How to Complete and File a Notice of Claim in New York

To file a notice of claim in New York, you must serve a sworn written notice on the government entity you intend to sue within 90 days of the incident, and the notice must describe who you are, what happened, where and when it happened, and what you’re claiming in damages. General Municipal Law § 50-e sets the rules, and missing the 90-day window will almost always end your case before it starts.¹

The 90-Day Deadline

The clock starts the day the claim arises. For a slip-and-fall, a car crash with a city vehicle, or an assault by a government employee, day one is the date of the incident. For a wrongful death claim, the 90 days run from the appointment of a personal representative for the estate, not from the date of death.¹

Treat this deadline as absolute. One day late bars your claim unless a court gives you permission to file late in a separate proceeding, and courts deny most of those petitions. The moment you know you may have a claim against a public entity, mark the 90th day on a calendar and work backward.

What the Notice Must Contain

General Municipal Law § 50-e(2) requires the notice to be in writing, sworn to by you or someone acting for you, and to include:¹

Your name and mailing address, plus your attorney’s name and address if you have one.
The nature of the claim — a plain description of your legal theory, such as negligence or a dangerous property condition.
The time, place, and manner in which the claim arose, meaning the date, approximate time, specific location, and how the incident happened.
The items of damage or injuries claimed, itemized “so far as then practicable.”

Sworn means signed in front of a notary public. If you file electronically in New York City, the sworn statement is replaced by a certification declaring the information true and correct, with a warning that false statements carry criminal and civil penalties.¹ Either way, you are making statements under oath.

Be precise about the location and the sequence of events. Vague descriptions give the municipality a legal argument that your notice was insufficient. You do not need final medical bills or a complete damages figure at 90 days, but estimate as accurately as you can — grossly understating damages here can create problems when you later ask for more in a lawsuit.

New York City posts official claim forms for personal injury, property damage, and wrongful death on the Comptroller’s website.² Outside the city, check with the clerk of the municipality you’re claiming against. Some have their own forms; others accept any written notice that meets the statutory requirements.

How and Where to Serve the Notice

Completing the form is only half the job. You must also serve it, within the 90-day window, on the person authorized by law to accept a summons for that public corporation, or on an attorney who regularly represents it. The statute allows three methods: personal delivery, registered mail, or certified mail.¹

In practice, the recipient depends on the entity:

For a claim against New York City, service goes to the NYC Comptroller’s Office at 1 Centre Street, Room 1225, New York, NY 10007.³
For counties, towns, and villages, the recipient is typically the municipal clerk or the entity’s attorney.
For school districts and fire districts, the recipient is the district clerk or the board’s attorney.

If you mail the notice, use certified or registered mail with a return receipt and keep the receipt. That receipt is your proof you met the deadline. If you hand-deliver, ask for a stamped copy or written acknowledgment of receipt. Serving the wrong entity is one of the most common mistakes, and it can be fatal to your claim. When in doubt about which office accepts service, call the entity’s clerk before the deadline rather than guessing.

Electronic Filing in New York City

New York City is the only municipality in the state where the statute specifically authorizes electronic service. Section 50-e permits electronic filing “in a city with a population of over one million,” in a form and manner that city prescribes.¹ The Comptroller’s Office offers e-filing through its website.⁴ Service is complete once the city’s system transmits an electronic receipt number back to you. Save that receipt; it is your proof of timely service.

What Happens After You File: the 50-h Examination

Filing the notice does not clear you to sue. Under General Municipal Law § 50-h, the municipality can demand an oral examination of you before any lawsuit proceeds — essentially a deposition-style hearing where the government’s attorney questions you under oath about the incident and your injuries.⁵

The municipality must serve its demand within 90 days of your notice filing. You have the right to bring your attorney, and you may also have a personal physician or a relative present. If the municipality demands a hearing and you skip it, the court will dismiss your case.⁵ If the municipality demands the hearing but doesn’t actually conduct it within 90 days, you’re free to file suit.

Answer truthfully and stick to what you actually know. The transcript can be used against you later in litigation.

If You Missed the 90-Day Deadline

A late notice is not automatically the end. A court can grant you leave to file late in a special proceeding brought in Supreme Court.⁶ The outer boundary is firm: no extension can push the filing beyond one year and 90 days after the incident, or two years for wrongful death.⁷

The most important factor courts weigh is whether the public entity had actual knowledge of the essential facts within the 90-day period or shortly after. Prejudice to the municipality’s defense, infancy or incapacity of the claimant, reasonable reliance on settlement talks with an authorized representative, and an honest mistake about which entity to serve also factor in.¹ A good excuse alone is not enough; courts deny most late-filing petitions where the municipality had no independent knowledge of the claim.

Fixing Mistakes on a Filed Notice

A good-faith error — a wrong date, an incomplete damages description, a misspelled street name — does not automatically kill your notice. Section 50-e(6) gives courts discretion to correct, supply, or disregard a mistake, omission, or defect in a filed notice, as long as the error was made in good faith and the municipality was not prejudiced.¹ This protection does not extend to errors in the manner or time of service, which are much harder to fix.

Claims Against the State Itself

Section 50-e does not apply to claims against the State of New York. Those go through the Court of Claims Act instead. For personal injury or property damage caused by a state officer or employee, you file and serve the claim on the Attorney General within 90 days of the incident, or file a notice of intention within that window, which buys you up to two years from the date of the incident to file the claim itself.⁸ Wrongful death claims against the state follow the same 90-day rule from appointment of the representative, with a two-year outside limit from the date of death. Filings go to the Attorney General, and the Court of Claims in Albany has exclusive jurisdiction.

Don’t Forget the Deadline to Sue

The notice of claim is the first step, not the lawsuit. After serving the notice and completing any 50-h examination, you must commence the actual lawsuit within one year and 90 days of the incident. Wrongful death actions get two years from the date of death.⁷ That window is shorter than the typical three-year personal injury statute of limitations against private defendants, and it runs from the date of the incident, not from the date of your notice. Delays in filing the notice eat directly into the time you have left to sue.

1
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-e – Notice of Claim
2
Office of the New York City Comptroller. Filing a Claim with the New York City Comptrollers Office
3
Office of the New York City Comptroller. Personal Injury Claim Form
4
Office of the New York City Comptroller. File a Claim
5
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-h – Examination of Claims
6
New York State Unified Court System. Filing a Notice of Claim
7
New York State Senate. New York General Municipal Law 50-i
8
New York State Senate. New York Court of Claims Act 10