Prescription Act 68 of 1969

Prescription Calculator

When a debt prescribes, counted from the date it became due — three years for an ordinary debt, and the longer periods and the RAF claims too.

Court daysBetweenPrescription

s 11(d), Prescription Act 68 of 1969. Contract (written or verbal), delict, damages and general civil claims — anything not listed below.

Prescription starts running as soon as the debt is due (s 12(1)). Where the creditor did not know the debtor's identity, or the facts from which the debt arises, it only starts once they could reasonably have known them (s 12(3)) — enter that later date instead.

Read the guidePrescription periods under the Prescription ActThree years for an ordinary debt, six for a negotiable instrument, fifteen for a debt owed to the State and thirty for a judgment debt or mortgage bond — plus the Road Accident Fund periods, which do not follow the same pattern.6 min read