How Long Do You Have to Sue for a Debt in Hong Kong? The Six-Year Limitation Period

"Is this debt too old to chase?" It's a question that trips a lot of people up. Maybe it's money you lent a friend years ago that kept getting pushed back with "I'll pay you later." Maybe it's rent a former tenant left unpaid that you never got around to formally pursuing. Maybe it's an old invoice a client has been ignoring. The amount might not be huge, but there's always the same nagging question: after all this time, can you still get it back?

The good news is that time passing doesn't automatically mean you've lost the right to recover it — but it doesn't mean you can wait indefinitely either. Hong Kong law sets a clear deadline for this kind of money claim: the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347). This article draws on CLIC — the Community Legal Information Centre and published Hong Kong law-firm guidance to walk through exactly how the six-year period works, when it actually starts, what can restart it, how a secured or larger debt differs, and — if you're genuinely past six years — what's still worth doing.

How Long Do You Have to Recover a Debt in Hong Kong

Before deciding how to chase the money, the first thing worth confirming is whether the debt is still within time at all.

What is the general limitation period for a debt?

The answer is six years. Under section 4(1)(a) of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347), claims founded on a simple contract — which covers most of the common money disputes people face, including private loans, unpaid invoices and unpaid rent — must be brought within six years, or a court or tribunal will generally refuse to hear them. This six-year window applies regardless of the amount involved; even a claim worth a few hundred dollars is subject to exactly the same deadline.

When does the clock actually start running?

This is the point most people get wrong — and the one that matters most to your case. The clock starts on the date the breach occurred, which in practice usually means the date repayment fell due and wasn't paid — not the date you handed over or advanced the money.

For example: say you lent a friend HK$50,000 in January 2024, with an agreed repayment date of June 2024. Even though the money changed hands in January, the six-year clock doesn't start then — it starts in June, the date repayment was due and didn't happen. The same logic applies to unpaid rent: the clock for each instalment runs from the date that instalment fell due, not from the date the tenancy began (the same accrual principle is set out in this law firm's section-by-section breakdown of the Limitation Ordinance).

Getting this start date wrong can leave you thinking you have plenty of time left when the clock is actually already running — or has already run out. So the first real step, before anything else, is pinning down exactly when repayment was actually due.

What Restarts the Limitation Clock

Six years isn't a fixed countdown with no exceptions — two specific things can reset the clock back to zero.

Why do a written acknowledgement and a part-payment matter so much?

Under section 23(3) of the Limitation Ordinance, if the debtor acknowledges the debt in writing within the six-year period, or makes a part-payment, the cause of action is treated as deferred to the date of that acknowledgement (or the last payment) — and the six-year clock restarts from that date. In other words, a single valid acknowledgement can hand you another six years to recover the money.

But here's the catch: the acknowledgement must be in writing, and signed by the person making it (section 24(1)). Simply saying out loud "yeah, I still owe you" does not satisfy this requirement — if the other side later denies ever saying it, you have no written record to fall back on. By contrast, a WhatsApp message clearly stating the amount owed, sent from the debtor's own account, or a short signed acknowledgement, will generally be enough. A part-payment works the same way — even a partial repayment, as long as you can show a transfer record, restarts the clock.

Worth noting: the other route to an extended period is where the claim involves the other side's fraud, deliberate concealment, or a mistake (section 26(1)) — in those cases, the clock only starts once you discover (or could, with reasonable diligence, have discovered) the fraud, concealment or mistake. That said, this has a higher evidential bar; for most ordinary private-loan or unpaid-invoice recoveries, a written acknowledgement or a part-payment is the more practical route.

Mortgages, Charges and Larger Secured Debts

Not every debt follows the same six-year rule — there are two situations worth knowing about specifically.

Does a secured debt follow the same limitation period?

Where a debt is secured by a mortgage or a charge — for example, money lent against a property as security — recovering the principal can have a limitation period of up to twelve years (section 19(1)), double the six years that applies to a simple contract claim. However, recovering any outstanding interest on that sum is still only six years, running from the date the interest became due (section 19(5)). In other words, even if the principal is still within its twelve-year window, interest you haven't chased for more than six years may already be out of time.

