UKI was injured by a defective product 12 years ago. Is it too late to claim?
Yes, it is almost certainly too late to claim — the strict time limit for defective product injury claims in the UK is 10 years from when the product was supplied.
What the Law Says
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 sets strict time limits for claims arising from defective products. Section 11A introduces a long-stop deadline that applies regardless of when the injury was discovered.
Under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, you can sue the producer, importer, or own-brand supplier of a defective product if it causes personal injury or property damage. However, the law imposes two key time limits: a 3-year limit from the date you knew (or ought to have known) about the injury and its cause, and a stricter 10-year 'long-stop' limit.
The 10-year limit is absolute: no claim can be brought more than 10 years after the date the product was first supplied by the defendant to another person. This means even if you only discovered the injury’s link to the product recently, the clock started ticking the day the product left the manufacturer’s or supplier’s control.
This long-stop rule exists to protect businesses from indefinite liability and ensure legal certainty.
Statutory TextNo action shall be brought under section 2(1) after the end of the period of 10 years from the date on which the product was supplied by its producer to another person.
— Consumer Protection Act 1987, s. 11A — Long stop limitation period
What to Do
Check the exact date the product was supplied (e.g., purchase date, date of manufacture, or date of first sale — not your injury date).
Confirm whether any exception applies (e.g., deliberate concealment of a defect — extremely rare and hard to prove).
Consult a specialist personal injury solicitor immediately — though the claim is almost certainly statute-barred, they can confirm if any narrow exception might apply.
Gather all available evidence (receipts, packaging, medical records, photos of the product) — even if time-barred, it may support other avenues (e.g., complaints to trading standards).
Sources
Not legal advice. This article is general information based on publicly available sources, written for educational purposes. Laws change and individual situations vary. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before acting on anything you read here. Last reviewed: 2026-06-08.