How to File a Government Claim After a Bus Accident

The claim rules cover the state, counties, cities, districts, public authorities, public agencies and other public corporations (Gov. Code § 811.2). After a bus injury, the right one is usually the transit agency or city that runs the route; for a crash caused by a road or freeway defect, it may be the city, the county or Caltrans; for a school bus, the school district. More than one entity can be involved, and each needs its own claim.

To get the legal name and official mailing address right, the Secretary of State and each county clerk keep a Registry of Public Agencies with each agency's full legal name and official mailing address (Gov. Code § 53051). Our public transportation accident page lists the claim offices of California's largest transit agencies.

The claim must be signed by you or someone on your behalf (Gov. Code § 910.2) and must show (Gov. Code § 910):

1. Your name and mailing address.
2. The address where you want notices sent.
3. The date, place and other circumstances of the incident.
4. A general description of your injuries and losses, as far as they are known.
5. The names of the public employees who caused the injury, if you know them.
6. For claims under $10,000, the amount and how you calculated it. Above $10,000, no dollar amount: just say whether the case would be a limited civil case.

Many cities and transit agencies publish their own claim forms. Claims against the state must use the form provided by the Department of General Services (Gov. Code § 910.4) and are filed with a $25 fee or a fee waiver request (Gov. Code § 911.2(b)).

A claim against a local agency is presented by delivering it to the agency's clerk, secretary or auditor, or by mailing it to the clerk, secretary, auditor or governing body at its principal office. Electronic filing counts only if the agency has authorized it by ordinance or resolution. State claims go to the Department of General Services (Gov. Code § 915).

A mailed claim counts as presented the day it is deposited in the mail, if it is properly addressed with postage paid (Gov. Code § 915.2(a)). Keep a stamped copy or proof of mailing: that date is what meets the six-month deadline.

1. Within 20 days, the agency may send a notice that the claim is insufficient, listing what is missing (Gov. Code § 910.8). If it doesn't, it generally waives those defects, unless the claim gave no address at all (Gov. Code § 911).
2. Within 45 days, the agency must act. You can agree in writing to extend that time; if it does nothing, the claim is treated as rejected on the last day (Gov. Code § 912.4).
3. A rejection notice has to warn you that you have six months from the date it was delivered or mailed to file a lawsuit (Gov. Code § 913(b)). Mark that date the day the letter arrives.

No lawsuit for damages can be filed against the agency until the claim is acted on or deemed rejected (Gov. Code § 945.4). After that, the suit must be filed within six months of a written rejection notice that was personally delivered or mailed, or within two years of the injury if no proper notice was sent (Gov. Code § 945.6(a)).

An agency can be liable for injuries its employees cause on the job (Gov. Code § 815.2(a)), but it can't be ordered to pay punitive damages (Gov. Code § 818). If you were hurt riding the bus, our bus passenger injury page explains the duty the operator owed you.

The claim isn't necessarily lost. You can ask the agency for leave to present a late claim, in writing, within a reasonable time and no more than one year after the injury, explaining the delay and attaching the proposed claim (Gov. Code § 911.4).

The agency has 45 days to decide, and silence counts as a denial (Gov. Code § 911.6(a), (c)). It must grant the application if the delay came from mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect and the agency wasn't prejudiced; if the injured person was a minor for the whole six months; if the person was physically or mentally incapacitated for that period and could not file because of it; or if the person died before the six months ran out (§ 911.6(b)).

If the application is denied, you can petition the superior court for relief within six months of the denial (Gov. Code § 946.6).