How to File a Claim against the City of Fillmore, CA

Fillmore is a city located in the Santa Clara River Valley, named after J. A. Fillmore, a superintendent for the Southern Pacific railway company. When the town was founded in 1887, it was an agricultural community due to its rich, fertile soil. Today, Fillmore is a small and unassuming city mainly comprised of bungalows and cottages, orange groves, and small businesses.

As one of Ventura County’s smallest and quietest cities, it’s easy to assume that Fillmore is a place where nothing bad could ever happen. The truth is, accidents that cause serious injuries can happen anywhere because of someone else’s negligent conduct. Perhaps the Parks and Recreation Department fails to cut down dead branches at a park, which results in a resident being struck by a falling branch. Police officers, fire fighters, and other city workers can also put people in charge by driving recklessly. These are examples of the city breaching its duty of care to the general public.

If the city of Fillmore is liable for an incident where you were injured, you have the right to demand compensation for monetary damages like medical expenses, property damage, and pain and suffering. To learn more about suing the city of Fillmore, contact our office and schedule a free case review.

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How Do I File an Accident Claim with the City of Fillmore?

To file a claim for compensation with the city of Fillmore, you must file a claim with the City Clerk’s Office. Please make sure to use the correct claim form, which you can download here. The forms have a page of instructions that you should read ahead of time, as it contains important information on how and where to submit the claim. More information on how to fill out the form can be found on the Risk Management page of the city’s website.

Please be aware that these instructions provide general information that may or may not apply to your specific situation. In addition, the city offers little to no information on the type of evidence they are looking for, and this is to their benefit. That’s why it’s a good idea to work with a government claims lawsuit attorney, who can help you fill out the forms correctly.

Once your claim is received, it will be reviewed by the city’s Risk Management Division. To check up on the status of a claim, you can contact the division at 805-946-1712. However, we advise that you wait a few weeks before calling, as the city is dealing with many claims at the same time.

6 Month Statute of Limitations on Government Claims

If you have ever filed an injury claim against a store, company, homeowner, or another private entity, you may be aware that you have 2 or more years to file a lawsuit, depending on your personal circumstances. Unfortunately, this is not the case when you are suing a department, agency, or employee of the government. The deadline to file a City of Fillmore damage or injury claim is
6 months from the incident date, no matter what type of injury you have. If you miss the deadline, you may permanently lose the right to a lawsuit, according to the California Tort Claims Act.

The city can sometimes make an exception, which you can request by filling out an Application for Leave to Present a Late Claim. But it’s very rare for the city to accept a claimant’s explanation and give them additional time to seek compensation. And under the law, this is completely within their discretion, which is why it’s in your best interest to submit a compensation claim within 6 months of your accident.

Sadly, there are people who wait too long and find that they are unable to seek justice, even if it’s perfectly clear that the city is responsible for the accident. That’s why we implore you to contact us immediately and start the claims process with one of our attorneys.

How Long will It Take the City to Get Back to Me?

Once you submit your forms to the City Clerk, the next step is to figure out how long you have to wait until you hear back from the city’s Risk Management Division.

By law, any entity of the government must provide claimants with a response within 45 days of receiving the required paperwork. So, within 45 days, you should receive an acceptance letter or a rejection notice stating why your claim cannot be paid. Getting a denial letter is frustrating, but it’s not unusual, nor is it the end of the road if the city is liable for the harm you suffered. As long as you received a written response denying your request for payment, you have 6 months to file a lawsuit against the city.

What happens if you don’t get anything in writing from the City of Fillmore and it’s been more than 45 days since you filed your claim with the City Clerk? From this point, you can follow the standard procedures for a personal injury claim by filing a lawsuit within 2 years of when your accident occurred.

Average Settlement for Lawsuits against the City of Fillmore

How much you can receive in compensation from a claim against the city of Fillmore can range from $5,000 to $5,000,000 or more, so in reality, there is no way to come up with an average value for these cases. Most of the injury claims we settle are valued at around $125,000 to $2,000,000, but there are plenty of cases that fall outside this range.

The amount you are entitled to as an injury victim depends on many issues, including:

• Your current injuries and associated health complications, especially long-term health effects
• Your direct monetary losses, i.e., medical bills, wages lost from your job, and property damage
• Future monetary losses (future lost income and medical expenses if you have severe injuries)
• Your degree of pain and suffering
• Whether the cause of your accident constitutes gross negligence by the city

Just from these factors alone, you can see that calculating a potential settlement value is a challenging task. That’s why we have a dedicated team of accident injury lawyers, medical professionals, and financial experts, who can ensure that you obtain every penny you deserve from a City of Fillmore compensation claim.

How Long will It Take before I Receive my Settlement?

Overall, we would have to say that it takes around 1 to 2 years to settle a case with the city of Fillmore when you are suing the city for personal injury or property damage. But in reality, the settlement process can be as short as just a few months, or as long as 3 or more years. What we are saying is that the majority of compensation claims against city governments take 12 to 24 months due to a variety of factors which we can go over with you in detail during a private consultation.

Please note that government claims for an accident are immensely complicated, and the process to reach a settlement involves many steps that are required by law. It’s very easy for the average victim to make mistakes or misunderstand the procedures and have their case dismissed. This is particularly true if your claim is rejected, and you have to move on to filing a lawsuit. To ensure that you do not run into any problems, contact a lawyer at our office, who can help you sue the city of Fillmore.

Contact Normandie Law Firm

Our team of personal injury lawyers are ready to investigate your case and fight for the payment you are entitled to as a victim of someone else’s negligence. While retaining a lawyer is the key to a successful lawsuit, you are likely worried about the cost of hiring an attorney when you are already dealing with medical bills and other expenses that resulted from your accident.

We are a contingency based law firm, so all of our payments are billed to the negligent party. In essence, our expenses are paid by the city of Fillmore at the same time as your settlement check. And if we don’t win your case, no worries – there is a Zero Fee Guarantee to ensure that you pay $0 in legal fees.

The lawyers of Normandie look forward to advising you of your rights and legal options. Contact us today and schedule a free case evaluation.

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