Sec. 52-592. Accidental failure of suit; allowance of new action.
Sec. 52-593a. Action not lost where process served after expiration of limitation period.
Sec. 52-592. Accidental failure of suit; allowance of new action. (a) If any action, commenced within the time limited by law, has failed one or more times to be tried on its merits because of insufficient service or return of the writ due to unavoidable accident or the default or neglect of the officer to whom it was committed, or because the action has been dismissed for want of jurisdiction, or the action has been otherwise avoided or defeated by the death of a party or for any matter of form; or if, in any such action after a verdict for the plaintiff, the judgment has been set aside, or if a judgment of nonsuit has been rendered or a judgment for the plaintiff reversed, the plaintiff, or, if the plaintiff is dead and the action by law survives, his executor or administrator, may commence a new action, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, for the same cause at any time within one year after the determination of the original action or after the reversal of the judgment. For purposes of this section, receipt in the underlying action of the summons and complaint by the defendant or the defendant's agent or representative, including the defendant's purported insurer alleged to be obligated to defend the action, shall be a sufficient, but not exclusive means to constitute commencement of the action.
(b) When any action has been brought against an executor or administrator or continued against an executor or administrator after the death of the defendant and has failed for any of the causes listed in subsection (a) of this section, the plaintiff, or his executor or administrator in case a cause of action survives, may commence a new action within six months after the determination of the original action.
(c) If an appeal is had from any such judgment to the Supreme Court or Appellate Court, the time the case is pending upon appeal shall be excluded in computing the time as above limited.
(d) The provisions of this section shall apply to any defendant who files a cross complaint in any action, and to any action between the same parties or the legal representatives of either of them for the same cause of action or subject of action brought to any court in this state, either before dismissal of the original action and its affirmance or within one year after the dismissal and affirmance, and to any action brought to the United States circuit or district court for the district of Connecticut which has been dismissed without trial upon its merits or because of lack of jurisdiction in such court. If such action is within the jurisdiction of any state court, the time for bringing the action to the state court shall commence from the date of dismissal in the United States court, or, if an appeal or writ of error has been taken from the dismissal, from the final determination of the appeal or writ of error.
(e) The provisions of this section shall apply to any claim against the state for which a notice of claim has been properly and timely filed with the Office of the Claims Commissioner in accordance with sections 4-147 and 4-148 and which thereafter has been dismissed by the Office of the Claims Commissioner pursuant to section 4-142.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to (1) designate an insurer as a general or statutory agent for service of process on behalf of the purported insured, (2) affect the requirements of formal service under the applicable procedural provisions of the general statutes or rules of the court, (3) obligate the insurer to serve any complaint, or other legal action, upon the purported insured, (4) alleviate the plaintiff's obligation to properly serve process upon the purported insured within the timeframes prescribed in this section, or (5) be relevant to whether a duty to defend or indemnity coverage may be owed by the served insurer to the purported insured, nor shall any action taken or not taken by the served insurer be deemed an admission or in any way relevant to the issue of whether a duty to defend or indemnity coverage may be owed. The provisions of this section shall apply solely to the question of whether an action was timely commenced for purposes of this savings provision of the general statutes.
(1949 Rev., S. 8332; P.A. 79-267; P.A. 82-160, S. 251; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 50, 82; P.A. 98-20, S. 1, 2; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7, S. 30; P.A. 16-127, S. 28; P.A. 25-118, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 79-267 changed wording, referring to dismissal of action rather than erasure from docket and to setting aside of judgment rather than arrest of judgment and deleting reference to abatement of writs, to conform to changes in superior court rules; P.A. 82-160 reworded provisions and divided section into Subsecs; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 included reference to appellate court in Subsec. (c); P.A. 98-20 added Subsec. (e) making section applicable to certain claims against the state that have been dismissed by the Claims Commissioner pursuant to Sec. 4-142, effective April 24, 1998; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-7 deleted reference to clerk of the Office of the Claims Commissioner, effective October 5, 2009; P.A. 16-127 amended Subsec. (e) by substituting “Office of the Claims Commissioner” for “Claims Commissioner”, effective June 9, 2016; P.A. 25-118 amended Subsec. (a) by providing that receipt of summons and complaint in underlying action by defendant or defendant's agent or representative, including defendant's purported insurer, shall be sufficient means to constitute commencement of action and added Subsec. (f) re other provisions not being affected and that provisions of section apply solely to question of whether action was timely commenced for purposes of savings provision.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) |
(Return to List of Chapters) |
(Return to List of Titles) |
Sec. 52-593a. Action not lost where process served after expiration of limitation period. (a) Except in the case of an appeal from an administrative agency governed by section 4-183, a cause or right of action shall not be lost because of the passage of the time limited by law within which the action may be brought, if the process to be served is personally delivered to a state marshal, constable or other proper officer within such time and the process is served, as provided by law, within thirty days of the delivery. As used in this subsection, “process to be served” means the original process printed on paper and personally signed in ink by the issuing authority, along with sufficient copies for service.
(b) In any such case, the officer making service shall endorse under oath on such officer's return the date of delivery of the process to such officer for service in accordance with this section.
(1967, P.A. 890; P.A. 82-160, S. 253; P.A. 88-317, S. 29, 107; P.A. 00-99, S. 116, 138, 154; P.A. 01-195, S. 66, 181; P.A. 03-224, S. 14; P.A. 10-36, S. 11; 10-178, S. 4; P.A. 25-78, S. 15.)
History: P.A. 82-160 rephrased the section and inserted Subsec. indicators; P.A. 88-317 inserted “Except in the case of an appeal from an administrative agency governed by section 4-183,” at the beginning of Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 1989, and applicable to all agency proceedings commencing on or after that date; P.A. 00-99 replaced reference to officer with state marshal and deleted provision re personal delivery to sheriff in Subsec. (a) and made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 01-195 substituted “state marshal” for “officer” in Subsec. (b), effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 03-224 increased time period for service of process from 15 to 30 days in Subsec. (a) and made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 2, 2003; P.A. 10-36 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “state marshal authorized to serve the process” with “state marshal, constable or other proper officer within such time” and amended Subsec. (b) to replace “state marshal” with “officer” and “state marshal's” with “officer's”, effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 10-178 made identical changes as P.A. 10-36; P.A. 25-78 amended Subsec. (a) by defining “process to be served”.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) |
(Return to List of Chapters) |
(Return to List of Titles) |