Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Virginia
At a glance
| Governing law | Va. Code §§ 8.01-246 (general contract debt: 5yr signed writing, 3yr unsigned writing or oral, plus a 2024-added 3yr medical-debt carve-out), 8.01-230 (accrual), 8.01-229(G) (new promises), 8.01-247 (borrowing statute), 8.2-725 (UCC sale-of-goods contracts, 4 years), 8.01-235 (affirmative-defense-only bar) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 5 years (§ 8.01-246(2)), but ONLY if the writing is signed by the party to be charged (the debtor) or the debtor's agent: a written contract the debtor never signed instead falls into the shorter 3-year bucket under § 8.01-246(4)(i), the same as an oral debt. A contract for the sale of goods follows the UCC's separate 4-year period (§ 8.2-725) instead of either |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 3 years (§ 8.01-246(4)(ii)): the same bucket as a written-but-unsigned-by-the-debtor contract. Virginia's real dividing line for the longer period is whether the debtor personally signed the writing, not whether a writing exists at all |
| When the clock starts | The date of the breach itself. Virginia's general accrual statute, § 8.01-230, expressly states the limitations period begins running 'when the breach of contract occurs in actions ex contractu and not when the resulting damage is discovered': a direct statutory rejection of a discovery rule for ordinary contract claims. A UCC sale-of-goods claim accrues the identical date-of-breach way under § 8.2-725(2), 'regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach' |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | A new promise or written acknowledgment can extend the clock, but only if made 'by writing signed by him or his agent' (§ 8.01-229(G)); the statute has no exception for a bare unwritten payment or an oral promise alone. Timing matters: per the Virginia Supreme Court's Ingram v. Harris (1939), a qualifying written promise made BEFORE the original deadline runs simply extends that same debt's clock for a fresh period, but a promise made AFTER the deadline has already passed does not revive the original debt: it instead creates a wholly new, separate cause of action on the promise itself, with the old time-barred debt serving only as consideration |
| Special rule for consumer debt | Yes, and recently added: a 2024 amendment (HB 34, eff. July 1, 2024) added subsection B to § 8.01-246 setting a distinct 3-year period specifically for medical debt, running from the due date on the final invoice for the health care service, not from the date of breach the way ordinary debt works, unless the provider offers a payment plan, in which case a breach of that plan gets its own 3-year period from the date of breach. This applies even to actions brought by the Commonwealth itself |
| Out-of-state debt | Yes, and unlike many states, with no resident exception at all: § 8.01-247 bars an action on a contract governed by another state's law 'if the right of action thereon is barred either by the laws of such state or country or of this Commonwealth': the shorter of Virginia's period or the other state's period controls, full stop, regardless of whether either party is a Virginia resident |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense only, and Virginia is explicit about the mechanism: § 8.01-235 provides that the bar of an expired limitation period cannot be raised by demurrer and may be raised only as an affirmative defense in a responsive pleading: a debtor who doesn't plead it that way loses the defense. No separate Virginia statute independently bars a creditor or collection agency from suing on, or merely continuing to seek, a time-barred debt |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Virginia's contract-debt deadlines sit in Title 8.01 (Civil Remedies and Procedure), Chapter 4 ("Limitations of Actions"): § 8.01-246 sets the general periods and, since 2024, the medical-debt carve-out; § 8.01-230 supplies the accrual rule; § 8.01-229(G) covers new promises; and § 8.01-247 is the borrowing statute. Virginia's Uniform Commercial Code, § 8.2-725, separately governs contracts for the sale of goods. Section 8.01-235 confirms expiration works only as an affirmative defense.
How long you have on a written debt
Five years, but only if the writing is "signed by the party to be charged thereby, or by his agent", meaning the debtor's own signature, not merely a writing that describes the deal. Section 8.01-246(2) sets this 5-year period "whether such writing be under seal or not." If the debtor never signed the writing, § 8.01-246(4)(i) instead applies the shorter 3-year period, the same one that covers purely oral debt. A contract for the sale of goods, which can include many retail installment purchases, follows the separate 4-year UCC period in § 8.2-725 instead.
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Three years, under § 8.01-246(4)(ii). This is the identical period that applies to a written contract the debtor didn't sign, so Virginia's real fault line is the debtor's signature, not whether any writing exists at all.
