It Happened Months Ago — Is It Too Late to Make a Workplace Injury Claim?
By Chris Carter, Managing Solicitor, Carter & Carter Solicitors | March 2026
Key Facts — Workplace Injury Time Limits
You have three years from the date of your accident to bring a workplace injury claim. In most cases, if you’re reading this, you’re still in time. But the evidence that wins claims — CCTV, witness accounts, accident book entries — disappears long before the legal deadline. The sooner you call, the stronger your position.
Time limit: 3 years from date of accident (Limitation Act 1980) | CCTV typically deleted: within 30 days | Compensation: £1,500+ | No Win No Fee | England & Wales only
You were hurt at work three months ago. Maybe six. You’ve been telling yourself it’s too late — that the window has closed, that you should have called sooner, that there’s no point now. You haven’t called anyone. You’ve just moved on and tried to forget about it.
It’s probably not too late. Not even close.
How Long Do You Actually Have to Make a Workplace Injury Claim?
Three years. Under the Limitation Act 1980, you have three years from the date of your accident to begin legal proceedings. That is the hard legal deadline in England and Wales. It is not a target — it is the outer boundary. Miss it and your claim cannot proceed, regardless of how strong it is.
Your Rights — The Legal Deadline
✓ Three years from the date of your accident — Limitation Act 1980
✓ If you were under 18 at the time, the three years runs from your 18th birthday — not the date of the accident
✓ No Win No Fee — if your claim can proceed, you pay nothing unless it succeeds
Three years sounds like a long time. For most people who call us, the accident happened weeks or months ago. They are well inside the window. The panic that it might be “too late” is almost always unfounded — but it stops people calling, and that delay costs them evidence they can never get back.
There are limited exceptions to the three-year rule — for example, where a condition developed gradually over time and the claimant only later became aware it was work-related, where the injured person was under 18 at the time, or where a mental incapacity has affected the ability to bring a claim. These situations are assessed on their individual facts. But the safest approach is always to treat the three years as a hard and fast rule — don’t rely on an exception applying and don’t wait to find out. If you’ve been injured at work, call a solicitor as soon as you can.
If the Deadline Isn’t the Real Risk, What Is?
Evidence. That’s what disappears — and it disappears far faster than the legal deadline.
CCTV footage from the day of your accident is typically deleted within 30 days. Standard practice across workplaces, retail environments, and commercial premises. If you were hurt on a factory floor, in a warehouse, or at any site with cameras, that footage is almost certainly gone if you haven’t moved quickly.
The Evidence Window Is Much Shorter Than the Legal Window
CCTV: Typically deleted within 30 days. Standard industry practice. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Witnesses: Memories fade, people move jobs. The longer you wait, the harder they are to trace and the less reliable their recollection becomes.
Accident records: Employers are required to keep RIDDOR reports for three years — but general accident book entries can disappear much sooner, especially in workplaces with poor record-keeping.
Medical records: These are more durable — but the connection between your injury and your workplace is hardest to establish once the physical evidence is gone.
Witnesses move on to other jobs. They become harder to trace and their memories of exactly what happened get hazier. Accident book entries go missing, especially in workplaces with poor record-keeping. The risk isn’t that you’ll miss the legal deadline. The risk is that you’ll arrive at your claim with a solid legal right but no evidence to support it.
“Most people who call us about a workplace accident did it weeks or months ago. They’re well inside the three years. The panic that it might be too late is almost always wrong — but it stops people calling, and that delay is what actually costs them.”
Chris Carter — Managing Solicitor, Carter & Carter Solicitors (qualified 1993)
What Most Solicitors Won’t Tell You
The legal deadline is three years. The practical deadline is sooner — and nobody ever mentions that part.
Most solicitors become increasingly reluctant to take on workplace injury claims once the accident is more than two years old. Not because the legal right has gone — it hasn’t — but because of what proper investigation actually requires. CCTV is gone. Witnesses have moved on or their memories have faded. Accident records may have disappeared. What’s left may simply not be enough to build a case that can be properly put to an insurer or court.
Taking on a claim with less than a year on the clock is a serious problem. Investigations take time. Medical evidence takes time. Negotiations take time. If a solicitor accepts a claim knowing they’re racing a deadline, everything becomes compressed, stressful, and expensive — and the outcome for the client suffers. The responsible thing, for everyone involved, is to have enough time to do it properly.
The three-year rule is the legal limit. But every month of needless delay narrows your options — not just in law, but in practice. Don’t wait.
Does It Matter That I Didn’t Report the Accident at the Time?
Not reporting the accident makes things harder — but it doesn’t make them impossible. Many successful workplace injury claims are brought without an accident book entry. A failure to report doesn’t wipe out your legal right to claim. It makes establishing what happened more difficult, but that is an evidence problem — not a legal bar.
What matters most is whether there is other evidence to support your account. Medical records showing treatment around the time of the accident. Colleagues who saw what happened. A pattern of poor safety practice at your workplace. Text messages or emails sent to managers at the time. All of these can build a case even without a formal report.
What Should You Do Right Now?
Call us. Not next week. Not after you’ve thought about it a bit more. Now. If your accident was within the last three years, you are almost certainly still in time — but every day you wait is another day closer to the legal deadline, and another day further from the evidence that makes claims succeed.
Chris or David will tell you within minutes whether your claim can proceed. No forms. No obligation. No pressure. If it can’t, we’ll tell you straight away and explain why. If it can, we’ll tell you exactly what to do next.
⚠️ The Deadline Is Real — and It Can’t Be Extended
The three-year limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980 is a hard legal deadline. Courts apply it strictly. Miss it — even by a day — and your claim cannot proceed regardless of how strong it is. There is no compassionate extension for people who were unaware of the deadline.
If your accident was within the last three years, you’re in time. Call now. The call takes five minutes and costs nothing.
Related Guides
Accident at Work Claims — What You Need to Know
Hurt at Work but Not Sure Whether to Claim? The Most Common Reasons People Hold Back
Is My Workplace Injury Serious Enough to Claim Compensation?
Can You Claim Against Your Employer Without Getting Them in Trouble?
Why Work With Us — Fees, Approach, and What Makes Us Different
Still In Time? Let’s Find Out in Five Minutes.
If your accident was within the last three years, there’s a good chance you still have a claim. Chris or David will tell you honestly on the first call — no forms, no obligation, no pressure. Same solicitor start to finish. No Win No Fee since 2007.
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Chris Carter
Managing Solicitor · Qualified 1993 · Founding Partner since 2007
Chris has spent nearly thirty years handling workplace injury claims — including many where the client assumed it was too late before they’d even made the first call. In his experience, the legal deadline is rarely the problem. The real cost of waiting is the evidence that can never be recovered. He handles every Accidents at Work claim personally alongside David Healey.
Direct line: 01663 761891 | Email: chris@candcsolicitors.co.uk