Contract trap · Any contract
Short claim deadlines
Claims must be brought within one year (insurance: 12-24 months from the date of loss, not from denial) or are 'forever barred'; billing errors must be reported within 30-60 days; a written notice and 60-day negotiation precede any action; the drafter is sole judge of conformity or breach and the burden of proof is shifted to you.
- Severity
- Serious
- How often it turns up
- Regular
- Holds up?
- Often void
- Clause phrases
- 22
What it looks like in a contract
Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.
In English-language contracts
- any claim must be filed within one (1) year after it arose
- or be forever barred
- regardless of any statute or law to the contrary
- no action can be brought unless
- within one year after the date of loss
- you must notify us within 30 days of any billing error
- before initiating any claim you must send a Notice of Dispute
- 60-day informal negotiation period
- we have sole discretion to determine whether
- you bear the burden of proving
- the burden of proving that the loss is covered rests with you
In Russian-language contracts
- претензии принимаются в течение 10 дней
- по истечении указанного срока претензии не принимаются
- срок исковой давности составляет
- требования могут быть предъявлены в течение
- в течение одного года с момента наступления события
- срок для предъявления требований к страховщику
- обязательный досудебный порядок урегулирования
- Компания самостоятельно определяет наличие нарушения
- бремя доказывания лежит на Пользователе
- бремя доказывания лежит на страхователе
- оспорить списание можно в течение
Check your own contract
Paste a clause, a page or the whole document. Nothing leaves your browser: the matching runs here, on this page, against the phrases above.
Why it bites
Statutory limitation periods of 2-6 years are quietly cut to months while adjusting drags on; a missed notice step kills the claim; consumers discover the clause only when the insurer or company pleads it.
Is it enforceable where you are
The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.
In the US, unconscionability and the FTC Act §5 bar on unfair and deceptive practices are the general backstops; in the EU and the UK, consumer standard terms are tested under Directive 93/13 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
United States
Contractual limitation periods generally enforceable if reasonable (often ≥1 year; insurance subject to statutory minimums, e.g. Florida 5 years, and some courts start the clock at denial); pre-suit notice steps enforced as arbitration conditions; unfair-claims statutes police delay.
European Union
93/13 Annex (m) (sole interpreter) and (q) (burden of proof, hindering remedies); limitation periods and consumer remedies are mandatory in Member States (German VVG §15 suspends limitation during claim handling).
- Cited
- 93/13 Annex (m)
- VVG §15
United Kingdom
CRA 2015 Sch 2 paras 16, 20; Limitation Act 1980 periods cannot be contracted away against consumers; FOS complaints within 6 years of the event or 3 years of awareness.
- Cited
- CRA 2015 Sch 2 paras 16
- Limitation Act 1980
Russia
ст. 198 ГК — сроки исковой давности не могут быть изменены соглашением сторон; ст. 966 ГК — 2 года по имущественному страхованию (3 по ответственности), исчисляются с момента отказа/недоплаты (п. 77 Пленума ВС № 19/2024); ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 11, 12, 14 ЗоЗПП — обязательный досудебный порядок, возложение бремени доказывания и условия, не связанные с недостатками, ничтожны.
- Cited
- Пленума ВС № 19/2024
- ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 11
- ст. 198 ГК
- ст. 966 ГК
Where this has actually happened
Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.
- Microsoft Services Agreement — 60-day informal negotiation required before arbitration
- Discord Terms of Service — written Notice of Dispute with 60-day response period
- Пленум ВС РФ № 19 от 25.06.2024, п. 77 — срок давности по страховым спорам течёт с момента отказа или недоплаты страховщика
What to do
In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.
- Diary deadlines from the date of loss or event, send notices by trackable means, and file or obtain a written tolling agreement before the period lapses
- EU/UK/RU: limitation periods and burden-of-proof rules cannot be shortened against consumers — cite them (RU: ст. 198 ГК
- Insurance 2 years from refusal/underpayment, ст. 966 ГК, п. 77 Пленума ВС № 19/2024)
- Dispute charges with your card issuer promptly regardless.
Traps that travel with it
Drafters who use one of these usually use several.