When the clock starts
The date the breach itself occurred. Section 8.01-230 states plainly that the limitation period runs "when the breach of contract occurs in actions ex contractu and not when the resulting damage is discovered", an explicit statutory rejection of a discovery rule for ordinary contract claims. A UCC sale-of-goods claim accrues the same way under § 8.2-725(2): "when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach," with a narrow exception only for a warranty explicitly extending to future performance.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Only a signed writing counts, and timing changes what it does. Section 8.01-229(G) permits a promise in a writing signed by the debtor or the debtor's agent to extend the clock; a written acknowledgment from which a promise to pay can be implied also counts. But the Virginia Supreme Court's 1939 decision in Ingram v. Harris drew a sharp line based on when that promise is made: a written promise made BEFORE the original debt's deadline expires simply extends the same debt's clock for a fresh period. A written promise made AFTER the original deadline has already run does something different, it doesn't revive the old, expired debt at all. Instead, it creates a brand-new, separate cause of action based on the promise itself, with the old debt serving only as the "consideration" for that new promise. Either way, a bare unwritten payment alone, with no accompanying signed writing, doesn't count under the statute's text.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
Yes, for medical debt specifically, and it's recent. A 2024 amendment (HB 34, effective July 1, 2024) added subsection B to § 8.01-246: any action to collect medical debt, written or unwritten, is barred unless brought within 3 years "from the due date applicable to the final invoice for a health care service." If the provider offers a payment plan, that 3-year clock instead runs from the date the debtor breaches the plan. This carve-out applies even to the Commonwealth's own collection actions. Ordinary consumer debt like credit cards and personal loans has no separate period, it follows the general signed-writing/unsigned-or-oral split above.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Virginia applies the shorter period, with no exceptions. Section 8.01-247 states flatly that "no action shall be maintained on any contract which is governed by the law of another state or country if the right of action thereon is barred either by the laws of such state or country or of this Commonwealth." Unlike states that exempt their own residents from this kind of rule, Virginia's borrowing statute contains no such carve-out at all.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary default, stated directly in the statute itself. Section 8.01-235 provides that the bar of an expired limitation period "cannot be set up by demurrer" and can be raised only as an affirmative defense in a responsive pleading, so a debtor who doesn't plead it that way in the answer loses the defense. No separate Virginia statute independently stops a creditor or collection agency from suing on, or simply continuing to seek, a time-barred debt.
What trips people up
Because Virginia's longer 5-year period depends specifically on the DEBTOR's own signature, not just the existence of a writing, a creditor holding a written account application or terms-of-service page the debtor never actually signed may find the shorter 3-year period applies instead. And because a promise made after the original debt has already expired creates a brand-new claim rather than reviving the old one, a debtor who signs a payment agreement on old, already-time-barred debt may be surprised that they've created a fresh, separately enforceable obligation, distinct from the debt they thought was dead.
Common questions
Does my credit card debt get 5 years or 3? It depends on whether the account agreement was actually signed by you. Many card agreements are accepted electronically or by using the card rather than by a physical signature, which can put the debt in the shorter 3-year bucket rather than the 5-year one.
I have an old hospital bill, how long does the hospital have to sue? Since July 2024, medical debt gets its own 3-year period running from the due date on the final invoice, not from a missed-payment date, under § 8.01-246(B).
I signed a new payment agreement on an old debt, did that revive it? If the original deadline hadn't passed yet, yes, it extends the same debt's clock. If the original deadline had already passed, the signed agreement instead creates a separate, new legal obligation based on that agreement itself, rather than reviving the old one.
Does it matter that my debt originated with a company in another state? Yes. Virginia applies whichever period is shorter, its own or the other state's, with no exception for Virginia residents.
Statutes and sources
- Va. Code § 8.01-246, "In actions on any contract that is not otherwise specified and that is in writing and signed by the party to be charged thereby ... within five years ... In actions upon (i) any contract ... in writing and not signed by the party to be charged ... or (ii) any unwritten contract, express or implied, within three years.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-246/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.01-246(B), "such an action is barred if not commenced within three years from the due date applicable to the final invoice for a health care service unless the contract with a hospital or health care provider is for a payment plan.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-246/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.01-230, "when the breach of contract occurs in actions ex contractu and not when the resulting damage is discovered.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title8.01/chapter4/article1/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.01-229(G), "promises, by writing signed by him or his agent, payment of money on such contract ... An acknowledgment in writing, from which a promise of payment may be implied, shall be deemed to be such promise.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-229/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.01-247, "No action shall be maintained on any contract which is governed by the law of another state or country if the right of action thereon is barred either by the laws of such state or country or of this Commonwealth.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-247/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.2-725, "An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued. ... A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.2/chapter2/section8.2-725/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
- Va. Code § 8.01-235, "Bar of expiration of limitation period raised only as affirmative defense in responsive pleading.", https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-235/ (accessed 2026-08-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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