Nine months
BIFA (2005) Section 27 B.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Sub-Paragraph (A) above the Company shall in any event be discharged of all liability whatsoever and howsoever arising in respect of any service provided for the Customer or which the Company has undertaken to provide unless suit be brought and written notice thereof given to the Company within nine months from the date of the event or occurrence alleged to give rise to a cause of action against the Company.
CIFFA Section 19.
The Company shall, unless otherwise expressly agreed, be discharged of all liability under these Conditions unless suit is brought within 9 months from
(a)the date of delivery of the Goods for claims to damage to goods, or
(b)the date when the Goods should have been delivered for claims for delay in delivery or loss of goods.
With respect to loss or damage other than loss of or damage to the Goods, the 9 months period shall be counted from the time when the act or omission of the Company giving rise to the claim occurred.
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Peter Jones' Commentary:
These conditions adopt the same limitation period as is used by the FIATA Bill of Lading and the FIATA Model Rules Section 10. These provisions have been the subject of consideration by the courts of two countries, the issue being whether they meet the standards of "fairness" required under legislation that requires all standard terms and conditions to be reasonable. In one case the Singapore Court decided that the nine months time bar was unfair. A second trial judgement, this time in the English courts, also found that nine months was unfair. The second judgement was appealed and the Court of Appeal decided that the nine-month time bar clause was fair!