Government Claims and Deadlines in Long Beach, CA Six Months, 45 Days and Suit

Long Beach is a charter city that handles its own claims. The City Attorney's office directs claimants to the Government Claims Act, Government Code sections 810 through 996.6, and states that claims for death, personal injury and personal property damage must be presented within six months of the incident, with one year applying to other claims, using a claim form submitted to the City Clerk at 411 West Ocean Boulevard (City of Long Beach, how to file a claim).

Which claims must go through this process

Government Code section 905 requires presentation of all claims for money or damages against local public entities under the applicable chapters, and then lists exceptions, including claims under the Revenue and Taxation Code or other tax procedures, claims requiring a mechanics or materialmen lien notice, claims by public employees for fees, salaries, wages, mileage or other expenses, claims for which workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy, applications for public assistance, applications for retirement or pension benefits, claims for principal or interest on bonds or other indebtedness, and claims by the state or by another public entity (Gov. Code 905, FindLaw). An injury claim against a city is squarely inside the requirement.

The presentation deadline

Government Code section 911.2 gives a claimant six months from accrual to present a claim over death, injury to a person, or harm to personal property or growing crops, and a full year for claims of any other kind (Gov. Code 911.2, leginfo). Six months from the date of an injury is the deadline that surprises people, because it can expire while treatment is still ongoing.

What the claim has to contain

Government Code section 910 requires the claim to show the claimant's name and post office address, the address to which notices should be sent, the date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence, a general description of the injury, damage or loss incurred so far as known at the time of presentation, the names of the public employees causing the injury if known, and the amount claimed if it totals less than ten thousand dollars, including the estimated amount of any prospective loss and the basis of computation. If the amount claimed exceeds ten thousand dollars, no dollar amount is included, but the claim must indicate whether it would be a limited civil case (Gov. Code 910, FindLaw). Defects in a claim are a recurring basis for challenge.

Late claims

Government Code section 911.4 allows a written application to the entity for leave to present a claim that was not presented within the six-month period, and requires that the application be presented within a reasonable time not to exceed one year after accrual of the cause of action, stating the reason for the delay, with the proposed claim attached. The section also describes how the one-year period is computed, including that time during which the injured person was a minor is counted while time during which the person is mentally incapacitated without a guardian or conservator is not (Gov. Code 911.4, leginfo).

The entity's response, including silence

Government Code section 912.4 requires the board to act on a claim within 45 days after presentation, with the same period applying to an amended claim, lets claimant and board lengthen that window by written agreement, and treats a board that neither acts nor responds in time as having rejected the claim on the final day of whatever period applies (Gov. Code 912.4, FindLaw). Section 913 requires written notice of the action taken or of the inaction deemed to be rejection, and directs that a rejection notice carry a warning: with limited exceptions, only six months remain, running from personal delivery or mailing of that notice, in which a court action may be started, with a pointer to section 945.6 (Gov. Code 913, FindLaw).

No lawsuit before the claim, and a second clock after it

Government Code section 945.4 provides that, with stated exceptions, no suit for money or damages may be brought against a public entity on a cause of action for which a claim is required until a written claim has been presented and acted upon, or deemed rejected (Gov. Code 945.4, FindLaw). Section 945.6 then requires that the suit be commenced not later than six months after a written notice under section 913 is personally delivered or deposited in the mail, or, if written notice was not given in accordance with section 913, within two years from accrual of the cause of action (Gov. Code 945.6, FindLaw). Whether proper notice was given therefore controls which of those two very different periods applies.

Relief when a claim was not presented in time

Government Code section 946.6 allows a petition to the court for an order relieving the petitioner from section 945.4 where an application for leave to present a late claim was denied or deemed denied, and requires the petition to show that application was made under section 911.4 and denied or deemed denied, the reason for failure to present the claim within the section 911.2 time limit, and the information required by section 910 (Gov. Code 946.6, FindLaw). Relief is discretionary and evidence-dependent, which makes it a poor substitute for presenting the claim on time.

Nothing here is legal advice or a determination about any claim against a public entity; it is general procedural information. A person facing one of these deadlines should consult the attorney who advertises on this site promptly.