Question 1

What is the California Tort Claims Act?

Accepted Answer

If a government agency, employee, or the government itself is responsible for your injuries, there are very specific requirements you must follow in order to file a personal injury lawsuit against the government. Under the California Tort Claims Act, you are required to give notice to the government within a set period of time or you lose your opportunity to seek money damages from the party that injured you. However, the law also carves out certain limited exceptions that allow the State of California to face liability. For those limited exceptions, a very strict filing claim procedure is in place which must be strictly followed for an injury victim to recover damages.

Question 2

When can the government be held responsible for my injuries?

Accepted Answer

Under the Act, the government can be held legally responsible for personal injury damages in certain situations. These situations include: The negligent acts of employees, The negligent acts of independent contractors, Premises liability for dangerous conditions on government property, and When damages are caused by the public entities' failure to carry out a duty imposed by law. The entity responsible in a California Tort Claims Act claim is generally the government entity or agency responsible for the employee, property, or carrying out a duty. The CTCA applies to state, county, and local government agencies and departments, including city or municipality agencies.

Question 3

How do I file a claim under the California Tort Claims Act?

Accepted Answer

To file a claim against the State of California, a county government, or a municipal government agency, the injury victim must give notice of his or her claim. This may include filing a report or sending a letter which may suffice as notice, so long as it contains all of the necessary requirements. However, many agencies and municipalities have claim forms that individuals can fill out to provide notice of the claim.

Question 4

What are the time limits for bringing a claim?

Accepted Answer

The act sets forth very strict guidelines for filing a claim against a government entity or agency. Failure to follow these strict guidelines may result in the dismissal of any late claim. This means that an otherwise proper lawsuit for which a plaintiff could receive damages may be invalidated because it was outside of the strict, and often short, time period in which to file. Most personal injury claims have a limited time to file a claim. However, the statute of limitations, or time allowed to file a claim against government entities is generally shorter than claims against private parties. A notice must be filed within six months for claims that concern: Personal injury, Wrongful death, Damage to personal property, or Damage to crops. The notice must be filed within six months of the date of the injury. In very limited circumstances, the six-month period may not begin to run until the plaintiff first discovers (or should have discovered) the injury. For example, in a medical negligence case, the victim may not be aware of an accident or injury until weeks or months later.  Claims which relate to all other causes must be brought within one year of the injury. These actions would include, but are not limited to: Breach of contract actions; Damage to real property; or Declaratory judgment actions not subject to a six-month limitation. It is critical that the claim is filed within the appropriate time limit to protect the lawsuit from being dismissed.

Question 5

What happens after I file my claim?

Accepted Answer

Once your claim is filed, the public agency generally has 45 days in which to respond or take action. This time is extended somewhat depending on if the claim is mailed and from where the claim is mailed. There are 5 possible outcomes after a claim is filed: 1) The entity fails to respond within the appropriate time period. This means that the claim is deemed rejected. 2) The entity may approve the claim in whole or in part. The entity may offer a compromise to the claim, which may constitute a settlement of the whole case. 3) The entity may reject the claim. 4) The entity may state the claim does not have sufficient information. The claim can be amended within the time period set by law to fill in that missing information. 5) The entity may return the claim for being untimely.

Question 6

What do I do if my claim is rejected?

Accepted Answer

If the claim is rejected, a claimant can file suit in state court against the government. To do so, a claimant files a petition with the Superior Court asking to be relieved from the claims requirement. If the original claim was rejected in whole or in part by the government entity by some form of notice from that entity, the claimant has only six months to file the petition with the court. If the original claim was rejected because the governmental entity failed to respond to the notice, the time in which to file the petition is two years from the date of rejection.

¿Qué hace la Ley de Reclamaciones por Agravios de California?

¿Cuándo puedo demandar al gobierno?

¿Cuáles son algunos ejemplos?

¿Cuándo no puedo demandar al gobierno?

¿Cómo puedo demandar bajo el CTCA?

¿Cuál es el plazo de prescripción para presentar una reclamación?

¿Qué sucede después de presentar mi reclamación?

¿Necesito un abogado?

En resumen

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