THE EUROPEAN Parliament has called for a time cap of four years to be established for completing all cross-border insurance proceedings involving injuries and fatal accidents within the European Union (EU), except where a policy explicitly provides for a longer period.

MEPs, however, agreed that more time – up to 10 years – could be taken to enforce a damages claim.

Although this suggested cap is far from brief, the resolution’s aim is to push the European Commission into harmonising the varied national laws of the 25 EU member states on limitation periods for accident and injury proceedings, which ‘may have undesirable consequences’.