People searching for a pedestrian lawsuit are usually not trying to go to court. They are trying to work out whether the claim they already have is going somewhere, and what the next step is if it is not.
A lawsuit and an insurance claim are not two choices made at the start. They are two stages of the same process, and most claims end at the first one. This page is about the point where that stops being true: what causes a California pedestrian case to actually get filed, what filing involves, and the one situation where filing follows a sequence that cannot be skipped.
Key Takeaways
- An insurance claim comes first. A lawsuit is what happens when that process stops producing a result, or when a deadline forces the issue.
- Where a public agency may be responsible, filing a claim with the agency is a prerequisite to suing it, not an alternative.
- Filing is frequently a way of compelling information and putting a claim on a fixed calendar, rather than a decision to go to trial.
- Starting an unlimited civil case carries a court filing fee, currently $435 statewide, which is a case cost and not an attorney’s fee.
- The California Courts warn that procedural mistakes in a civil case can mean dismissal, loss, or liability for the other side’s fees and costs.
Two Tracks That Run in Sequence
Nearly every pedestrian case begins as an insurance claim against the driver’s liability policy, and a substantial share are resolved there. Nothing is filed, no court is involved, and the matter ends with an agreement.
A lawsuit becomes relevant when that process stalls, and the question is never really “claim or lawsuit.” It is whether the claim has reached the point where continuing to negotiate is no longer the thing that moves it. Those are different questions and they have different answers at different times in the same case.
What happens procedurally once a case is filed — the stages, the response periods, how long each part tends to take — is set out on our page covering the California pedestrian accident process. This page is about what comes before that: the decision itself.
What Actually Causes a Case to Be Filed
Filing is rarely prompted by dissatisfaction. It is prompted by one of a small number of specific situations.
A deadline is approaching
This is the most common reason and the least discretionary. California’s ordinary limit for a personal injury lawsuit is two years from the date of injury, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, as the California Courts guidance on deadlines to sue states. A claim that is still being negotiated as that date approaches gets filed to preserve it, regardless of how the negotiation is going. Filing in that situation is a protective step, and negotiation usually continues afterwards.
Responsibility is denied rather than disputed
There is a difference between an insurer arguing about the share of responsibility and an insurer declining to accept any. The first is a negotiation. The second cannot be resolved by negotiation, because the two sides are not disagreeing about an amount.
The offer does not correspond to the documented loss
Not an offer that is lower than hoped — one that cannot be reconciled with the records. Where the gap is a matter of judgment, negotiation is the tool. Where the gap suggests the documented losses are simply not being engaged with, it generally is not.
The information is not being produced
Some things an insurer holds are not handed over voluntarily: the full policy and its limits, whether other coverage applies, internal material about how the claim was evaluated, and in some cases information about the driver. A filed case has formal mechanisms for obtaining those. An unfiled claim does not.
There is more than one possible defendant
Where responsibility may be shared between a driver, an employer, a vehicle owner, a property owner or a public agency, sorting out who is responsible for what is often something only a filed case can do, because the parties have no obligation to cooperate with each other outside one.
The Situation Where Filing Follows a Sequence
If a city, county, transit agency or state body may share responsibility — through the design of a crossing, the timing of a signal, an obstruction, street lighting, or a government-operated vehicle — the ordinary order of events does not apply.
The California Courts state the rule plainly: “Before you can sue a government agency, you must first file a claim with the agency.” The guidance on government claims sets out the sequence that follows:
- A claim for personal injury must be sent to the agency within six months of the injury.
- The agency then has 45 days to respond.
- If it denies the claim, a lawsuit must be filed within six months of the date the rejection was mailed.
- If it does not respond at all within the 45 days, you generally have up to two years from the date of injury to start a case.
Two consequences follow, and both cost people claims. The six-month claim deadline runs while an ordinary insurance claim is proceeding normally, and nothing in that process signals it. And the six-month period after a rejection is far shorter than the general two-year limit, so a claimant who assumes the ordinary deadline applies after receiving a rejection letter may be working from a date that has already passed.
Whether a public agency is involved is therefore a question worth answering early rather than when a case is being prepared for filing.
