What is a key exception to the general limitation periods for civil claims?

• A. The rule that there is no exception
• B. The 10-year long-stop
• C. The discovery rule
• D. Defenses that pause the clock

Answer: (C)

A key idea here is that there are exceptions to general limitation periods to protect claimants who don’t know they have a claim yet. The discovery rule postpones when the limitation clock starts until the claimant discovers, or ought reasonably to have discovered, both that they have suffered loss and that it was caused by someone else’s fault. This matters for latent injuries or concealed wrongdoing, where the harm or its cause isn’t obvious at first. Once discovery occurs, the period runs from that date, not from when the breach happened. Other concepts exist—like a long-stop that caps the maximum time regardless of discovery, or tolling that pauses the clock for certain circumstances—but the discovery rule is the standard way the law accommodates late knowledge.