What date would be considered the official breach of contract date?

[Knightsaysni]

If you bought something online and it didn't turn up in the mail?

[atticus]

If you ask because of a concern about possible limitation, it would be safest to use the date on which you placed the order. Otherwise, I cannot see that it would be relevant on the information that you have given.

[Knightsaysni]

If you ask because of a concern about possible limitation, it would be safest to use the date on which you placed the order. Otherwise, I cannot see that it would be relevant on the information that you have given.

I am claiming because I bought something May 26th 2016 online and it is in my diary to litigate by tomorrow.

The item did not turn up.

Want to find out if I have a little more time, i.e. could I use a later date? Such as date it became known as lost?

[R0b]

The limitation period for bringing a breach of contract claim starts on the date the breach occurred. That date in question is not always easy to answer, particularly in your case where there is a failure to deliver. Depending on how you view it, the date of breach could the date it should have been delivered or possibly a later date if you agreed for an attempted re-delivery. You are best to err on the side of caution and get your claim in as soon as possible.

It is always very risky leaving a claim until the very last minute as you run the risk of running out of time and the defendant arguing that your claim is time-barred. There may also be other complications that you might run into depending on how savvy the defendant (or their legal representative is). For example, the defendant might have a valid defence against the claim arguing that it is prejudiced by the claim because it no longer has any evidence or records pertaining to the alleged breach or order and in fact, since this appears to be a straight-froward non-delivery breach of contract, issuing the claim at the end of the limitation period is an abuse of process and should be struck out by the court.

That kind of argument is what is known as 'warehousing' in which a claimant holds on to a claim for a lengthy period of time without considering or having no intention to bring a claim. Not all warehousing claims are automatically an abuse of process, but it would require you to provide an explanation as to why you have chosen to wait 6 years when the claim could have been brought much earlier.

Of course, all of the above depends on the trader's appetite to defend the case and depending on the value you are claiming, the trader might just pay you off.

[atticus]

Get your claim into court tomorrow!

[Knightsaysni]

Thank you both