Receivable/Accounts - Information for Credit and Collection Issues

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

British Columbia Limitations Act Receives Royal Assent





After much deliberation. it appears that British Columbia will follow in the steps of the Province of Ontario, and reduce their period of limitations as far as time periods for legal action on civil claims.

The new Limitation Act in British Columbia has now received Royal Assent, and will come into force when proclaimed by the provincial government. 

The main change is the limitation for legal action on most basic claims will be reduced from six years to two, and civil claims will have an ultimate limitation period of 15 years.  Of course, claims with special circumstances or limitations dictated by other specific acts will remain exceptions to this basic rule.

Claims prior to the new act being enacted will remain under the old statute.

This act does not appear to alter how consumer reporting or items on the credit bureau shall be reported.

Links to items related to this change are below.


The proposed new act (first reading): http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th4th/1st_read/gov34-1.htm



When we are notified of the act being proclaimed, we will adjust our article library to reflect the new rules, and place a link to the official act.

UPDATE: The British Columbia government has announced that as of June 1, 2013, their new Limitation Act comes into effect.  The basic limitation period for civil claims will be two years going forward, dating from “discovery of the claim”. An ultimate limitation period of 15 years will be in place as well. Any claims with debts incurred prior to June 1, 2013 may still fall under the old Limitation Act. Discovery has it’s own interesting terminology, and is not as simple as the language of some other provinces.

If you have any questions regarding civil claims, limitation periods, or legal actions or credit bureau reporting, by all means contact myself at my office.

Regards,

Blair DeMarco-Wettlaufer
Kingston Data and Credit
Cambridge, Ontario
226-444-5695

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