Claim For Damages

Claims against government in WA State have unique requirements

Admittedly, I’ve not had a chance to blog recently. However, I was reminded of my goal to write about claims against the government, when reading about a recent $20 million claim by a WA state inmate against the City of Tacoma for excessive force.

Claims against government in WA State have unique requirements

Laws applicable to suits against governmental entities in Washington are unique in requiring the filing of a Claim for Damages (using the Standard Tort Claim Form) and waiting 60 days before filing suit. This requirement is jurisdictional and a failure to file the claim and/or to wait the 60 days has been fatal to some unsafe roadway cases.

Under RCW 4.92.100(1) as amended in 2009, claims against the State must now be presented on a standard tort claim form. The statute requires the Office of Financial Management to “maintain” the form and put it on its website.

Claims against the local governments may be presented on either the state’s standard tort claim form or a form provided by the local government, under RCW 4.96.020(3)(c).

I’ll write more about this in the coming days/weeks, as there is much to cover.