Negligence: limitation period - what knowledge starts time running?

The House of Lords has clarified the application of the limitation rules in cases where a claimant does not know about the loss it has suffered until after expiry of the primary limitation period.

Overturning a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords has held that for time to start to run the claimant must have knowledge of the "factual essence of the act or omission" which caused its loss. It was not necessary for the claimant to know the precise details of the alleged negligence or for the claimant to conclusively identify that the defendant's acts or omissions were the cause of the loss. It is sufficient if the claimant had enough information to make it reasonable for it to commence investigations into the potential claim against the defendant.