Limitation Act 1953

The Limitation Act 1953 is the Malaysian statute that sets deadlines for bringing a civil claim, after which the right to sue is generally lost.

For an ordinary road accident injury, Section 6(1)(a) sets the deadline at six years from the date of the accident, not three years as is sometimes wrongly assumed from other countries’ rules.^[1] The full picture, including the shorter fatal-claim deadline, is set out in claim deadlines explained.

A minor injured in a crash is generally treated differently, since time usually only starts running once they turn eighteen.

The clock generally starts on the date of the accident itself, not the date symptoms became obvious or treatment finished, so noting the exact accident date early matters.