Free Case Evaluation
FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW
TO REQUEST YOUR CASE REVIEW
Making a Claim After a Navy or Marine Corps Vehicle Hits You
When a Navy, Marine Corps, or other federal driver on duty causes a crash in San Diego, the claim is against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
It starts with a written administrative claim, usually on Standard Form 95, presented to the right federal agency within two years.
No lawsuit can be filed until the agency denies the claim in writing or six months pass without a decision.
Your own uninsured motorist coverage does not apply to a vehicle owned by the United States, so the federal claim is usually the only route.
A service member driving a personal car off duty is a different case, handled like any other California crash claim.
More than 109,000 active-duty service members live in San Diego County, by the 2025 count of the region's military advisory council.
If a federal vehicle was involved in your crash, the two-year federal clock started on the day of the crash.
Which Drivers Mean a Federal Claim and Which Mean an Ordinary One
San Diego County is home to more than 109,000 active-duty service members, along with about 6,000 reservists and 27,000 civilians in federal defense jobs, spread from Naval Base San Diego and Naval Base Coronado to Camp Pendleton and MCAS Miramar.[1] Who pays after a crash with one of them depends on what the driver was doing at the time.
A service member or federal employee driving on duty
When the Attorney General certifies that a federal employee was acting within the scope of employment, the United States is substituted as the defendant and the Federal Tort Claims Act becomes the only remedy, under the Westfall Act.[2] For a member of the armed forces, scope of employment means "acting in line of duty," which courts decide under California's own rules on when an employer answers for an employee.[3]
A service member off duty in a personal car
An off-duty service member driving a personal car is not acting for the government, so there is no claim against the United States. The claim runs against the driver under the ordinary California rules and the two-year filing deadline, and it is usually paid by the driver's auto policy.
A civilian federal employee in a government vehicle
The same federal route applies to civilian employees on the job, from Navy civilian staff to federal agents, when they cause a crash in a government vehicle or while working.
A contractor driving for the military
The Federal Tort Claims Act's definition of a federal agency excludes "any contractor with the United States." A crash caused by a contractor's driver is usually a claim against the contractor and its insurer, outside the federal process.
After a crash with a military vehicle, what the driver was doing at that moment matters as much as how the crash happened. A service member on duty brings the United States into the case. One on a personal errand brings only their own insurance.
How to File an SF-95 With the Navy's Tort Claims Unit
A federal claim is "presented" when the agency receives a Standard Form 95, or another written notice of the incident, with "a claim for money damages in a sum certain."[4] A claim sent to the wrong agency must be forwarded to the right one, and the claim can be amended at any time before the agency makes its final decision.
What a Valid SF-95 Needs
A specific dollar amount for the injury, which later caps what a lawsuit can ask for.
The date, place, and description of the crash, with the government vehicle and driver if known.
A description of the injuries and the medical treatment so far.
The claimant's signature.
Delivery to the agency that employed the driver, with proof of when it was received.
For the Navy and the Marine Corps, claims go to the Office of the Judge Advocate General's Tort Claims Unit, 9324 Virginia Avenue, Suite 104, Norfolk, Virginia 23511-2949, or to the commanding officer of the Navy or Marine Corps activity involved, who must forward them.[5] Army, Air Force, and other agencies take claims through their own claims offices.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2675(b), a later lawsuit cannot ask for more than the amount in the claim except on newly discovered evidence or intervening facts, so a figure written before the full extent of the injury is known can cap the case.
Two Years to File the Federal Claim, Then Six Months to Sue
A tort claim against the United States "shall be forever barred" unless it is presented in writing to the agency within two years after it accrues, and a lawsuit must follow within six months after the agency mails its final denial.[6]
- Two years from the crash to present the SF-95
- Six months for the agency to decide before you may treat silence as a denial
- Six months after a mailed denial to file suit in federal court
California's six-month government claim and its two-year statute of limitations do not govern a claim against the United States. The federal deadlines replace them, and the case is tried in federal court to a judge, without a jury.
The two-year mark is measured by when the agency receives the claim, so a claim mailed in the final days can arrive too late.
What the Federal Tort Claims Act Will and Will Not Pay
The United States is liable "in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances," so California law measures the damages: medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.[7] The same statute bars punitive damages and interest before judgment.
- No punitive damages, however careless the driver
- No jury, since the claim is decided by a federal judge
- A ceiling set by the claim, since the lawsuit is generally limited to the sum certain in the SF-95
- Attorney fees limited by statute to 20 percent of an administrative settlement and 25 percent of a judgment or a settlement reached after suit, under 28 U.S.C. § 2678
California's comparative fault rule applies as well, so a driver found partly at fault recovers a reduced amount rather than nothing.
Why Your Uninsured Motorist Coverage Won't Pay for a Government Vehicle
"California's uninsured motorist law excludes any vehicle owned by the United States from the definition of an uninsured motor vehicle."
Insurance Code § 11580.2(b) leaves vehicles "owned by the United States of America" out of the definition of an uninsured motor vehicle.[8] If the federal claim fails or is denied, your own uninsured motorist coverage will not step in for a crash with a military truck.
A narrow fallback exists for small claims. Under 10 U.S.C. § 2737, a military department can pay up to $1,000 for harm "incident to the use of a vehicle of the United States" that no other law covers, limited for injuries to medical, hospital, and burial costs, and unavailable to anyone partly at fault.[9]
Your own medical payments coverage and health insurance still pay under their own terms, and they may seek repayment from what the federal claim recovers.
The Feres Doctrine and an Injured Service Member's Claim
Since Feres v. United States (1950), the government has not been liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act "for injuries to servicemen where the injuries arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to service."[10]
In Beck v. United States, the courts dismissed the case of an off-duty airman killed by a civilian federal employee driving a government van, and the Supreme Court declined to hear it on November 24, 2025, with Justice Thomas dissenting.[11] That case came from the Eighth Circuit, and each new set of facts is argued on its own, but an injured service member should not assume a federal claim is open.
Feres limits only claims against the United States. A service member hit by a private driver, a contractor, or a company truck has the same claim against that party as anyone else, and the same California deadline.
When Care at a Navy Hospital Goes Wrong for a Dependent or Retiree
About 234,000 people are eligible for care at Naval Medical Center San Diego and its branch clinics, by the region's 2025 military report. For civilians, dependents, and retirees, the Federal Tort Claims Act is the exclusive remedy for malpractice by military medical staff, under 10 U.S.C. § 1089.[12] California's MICRA limits apply to those claims, as the Ninth Circuit held in Taylor v. United States (1987).
Active-duty service members harmed by care at a military treatment facility cannot sue, but can file an administrative claim under 10 U.S.C. § 2733a within two years. That process does not cover wrongful death, informed consent, or emotional distress claims, and its decisions cannot be reviewed in court.
Who owns each San Diego hospital, and what that means for the first step, is laid out on our page about medical malpractice claims in San Diego.