Scottish lawyers woke up on 28 February 2025 to the biggest shake-up in prescription law in fifty years. The Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 is no longer “coming soon”. It is here, it is live, and it is already changing how claims start, run and die.
For litigators, the stakes could not be higher. One missed date and a strong claim vanishes forever. Master Policy brokers Lockton have sounded the alarm: prescription errors remain one of the top causes of claims against solicitors. The new Act was meant to fix harsh old rules, but it has also created fresh traps.
The Big Fixes That Help Creditors
The 2018 Act finally closes the loopholes that wrecked cases like Morrison v ICL Plastics and Gordon’s Trustees.
From 28 February 2025 the five-year clock only starts when the creditor actually knows three things:
- that loss has happened
- that someone’s act or omission caused it
- the identity of that person
This is the single biggest win for injured parties in decades.
Section 1 drags every delictual damages claim into the five-year net (with the usual exceptions still listed in Schedule 1).
Section 3 pulls in council tax arrears, child support and social security overpayments.
Section 8 finally nails the 20-year longstop to the date of the wrongful act, not the date loss is felt. No more endless delays before the clock even begins.
The New Traps You Can Easily Fall Into
Good news for claimants can be bad news for defenders, and bad news for their advisers.
The 20-year longstop is now a genuine longstop. Relevant acknowledgements no longer reset it. Once a relevant claim interrupts it, the full 20 years does not start again. Defendants can no longer “keep talking” forever.
Standstill agreements under the new section 13 are strictly one-shot and only for one year maximum. Miss the original expiry date while you are still negotiating and the claim is gone. Lockton warns firms to diary both dates and get the agreement in writing with crystal-clear start and end dates.
The changes are not retrospective. If a claim had already prescribed by 1 June 2022 under the old law, nothing in the 2018 Act revives it. Transitional rules are brutal.
Red Flags Every Fee Earner Must Check Today
Lockton and Kennedys have distilled the danger areas into a short, sharp checklist:
- Has every litigator in the firm had proper training on the 2018 Act changes?
- Are diaries set for both the original five-year date and any one-year extension?
- Is every standstill agreement recorded in writing with exact dates?
- Do you know which claims are governed by the old law and which by the new?
- Are supervisors actually reviewing prescription dates on every file?
One partner told me last week: “We thought we were on top of this. Then we found three files where the team were still using the old ‘date of knowledge’ test from Gordon’s Trustees. We fixed them in time, but it was a heart-in-mouth moment.”
The Bottom Line for Scottish Practices
The Prescription (Scotland) Act 2018 is fairer for injured parties and clearer for everyone. But clarity cuts both ways. There is now nowhere to hide if you get it wrong.
Firms that invest in training and tight diary systems will sleep easier. Those that treat this as “just another law change” are rolling the dice with their Master Policy premiums and their reputation.
The clock is ticking, literally. Make sure your team knows exactly where it started and when it stops.
What do you think? Has your firm already run 2018 Act training sessions? Are you seeing opponents trying to run old arguments that no longer work? Drop your experience in the comments below.
