew of the harm if that was later, the claimant's date of birth if the claimant was a child when it happened, and optionally a date to work from. The planner returns the date from which prescription runs and why, the notice deadline where the defendant is an organ of state, the lodgement and summons deadlines where the defendant is the Road Accident Fund, the prescription date for an ordinary claim, the extension where the claimant was a minor, and the next deadline from the date you are working from. It warns where a deadline has already passed and about the letter-of-demand misconception.

How the calculation works

The planner starts the clock from the incident date or, if you give one, the later date you first knew of the harm, because prescription runs from when the creditor has knowledge of the facts and the identity of the debtor. For an organ of state it adds six months for the notice and three years for the summons. For the Road Accident Fund with an identified driver or vehicle it adds three years for lodgement and five for summons from the incident date, and notes the 120 days the Fund has after lodgement before summons may be served. For an unidentified vehicle it adds two years for lodgement and five for summons, and a line telling you to report to the police as soon as possible. For a private defendant or a private hospital it adds three years.

Where the claimant was a minor, the planner finds the date they turn 18 and extends the prescription date to a year after that where that is later, because section 13 of the Prescription Act delays completion for a minor. For RAF identified claims it starts the three and five years from majority, because section 23(2) of the RAF Act stops prescription running against a minor; for unidentified claims the two-year period runs regardless.

The law behind the numbers

The Prescription Act 68 of 1969 provides in section 11(d) that an ordinary debt, including a claim for damages in delict or contract, prescribes three years after it becomes due. Section 12(3) provides that a debt is not deemed due until the creditor has knowledge of the identity of the debtor and of the facts from which the debt arises, or could have acquired that knowledge by exercising reasonable care, which is why medical negligence claims often run from a later date than the treatment. Section 13(1)(a) read with 13(1)(i) provides that where the creditor is a minor, prescription does not complete before a year has passed after the minor turns 18. Section 15 provides that prescription is interrupted by service of process claiming payment of the debt, and section 14 by the debtor's express or tacit acknowledgment of liability. A letter of demand, negotiations and an insurer's "we are assessing your claim" are none of those things.

The Institution of Legal Proceedings against certain Organs of State Act 40 of 2002 applies to claims for damages against national and provincial departments, municipalities, the police, provincial hospitals and the other bodies it lists. Section 3(1) and (2) provide that no legal proceedings may be instituted unless the creditor has given the organ of state written notice of the intended proceedings within six months of the date the debt became due, setting out the facts and the particulars of the claim, served on the head of the department or the municipal manager. Section 3(4) allows the court to condone a late notice where the debt has not prescribed, good cause exists for the failure and the organ of state is not unreasonably prejudiced. Section 4 fixes the methods of service. The guide to notice before suing the state covers the content and the condonation application.

The Road Accident Fund Act 56 of 1996 has its own scheme. Section 23(1) provides that a claim for compensation where the identity of the driver or owner has been established prescribes three years after the cause of action arose, unless a claim has been lodged with the Fund under section 24 within that period; section 23(3) provides that where a claim has been lodged, it prescribes five years after the cause of action arose unless summons has been served. Section 24(1)(a) requires the claim to be lodged on the prescribed form with the medical report and supporting documents, delivered to the Fund, and section 24(6) bars summons within 120 days of lodgement while the Fund investigates. Section 23(2) provides that prescription does not run against a minor, a person under curatorship or a person detained as a patient under mental health legislation, for identified claims. For an unidentified vehicle, regulation 2(1) of the Road Accident Fund Regulations, 2008 requires the claim to be sent or delivered to the Fund within two years of the cause of action, and a claim lodged in time does not prescribe before five years; regulation 2(2) makes the two years run despite any legal disability, so they run against minors too. The old rule that the claimant had to give the police an affidavit within fourteen days was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court in Engelbrecht v Road Accident Fund in 2007, and the current regulations contain no police deadline. Reporting at once still matters: section 61 of the National Road Traffic Act requires a driver to report an accident in which someone was injured within 24 hours, and the police record is usually the main evidence that an unidentified vehicle caused the accident. The guide to claiming from the RAF, the pedestrian and hit-and-run guide and the guide to RAF rejections deal with the process.

