Most people injured on public property or by a public employee assume they have the same two years to file suit that applies to any other personal injury claim in California. They don’t. Under the California Government Claims Act, a written claim has to be presented to the responsible public entity within six months of the injury, and failing to do so bars the lawsuit entirely, regardless of how serious the injuries are or how clear the liability is.
That six-month window closes more legitimate cases in California than any other procedural deadline. The rule applies to falls on city sidewalks, crashes involving OCTA buses or Caltrans vehicles, injuries caused by dangerous road conditions, incidents on school district property, and any other claim where the defendant is a public entity or a public employee acting in the scope of employment. The claim has to be in writing, it has to contain specific information, and it has to reach the right office before the clock runs.
This article explains what the Government Claims Act actually requires, which entities and situations fall under it, what the claim has to say, what happens after it’s presented, and the narrow relief available when the six-month deadline is missed. If you’ve been injured in a situation involving any city, county, state, or district in California, this is the background you need before you assume the ordinary two-year statute of limitations applies.
What the Government Claims Act Actually Does
California’s general statute of limitations for personal injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives an injured person two years from the date of injury to file suit. That deadline doesn’t apply to claims against public entities. Under Government Code section 945.4, no suit for money or damages may be brought against a public entity until a written claim has been presented and either acted upon or deemed rejected. Failure to present the claim within the statutory window is a complete defense.
For personal injury and wrongful death claims, Government Code section 911.2 sets the deadline at six months from the date the cause of action accrues, which is typically the date of the injury. The rule is procedural, but the consequence is substantive: a defective or untimely claim ends the case before the merits are ever reached. California courts have applied the rule strictly, and even sympathetic claimants have lost otherwise strong cases because the presentation requirement wasn’t met.
The theory behind the rule is that public entities need early notice of potential claims so they can investigate while evidence is fresh, evaluate settlement, and budget for potential liability. Whatever the rationale, the practical effect is that the injured person has roughly one-quarter of the time to act that they would have in a private-party case.
Who Counts as a Public Entity
The Act applies broadly. Government Code section 811.2 defines “public entity” to include the State of California, counties, cities, districts, public authorities, public agencies, and any other political subdivision or public corporation. In Orange County, that reach covers a long list of defendants a claimant might not initially recognize as governmental:
● Cities like Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Irvine, and Newport Beach
● The County of Orange and its agencies, including OC Public Works, OC Parks, and OC Animal Care
● OCTA and the transportation infrastructure it operates
● Caltrans, which owns and maintains state highways including I-5, I-405, portions of Pacific Coast Highway, and Ortega Highway
● School districts, community college districts, and the University of California and California State University systems
● Special districts covering water, sanitation, transit, hospitals, and fire protection
● Any city, county, or state employee acting in the course of employment
When a public employee causes an injury within the scope of employment, Government Code section 815.2 imposes liability on the public entity itself, subject to the same claim presentation requirement. That includes police vehicle collisions, city truck crashes, injuries caused by public works employees, and school bus incidents. The employer, not just the individual, is the target of the claim, and the deadline applies to both.
The Two Main Categories of Government Liability
Most personal injury claims against public entities fall into one of two categories.
The first is a dangerous condition of public property under Government Code section 835. A public entity is liable for injuries caused by a dangerous condition of its property when the condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury that occurred, and the entity either created the condition or had actual or constructive notice of it long enough to have taken protective measures. Common examples include unmarked drop-offs on public sidewalks, dangerous crosswalk configurations, potholes that cause loss of control, missing traffic signs, failed drainage that produces standing water, and defective design of roadways or intersections. The dangerous condition must be a substantial factor in causing the injury; ordinary wear and tear on public property doesn’t qualify.
The second is negligent acts by public employees under Government Code section 815.2, discussed above. This category includes crashes involving government vehicles, force incidents involving public safety employees, negligent supervision at government-run facilities, and any other injury caused by a public employee’s negligence within the scope of employment.
There are also narrower categories, including public transit crashes, injuries at government-run schools and hospitals, and pedestrian collisions involving state-owned or city-owned roadways. Each has its own statutory framework, but all run through the same six-month claim presentation requirement.
The Six-Month Deadline in Detail
The six-month clock under section 911.2 starts running on the date the cause of action accrues, which in most personal injury cases is the date of the injury itself. In some cases involving latent injuries or delayed discovery, accrual can be later, but relying on delayed discovery to save an otherwise stale claim is a difficult argument to win, and it should not be assumed to apply.
The claim has to be presented, not just prepared. Under Government Code section 915, presentation can be made by delivery to the entity’s clerk, secretary, auditor, or governing body, or by mailing to those recipients. For claims against the State of California, presentation is made to the Government Claims Program administered by the California Department of General Services. Each public entity typically has a specific claim form and a designated recipient, and using the wrong form or address can raise timing disputes even when the claim was mailed on time.
