How to File a Government Tort Claim: Deadlines and Denials

To file a government tort claim, you submit a written administrative claim to the specific agency whose employee caused your injury or property damage, wait for the agency to deny it or let six months pass in silence, and only then can you take the matter to court. At the federal level, the form to use is Standard Form 95, the deadline is two years from when the claim accrues, and the claim must state a specific dollar amount you’re seeking. Skip this administrative step and any lawsuit you file will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, no matter how strong the underlying facts.¹

The Filing Deadline

You have two years from the date your claim accrues to present a federal tort claim to the responsible agency.² Accrual is not always the date of the incident. Under the discovery rule, the two-year clock starts when you discover, or reasonably should have discovered, both the injury and its cause.³ That distinction matters most in medical malpractice and other latent-injury cases where the harm surfaces long after the underlying act.

The deadline is treated as jurisdictional. Missing it by a single day bars the claim permanently in most situations. State and local deadlines run much shorter than the federal one, so identify the correct government entity and confirm its filing window within days of the incident, not weeks.

What Counts as a Properly Presented Claim

A federal claim is considered “presented” when the agency receives a written notification containing three things: your identity, a description of the incident and the resulting injuries or damage, and a specific dollar amount for the damages you’re seeking.⁴ Most people use Standard Form 95, which the General Services Administration publishes and which walks you through each required field.⁵ The SF-95 is not technically required, but any other written submission has to hit the same three elements to qualify.

The Sum Certain

The dollar amount you list, known as the sum certain, is one of the most consequential figures on the form. If your case eventually goes to court, you generally cannot recover more than the amount stated in the administrative claim.¹ The narrow exception is when you later uncover evidence that wasn’t reasonably available when you filed, or when intervening facts change the scope of your damages.

Setting the number too low locks in a ceiling that may not cover long-term treatment or lost earning capacity. Leaving it blank or vague means the claim has not legally been presented at all, and the deadline keeps running. If you don’t know how to value future medical costs, that is a strong signal to get professional help before submitting anything.

Describing the Incident

The claim should spell out what happened, when and where it happened, which government employee was involved, and what injuries or property damage resulted. Be specific enough that the agency can identify the incident and start investigating. Treat it as a factual narrative, not a legal brief.

Supporting Documentation

Federal regulations describe the evidence an agency may require depending on the type of claim.⁶ For a personal injury claim, expect to provide:

A physician’s written report describing the injuries, treatment received, degree of disability, and prognosis
Itemized medical and hospital bills
A statement of expected future treatment costs if ongoing care is needed
A written statement from your employer showing time missed from work and wages lost

Property damage claims call for repair estimates or replacement cost documentation and, where possible, photographs. Death claims require a death certificate, information about the decedent’s employment and earnings, and details about surviving dependents.⁶

You don’t need every exhibit polished before you file. Getting the claim on file before the deadline expires matters more than a complete evidence package. You can supplement documentation later. A more complete initial submission simply speeds the agency’s review.

Where to Send It

Send the claim to the specific federal agency whose employee caused the harm. Each agency has a designated claims office or legal department. Filing with the wrong agency is a real problem: the claim isn’t considered presented until the correct agency actually receives it, and mailing it before the deadline does not save you if the right office receives it after the deadline.⁷

No rule requires certified mail, but using certified mail with return receipt is the minimum sensible precaution. It creates a dated record of receipt, which becomes decisive if the agency later can’t locate the file. Keep copies of everything.

What Happens After You File

The agency has six months to investigate and respond. During that period it may request additional documentation, ask you to submit to a medical examination, or try to negotiate a settlement. You cannot sue while the six months is running.¹

Three things can happen next. The agency may approve a settlement and send a written offer. It may formally deny the claim in writing, by certified or registered mail, with notice of your right to file suit within six months.⁸ Or it may do nothing for six months, at which point you can treat the silence as a denial and move on to court.¹

If the agency denies the claim, you can file a written request for reconsideration before the six-month lawsuit window expires. Doing so restarts the agency’s clock and gives it another six months to reconsider. Your right to sue is paused until that new period runs out or the agency acts, whichever comes first.⁸

Filing Suit After Denial

Once the agency denies your claim, or once you treat six months of silence as a denial, you have exactly six months from the date the denial letter is mailed to file a lawsuit in federal district court.² That deadline is as hard as the two-year deadline for the administrative claim.

Federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over Federal Tort Claims Act suits, and the United States is the only proper defendant. You cannot name the individual employee who caused the injury.⁹ The court applies the negligence law of the state where the incident occurred.

Even a winning judgment has limits. The government does not pay punitive damages and does not pay pre-judgment interest.¹⁰ Your recovery is capped at the sum certain from your administrative claim unless you can show the increase is justified by newly discovered evidence or changed circumstances.¹

Claims the FTCA Blocks Entirely

Some categories of harm cannot be pursued through this process at all, no matter how clear the negligence.¹¹ The most heavily litigated is the discretionary function exception, which shields government decisions that involve judgment or policy choices, such as how to allocate resources or set enforcement priorities. If the employee was exercising discretion, the claim fails even when the discretion was exercised poorly.

Intentional torts by government employees, including assault, false arrest, and defamation, generally cannot be brought under the FTCA. Federal law enforcement officers empowered to make arrests or execute searches are a carve-out: the government can be held liable when those officers commit assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, abuse of process, or malicious prosecution.

Other categories are off-limits outright: injuries in a foreign country, harm from military combat activities during wartime, losses from the postal system’s handling of mail, damages from tax or customs enforcement, claims arising out of quarantine measures, and matters tied to the fiscal operations of the Treasury.

State and Local Government Claims

Every state has its own tort claims statute governing suits against state agencies, counties, cities, and other local entities. The basic structure mirrors the federal one: file an administrative notice, wait, then sue if needed. The details are where things diverge.

Deadlines are the biggest variable. Some states give you as little as 30 days to file a notice of claim against a municipality; others allow up to a year, with many falling in the 90-to-180-day range. The deadline for a state agency may differ from the deadline for a city or school district in the same state. Damage caps are common at the state level and can be well below what would be recoverable in a comparable private lawsuit. The form, the office where you file, and the required contents all vary by jurisdiction. If your injury involves a state or local employee, identify the specific entity responsible and pull its tort claims procedures before anything else. There is rarely a second chance.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 2675 – Disposition by Federal Agency as Prerequisite; Evidence
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 2401 – Time for Commencing Action Against United States
3
eCFR. 32 CFR 750.36 – Time Limitations
4
eCFR. 28 CFR 14.2 – Administrative Claim; When Presented
5
General Services Administration. Standard Form 95 – Claim for Damage, Injury, or Death
6
eCFR. 28 CFR 14.4 – Administrative Claims; Evidence and Information to Be Submitted
7
eCFR. 40 CFR Part 1620 – Administrative Claims Arising Under the Federal Tort Claims Act
8
eCFR. 28 CFR 14.9 – Final Denial of Claim
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1346 – United States as Defendant
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 2674 – Liability of United States
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 2680 – Exceptions