A claim for medical negligence against a private hospital or practitioner is an ordinary claim prescribing in three years from knowledge; against a provincial hospital it also needs the six-month notice. The medical negligence time limits guide deals with the knowledge argument, which is where those claims are won and lost. A claim under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act must be lodged within twelve months of the accident under section 43, although a late claim can still be considered if the employer reported the accident; since 23 January 2026, section 44 extinguishes the right to benefits only if the accident is not brought to the Commissioner's attention within three years. Insurance policies impose contractual time bars shorter than any of these.

Worked example

Nomvula is injured on 10 January 2026 when a municipal bus runs a red light and hits her car. The driver and the bus are identified. She wants to know her deadlines on 1 March 2026.

Against the Road Accident Fund, which covers the bodily injury claim, the planner shows lodgement by 10 January 2029 and summons by 10 January 2031, with summons not possible until 120 days after lodgement. Against the municipality for the damage to her car, which the Fund does not cover, the planner shows written notice of intention to sue by 10 July 2026 under the Institution of Legal Proceedings Act and summons by 10 January 2029. Her next deadline is the notice to the municipality in July. The planner warns that lodging with the Fund is a formal act with the prescribed form and the medical report, that a letter to the municipality saying she intends to claim is not the statutory notice unless it contains what section 3 requires, and that no letter interrupts prescription.

Had the bus driver fled and never been identified, the RAF lodgement deadline would be 10 January 2028, two years, and the planner would tell her to report to the police as soon as possible, because the police record would be her main evidence that an unidentified vehicle caused her injuries. Had Nomvula been eleven years old, prescription against a private defendant would not complete until a year after her eighteenth birthday, and the RAF identified periods would run from her majority; the two-year hit-and-run period would not wait.

What the calculator does not include

It does not decide when you first knew of the harm, which in medical negligence and latent injury cases is the whole dispute. It uses the date you give it.

It does not deal with claims against the Compensation Fund for injuries at work, which have a twelve-month lodgement period, a three-year outer limit since 23 January 2026 and a different process, or with claims under insurance policies, whose time bars are contractual. The guide to claiming from the Compensation Fund covers those deadlines, including the twelve months now allowed for an objection.

It does not deal with the content of the statutory notice, the condonation application or the RAF's claim form, each of which the guides cover.

It does not model interruption. If a summons has been served or liability acknowledged in writing, prescription has been interrupted and the dates change.

It does not deal with claims by a deceased's dependants for loss of support, which run from the death but involve the same periods.

When to get advice

See an attorney as soon as the injury is serious enough to claim for, and in any event within the first few months, because the six-month state notice is the first deadline and is the one most often missed. If a deadline on the planner has passed, see an attorney this week: a late state notice can be condoned, a RAF claim lodged late cannot be revived, and prescription cannot be condoned at all. Personal injury attorneys work on contingency, which the contingency fee cap calculator explains, so the first consultation costs nothing. Do not let an insurer's or the Fund's negotiations run past a deadline on the strength of a promise; the only things that stop the clock are a summons and a written admission of liability.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to claim for an injury in South Africa? Three years from when you knew of the harm and who caused it, for an ordinary claim. Against the state, a written notice within six months first. Against the Road Accident Fund, lodgement within three years and summons within five, or lodgement within two years for a hit and run.

Does a letter of demand stop prescription? No. Only service of a summons or the debtor's written acknowledgment of liability interrupts prescription. Negotiations, letters and an insurer's assessment do not.

What is the six-month notice to the state? Under the Institution of Legal Proceedings against certain Organs of State Act, a claim for damages against a department, municipality, the police or a state hospital needs written notice of the intended proceedings within six months of the debt becoming due. A late notice can be condoned by the court if the claim has not prescribed.

What are the RAF deadlines? For an identified driver or vehicle, lodge the claim with the Fund within three years of the accident and serve summons within five. For an unidentified vehicle, lodge within two years and report to the police at once; the old fourteen-day police affidavit rule was struck down in Engelbrecht v Road Accident Fund in 2007, but the police record is still your main evidence. The Fund has 120 days after lodgement before summons may be served.

Do the deadlines apply to children? Prescription for an ordinary claim does not complete until a year after the child turns 18, and the RAF Act stops prescription running against a minor for identified claims. The two-year hit-and-run period runs against minors.

When does prescription start in a medical negligence claim? When you knew, or could reasonably have known, the facts giving rise to the claim and the identity of the practitioner, not when you learned that those facts amounted to negligence. The start date is often disputed.

Can prescription be extended? Only by interruption through summons or acknowledgment, or by the statutory delays for minors and others under disability. A court cannot condone a prescribed claim.