California courts apply the deadline strictly. Courts have refused to excuse untimely presentation in cases where the claimant was hospitalized, unrepresented, or unaware of the rule. The Act was designed to give public entities early notice, and the courts have generally enforced it in that spirit.
What the Claim Has to Contain
A defective claim is treated as if no claim had been presented at all, so the content of the document matters as much as the timing. Under Government Code section 910, the claim must include:
● The name and post office address of the claimant
● The post office address to which the person presenting the claim wants notices sent
● The date, place, and other circumstances of the occurrence giving rise to the claim
● A general description of the injury, damage, or loss incurred
● The name or names of the public employees involved, if known
● The amount claimed, if it is less than $10,000; if $10,000 or more, an indication of whether the claim would be a limited or unlimited civil case
Section 910.2 requires the claim to be signed by the claimant or by someone acting on the claimant’s behalf. Under section 910.8, the recipient entity may return a claim as insufficient. A returned claim doesn’t stop the deadline; the claimant has to correct and re-present within the remaining time.
Two common mistakes trip claimants up. The first is stating a specific dollar amount when the claim is above $10,000. Because that amount often anchors any later demand, the safer approach is the statutorily permitted indication of limited or unlimited civil case status. The second is naming the wrong entity, particularly in dangerous condition cases where the road or sidewalk in question sits on the boundary between a city and Caltrans jurisdiction, or between a city and the county. When jurisdiction is unclear, the correct approach is to present claims to every entity that could be responsible.
What Happens After the Claim Is Presented
Under Government Code section 912.4, the public entity has 45 days from presentation to act on the claim: accept it, reject it, allow it in part, or take no action. If the entity takes no action within 45 days, the claim is deemed rejected by operation of law. Once rejected, either by written notice or by operation of law, section 945.6 governs the time to file suit. Between presentation and the entity’s decision, the same adjuster tactics that appear in private cases show up here too, adapted to the government context.
If the entity provides a written rejection that complies with the statutory notice requirements, the claimant has six months from the date of that notice to file a civil action. If no proper written notice of rejection is given, the claimant has two years from the accrual of the cause of action to file suit. That distinction is important: the six-month post-rejection window is often shorter than most claimants expect, and it runs from the mailing of the notice rather than from the claimant’s receipt of it.
A public entity can also settle a claim after presentation, and many do in appropriate cases. Presentation isn’t just a procedural gate; it’s also the beginning of a negotiation. A well-prepared claim that clearly identifies liability and damages gives the entity’s risk management office a reason to evaluate settlement early.
Late Claim Relief: A Narrow Escape
When the six-month deadline is missed, Government Code section 911.4 provides a limited late-claim procedure. Within one year of accrual, the claimant may file a written application asking the entity to accept the late claim. The application must be accompanied by the proposed claim itself and must state a reason why the claim was not presented within six months.
Section 911.6 identifies the grounds on which the entity may grant relief: the failure to present was through mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect and the entity was not prejudiced; the claimant was a minor during the entire six-month period; the claimant was physically or mentally incapacitated during the entire six-month period; or the claimant died before expiration of the period. If the entity denies the application, section 946.6 allows the claimant to petition the superior court for relief within six months of the denial.
Late claim relief is not a substitute for timely presentation. Courts have interpreted excusable neglect narrowly, and forgetting the deadline, being unrepresented, or not knowing the rule existed generally do not qualify. Minor status is the most meaningful of the section 911.6 grounds in practice, but even there the analysis is fact-specific and the one-year outer limit under section 911.4 continues to run.
Common Orange County Scenarios
The scenarios that repeatedly generate government claims in Orange County include pedestrian collisions on Pacific Coast Highway involving state-maintained sections; crashes with OCTA buses; slip and fall injuries on defective municipal sidewalks; collisions caused by malfunctioning traffic signals; injuries at OC Parks facilities; dangerous condition claims involving city-owned beach access stairs and paths; school playground injuries; and vehicle collisions with police units or public works trucks. In head injury cases specifically, government defendants raise the same pre-existing condition and gap-in-treatment arguments private carriers use, layered on top of the claim presentation requirement.
In each of these scenarios, the claim has to go to the correct entity, on time, with the required content, or it will be barred. In pedestrian and roadway cases in particular, where jurisdiction over a stretch of road may be split between a city and Caltrans, claims frequently need to be filed with multiple entities to preserve the case against the ultimately responsible one.
What to Do Right Now If You’ve Been Injured on Government Property or by a Public Employee
The first move is not to wait for a police report, a repair estimate, or a full understanding of the injuries. The six-month clock is running from the date of the incident, and the other evidentiary steps can happen in parallel with the claim work.
Report the incident to the entity involved and preserve every piece of documentation from that report. Photograph the scene and the condition that caused the injury before it changes, particularly for dangerous condition claims where a broken curb, a missing sign, or a spilled substance can be repaired or removed within hours. Identify witnesses and their contact information at the scene. Request the incident report, traffic collision report, or 911 recording as soon as it becomes available.