This is less common in an ordinary private loan between friends or family (property-secured lending is less typical there), but if your loan agreement was executed as a deed, or genuinely involves a charge over property, it's worth keeping this twelve-year/six-year split in mind rather than assuming everything is a flat six years.

Does Passing Six Years Mean You Can No Longer Recover the Debt?

This is what worries people most: if you only realise the six years has already passed, is the debt simply gone?

Once the deadline has passed, what's actually still possible?

First, it's worth being clear about what the limitation period actually governs: it's a deadline on the formal legal process of filing a claim — it doesn't stop you from asking. Even past six years, you can still contact the other side and ask them to repay voluntarily, and there is nothing legally wrong if they choose to do so. The real risk is that if you do go ahead and file a formal claim, the other side (or their lawyer) is very likely to raise "out of time" as a defence — and if that defence succeeds, your claim becomes very difficult to pursue further.

It's worth noting that Hong Kong procedure allows a so-called "protective writ" to be filed to preserve a claim — filing one before the six-year period expires is treated in law as having already commenced the action, and the writ can then still be served on the other side within twelve months of being issued (see the law firm's breakdown of the Limitation Ordinance cited above). The existence of this mechanism itself tells you something important: the limitation deadline is real, and once it's approaching, the right move is to take formal action soon — not to assume a little more delay won't matter.

Put simply: six years is a real deadline, not a flexible suggestion. If your debt is close to, or right at, the six-year mark, the safest move is to get it assessed or file formally as soon as possible, rather than continuing to wait and hope the other side pays voluntarily.

If You're Only Thinking About Evidence Now, Is It Too Late?

Plenty of people only realise at this point that they never kept any formal record at all.

What can you still do before the six years are up?

It's not too late, and the sooner you act, the better. The first step is pulling together whatever evidence you already have — bank transfer records, WhatsApp messages, anything mentioning the debt — into a clear timeline, so you can pin down the actual repayment due date and know exactly how much time you have left.

The second step, if some time has already passed, is to proactively send a message that objectively states the amount and date, and then ask the other side to confirm it in writing — something like "just to confirm, you currently owe me HK$XX,XXX, and we agreed you'd repay it by the end of XX" — and ask them to reply confirming or to sign it. This does two things at once: it immediately strengthens the evidence you already hold, and — per sections 23(3) and 24(1) discussed above — a valid written acknowledgement can restart your six-year clock from that moment. Keep the wording factual and non-confrontational, which reduces the chance the other side gets defensive and refuses to confirm (for the full checklist of what a written loan note itself should contain, see How to Write a Loan Note (IOU) in Hong Kong).

If the other side keeps ignoring you, or refuses outright to confirm anything, consider sending a formal demand letter first, setting a clear deadline to respond or repay in writing — this itself can become part of your evidence later.

Filing at the Small Claims Tribunal: How the Limitation Period Applies

Once you've confirmed the debt is still within time, and the amount fits, the next question is naturally how to file formally.

If the amount is HK$75,000 or below, what's the process?

If the amount you're recovering is within the Small Claims Tribunal's ceiling of HK$75,000, you can use this comparatively simple, lawyer-free route — filing fees are tiered by claim amount, from HK$20 to HK$120. For the full filing process and forms, see our Small Claims Tribunal filing guide. Note that the limitation period has nothing to do with the size of the claim — even a claim worth only a few hundred dollars is subject to exactly the same six-year deadline; a smaller amount gets no automatic grace period.

Before filing, pull your transfer records, message screenshots and any written acknowledgement into one complete evidence bundle — the more organised your evidence, the easier it is for the Adjudicator to follow the facts, especially where limitation itself might be in dispute and a clear timeline matters most. If you're not sure whether your case is still within time, or you'd like company through the process from assessment to filing, see what our practical debt-recovery case guide actually covers.