While statutes of limitation define a person's right to pursue claims after a certain time period from the date of the accrued cause of action (date when the injury occurred), a statute of repose prevents any action from being taken after the specified period of time, regardless of whether an injury has occurred or not.

The date from which a statute of repose runs is a typically earlier date, and usually related to an action of the defendant. A statute of repose may function to actually prevent an accrued cause of action, eliminating the plaintiff's rights or blocking the emergence of these rights.  Both the statutes of limitation and statutes of repose are quite similar in that both are designed to prevent the filling of late claims because it is harder to gather evidence when a significant amount of time has passed. Where they differ is the conclusion in the statutes of repose that a defendant should have immunity from liability after a certain point in time, even if an injury has been caused because of the product.

A statute of repose in certain liability claims does not take into account the complexities involved in recordkeeping involving older claims. Thus, such statutes protect certain sectors or persons from liability after a certain period of time.