Filing a Personal Injury Claim After an Accident on Public Property

by Patrick Langley

Accidents can happen anywhere and public property, be it a park or municipal building, is no exception. Filing a personal injury claim against a government entity, however, is a much more complicated process than if you were filing a claim against a private party.


Governmental entities have special protections and statutes of limitation that make seeking compensation from them more difficult. For example, if you suffered an injury at a public beach, you may not be eligible for compensation because your injury could have been caused by the natural condition of an unimproved property. The government is exempt from liability in cases of unimproved property. Or if you were engaging in particularly hazardous behavior, such as jumping off of high playground equipment, your claim may not be eligible.

Negligence in maintaining public property or severe negligence of employees, however, do warrant personal injury claims

Like an injury on private property, viable public property claims should compensate you for injuries, associated medical bills, and emotional or mental anguish. If you or a loved has been injured on public property and you think you have a viable complaint, you should immediately call the county or city attorney to ask what the time limit is for filing a claim. These attorneys are under a legal obligation to give you the correct statute of limitations. Each state varies in its laws, but some states allow as few as 30 days to file a claim.

To file a claim, most states require that you fill out a form that details the date, place, and nature of the injuries you incurred on the property. The forms you are required to fill out can be detailed and mistakes or simple omissions can disqualify your claim. If a claim is rejected, you only have a short window of time to take action if you wish to file suit.

While all personal injury claims benefit from an attorney, personal injury attorneys are paramount to successful claims against public entities because of the state-specific laws and limitations that apply. To improve the likelihood that your claim will be accepted, you should talk to a personal injury attorney before you attempt to file a claim with the local or state government.

If you have already filed a claim and it was denied, you should talk to an attorney about if your claim is strong enough to take the government entity to court.

About the Author

Working as a freelance copywriter for the web industry, Pat has written a variety of whitepaper-type articles for various e-commerce and corporate web sites. This article aims to provide information pertaining to personal injury claims. For more information on Premises Liability Lawyers, please visit The Babcock Law Firm.