In agency disputes, businesses often focus on whether the agent was entitled to request particular information.
In practice, another issue can be equally important:
👉 whether the agent asserted the claim at the right time and in the right way.
Even a potentially valid claim can fail.
📌 The Civil Code requires the agent to bring proceedings within six months of making the request to the principal.
This deadline raises significant procedural issues.
⚖️ One view treats it as a strict, extinguishing time limit: after it expires, the claim simply ceases to exist. The court then considers expiry of its own motion, and the agent permanently loses the ability to pursue the claim successfully.
Another view treats it as a limitation period, meaning that the business must raise the appropriate defence itself.
👉 The right litigation strategy can therefore determine the outcome.
⚠️ How and to whom the agent made the request also matters. Practical questions include:
- whether an email is sufficient — generally, yes;
- whether the request reached the right person: delivery to an employee unauthorised to represent the business may be ineffective even if that employee worked with the agent day to day;
- exactly when the business could acquaint itself with the request — the agent bears the burden of proof.
An effective defence often rests on these apparently technical issues.
📌 Conclusion?
Agency disputes concern more than the agreement’s terms and the amount of commission.
Equally important can be:
- deadlines;
- the method of communication;
- proper handling of the dispute from the outset.
