Does the deadline to sue over a car accident start from the day it happened, or from when I found out who was at fault?

The general rule, and what it leaves open

Article 1150 is the residual rule for counting: the time for prescription for all kinds of actions, when there is no special provision which ordains otherwise, shall be counted from the day they may be brought. Two things follow. The starting point is tied to when the action became available, not to when the claimant became ready, willing or informed. And the whole rule yields to any special provision that fixes a different starting point, which is why nobody can answer this question properly without first identifying what your claim is founded on.

Why a collision usually starts the clock the same day

In a road accident everything the action needs is in place at impact: someone was at fault, damage was done, and the person injured is entitled to demand indemnity. The action may be brought from that moment, so that is ordinarily the day the count begins. Not knowing the driver's name, or discovering months later that the vehicle belonged to a company, are practical obstacles rather than legal ones. The article does not suspend the running while you investigate, and planning your case on the assumption that it does is the most expensive mistake available here.

Which period is running matters more than the start date

The starting point is only half the arithmetic. Different actions carry different periods: Article 1144 gives ten years upon a written contract, upon an obligation created by law and upon a judgment; Article 1145 gives six upon an oral contract or a quasi-contract; Article 1149 gives five years for actions whose periods are not fixed anywhere else. An action founded on quasi-delict has its own special period fixed elsewhere in the Code, and it is shorter than people expect. Ask which provision governs your claim before relying on any calculation.

What can interrupt the running

Article 1155 recognises three interruptions: the prescription of actions is interrupted when they are filed before the court, when there is a written extrajudicial demand by the creditors, and when there is any written acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor. A dated written demand sent while you were still negotiating with an insurer may therefore matter more than anything else in the file. Gather the correspondence and fix the date of the accident from the records made at the time, then get advice quickly — this is a question where a month decides the answer.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

• Multi-realty Devt. Corp. vs. The Makati Tuscany Condo. Corp, G.R. No. 146726, June 16, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• One Shipping Corporation vs. Heirs of the Late Ricardo R. Abarrientos, G.R. No. 255802, October 12, 2022 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Gloria S. Dy vs. People of the Philippines, Mandy Commodities Co., Inc, G.R. No. 189081, August 10, 2016 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• University of Santo Tomas Faculty Union vs. University of Santo Tomas, G.R. No. 203957, July 30, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 1155 — The Three Ways to Interrupt Prescription
• Civil Code, Article 1149 — The Catch-All — 5 Years