Don’t give a recorded statement to a claims adjuster for the public entity or its insurer without speaking to an attorney first. Public entities and their risk pools use the same interview techniques private insurance carriers use when they deny a claim, and the same recorded statements that reduce private insurance claims can support a defense in a government case.
Above all, don’t assume the two-year statute of limitations applies. If there’s any chance the case involves a public entity, treat the deadline as six months until proven otherwise, and act accordingly.
How Wunderli Injury Law Handles Government Claims Cases
Government claims cases require a different early workup than private-party cases. The first steps are identifying every entity that could bear responsibility, preserving evidence before the entity’s own maintenance or repair operations alter it, and preparing the claim in the form the responsible office requires. In dangerous condition cases in particular, the notice element under Government Code section 835 requires early investigation into prior complaints, prior incidents, and inspection records that may be difficult to obtain later.
At Wunderli Injury Law, PC, the firm handles government claim cases for clients across Dana Point, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, and Newport Beach. Kyle’s certification as a Brain Injury Specialist through the Brain Injury Association of America is particularly relevant in traumatic brain injury cases involving crashes with public vehicles, falls on defective public property, and pedestrian incidents at dangerous intersections.
If the Government Is a Potential Defendant, Don’t Wait
The single most important fact about the California Government Claims Act is that its deadlines run whether you know about them or not. A legitimate case with strong liability and serious injuries is lost every day in California because someone assumed they had two years to act and discovered too late that they had six months.
Contact Wunderli Injury Law, PC today for a free, confidential case evaluation. Call the Dana Point office or reach out through www.wininjurylaw.com. There is no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you. Costs and expenses may apply depending on the outcome of your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the six-month deadline apply if I was injured on state property, like a Caltrans-maintained highway?
Yes. The Government Claims Act applies to claims against the State of California the same way it applies to cities and counties. Claims against the state are presented to the Government Claims Program administered by the California Department of General Services, using the state’s designated claim form. The six-month deadline under Government Code section 911.2 is the same.
What if I don’t know which government entity is responsible for the road, sidewalk, or building where I was injured?
Jurisdiction over public property in California is often split among cities, counties, the state, and special districts, and it isn’t always obvious from the location alone. When jurisdiction is unclear, the safer approach is to present a claim to every entity that could be responsible within the six-month window. A claim presented to the wrong entity does not preserve the case against the correct one.
What happens if the six-month deadline has already passed?
Government Code section 911.4 allows an application for leave to present a late claim within one year of accrual, but relief is granted only in narrow circumstances such as mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect (with no prejudice to the entity), minor status, incapacity, or the death of the claimant. Simply not knowing about the deadline does not qualify. If the six-month window has passed, an evaluation of late claim relief should happen immediately, because the one-year outer limit runs quickly.
Are children given more time to file a government claim?
Government Code section 911.6 recognizes minor status as a ground for late claim relief when the claimant was a minor during the entire six-month period. The rule preserves the ability to bring the claim in appropriate cases but does not eliminate the presentation requirement entirely, and the analysis is fact-specific. Do not assume a minor’s claim can wait.
Can I recover pain and suffering damages in a government case, or only medical bills?
Pain and suffering damages are generally recoverable in government cases in the same categories as private cases, subject to some statutory limits in specific contexts. The general damages framework, including economic and non-economic damages, is covered in more detail in our article on what a California personal injury case is worth.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Wunderli Injury Law, PC or any of its attorneys. Every case is different, and the outcome of any legal matter depends on the specific facts involved. If you have been injured in a situation potentially involving a public entity, you should consult with a qualified California personal injury attorney about your specific situation.
Sources and Citations
All citations verified against primary California authority.
[1] General statute of limitations for personal injury actions in California is two years from the date of injury. Source: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1.
[2] No suit for money or damages may be brought against a public entity until a written claim has been presented in accordance with the Government Claims Act and either acted upon or deemed rejected. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 945.4.
[3] Claims for personal injury, wrongful death, and damage to personal property must be presented within six months of accrual. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 911.2.
[4] Definition of “public entity” for purposes of the Government Claims Act. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 811.2.
[5] Public entity liability for injury caused by an act or omission of an employee acting within the scope of employment. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 815.2.
[6] Public entity liability for a dangerous condition of its property, including the notice and foreseeability elements. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 835.
[7] Required contents of a claim against a public entity. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 910.
[8] Signature requirement for claims. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 910.2.
[9] Return of insufficient claims by the recipient entity. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 910.8.
[10] Methods of presenting a claim to a public entity. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 915.
[11] Entity’s 45-day period to act on a claim; claim deemed rejected if no action taken. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 912.4.
[12] Time to file a civil action after rejection: six months from written notice of rejection, or two years from accrual if no notice is given. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 945.6.
[13] Application for leave to present a late claim, within one year of accrual. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 911.4.
[14] Grounds on which a public entity may grant late claim relief. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 911.6.
[15] Petition to the superior court for relief from the claim presentation requirement after denial. Source: Cal. Gov’t Code § 946.6.