Saturday September 4, 2010 at 3:14pm
Children and mental patients are regarded as persons under a legal disability and are therefore exempt from the three year time limit.
A person is treated as under a disability if he is an infant or of unsound mind. A person is of unsound mind if he is a person who, by reason of a mental disorder, is not capable of managing or administering his property and affairs.
It is not necessary for the person making the accident claim to have been a formal or informal mental patient but, if this is the case, he is conclusively presumed to be of unsound mind.
The three year time limit begins to run for people under a disability only when a child reaches the age of 18 or, for a person of unsound mind, from the time when he becomes capable of managing or administering his property or affairs.
If a disability starts after the accident which caused the injury, it does not interfere with the three year time limit. For example, if a person becomes of unsound mind after the accident which caused him injuries, the three year time limit will apply.