NI Limitation — Limitation (NI) Order 1989 6-year debt enforcement bar
Article 4(a) of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 imposes a six-year limitation period on actions founded on simple contract or quasi-contract. A DfI PCN that has gone to debt-collection / bailiff stage more than six years after the original contravention (without action started in court) is statute-barred and cannot be enforced. NI debt collection is governed by the Judgments Enforcement (NI) Order 1981 — the Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO) handles enforcement, not bailiffs as in England.
Legal basis
Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (SI 1989/1339 (NI 11)) Art 4; Judgments Enforcement (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (SI 1981/226 (NI 6))
How to identify this in your case
Calculate >6 years from contravention to last enforcement action. If no court action or EJO certificate within 6 years, statute-barred.
Sample appeal wording
Dear Sir/Madam, Re: PCN [PCN_NUMBER] — purported demand dated [DATE] The alleged contravention occurred on [DATE]. More than six years have elapsed since that date and no proceedings have been issued in the County Court for Northern Ireland nor a Certificate of Judgment lodged with the Enforcement of Judgments Office. The debt is therefore statute-barred under Article 4(a) of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. I do not acknowledge the debt and require that you cease enforcement action and remove any adverse credit data within 14 days. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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Scan my ticketSources
- legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1989/1339
- legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1981/226