What Filing Costs
Starting a case requires paying a court fee, and this is a case cost rather than an attorney’s fee — a distinction worth being clear about in any fee agreement.
Under the Superior Court of California’s statewide civil fee schedule effective 1 January 2026, the fee for a complaint or other first paper in an unlimited civil case — one where the amount in controversy is over $35,000 — is $435, with local surcharges applying in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Francisco counties. For limited civil cases the first paper fee is $370 where the amount is over $10,000, and $225 where it is $10,000 or less.
Where court fees cannot be afforded, the California Courts provide for a waiver, requested on form FW-001. The fee waiver guidance states that a person qualifies by meeting any one of three conditions — receiving certain public benefits, having household income below set amounts, or being unable to afford both basic needs and court fees — and that a waiver can cover filing fees, response fees, copies, sheriff’s service and court reporter fees at trial.
One qualification matters particularly in an injury case. The Courts state that “even if the court gives you a fee waiver, the court may later decide you must pay some or all of the fees if your money situation gets better or you get money because of your case.” A waiver in a claim that later recovers is a deferral rather than a cancellation.
What Filing Does Not Do
It does not commit anyone to a trial. The large majority of filed cases are still resolved by agreement, and the opportunity to do so does not close when a complaint is filed.
It does not make a claim more valuable. Filing changes the mechanism by which a claim is pursued and the information available to pursue it. What a claim is worth continues to be governed by responsibility, the coverage available, and the documented extent of the loss.
And it is not a step to take casually without representation. The California Courts put it directly: “A civil case has many laws and procedural steps you must follow,” and “Any mistake, even a small one, can mean that your case is dismissed, you lose, or in some situations even that you may have to pay for the other side’s lawyers’ fees and costs.”
How the Decision Is Usually Made
In practice the question is answered by three things rather than by preference: whether a deadline is close, whether the obstacle is one negotiation can move, and whether a public agency is in the picture. The first two are judgment calls informed by what the insurer has actually done. The third is a factual question with a six-month clock attached, and it is the one most often answered too late.
Talk to a California Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
The question that most often needs answering early is whether a public agency may be involved, because that is the one with a six-month clock on it. Vaksman Khalfin, PC handles pedestrian claims throughout California from our San Mateo office, and the firm’s personal injury practice is led by Alan D. Khalfin.
You can schedule a free consultation to discuss where your claim stands. Further reading is available in our California personal injury guides.
Reviewed by Alan D. Khalfin, Partner and Managing Attorney, Vaksman Khalfin, PC (admitted in California). Last reviewed: 10/13/2026
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Most pedestrian claims are resolved through the driver's liability insurance without a case being filed. A lawsuit becomes relevant when the claim stops progressing, when responsibility is denied, when information is not being produced, or when a deadline requires the claim to be preserved.
The ordinary limit is two years from the date of injury, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Where a government agency may be responsible, a claim must first be presented to that agency within six months, and different periods then govern when a lawsuit can be filed. Circumstances can affect both, so neither should be relied on without checking it against your own situation.
Only after presenting a claim to that agency. The California Courts state that before you can sue a government agency you must first file a claim with it. The claim is due within six months of the injury, the agency has 45 days to respond, and a rejection starts a six-month period in which to file suit.
Usually not. Most filed cases resolve by agreement, and the opportunity to do so does not close when a complaint is filed. Filing more often functions as a way of compelling the production of information and putting a stalled claim on a fixed calendar.
The statewide first paper fee for an unlimited civil case is currently $435, with surcharges in three counties, and lower fees apply to limited civil cases. This is a case cost rather than an attorney's fee. Where fees cannot be afforded, a waiver can be requested on form FW-001, though the court may later require payment if money is recovered in the case.
That depends on whether the gap between the offer and the documented loss is a matter of judgment or a sign that the documentation is not being engaged with, and on how close any deadline is. Accepting an offer closes the claim, so the question is better answered before responding than afterwards.
You can, and the California Courts caution that a civil case has many procedural requirements and that a small mistake can result in dismissal, loss, or liability for the other side's fees and costs.
Consultations at Vaksman Khalfin, PC are free. Injury claims are handled on a contingency-fee basis: there is no upfront cost, and attorney's fees are owed only if we recover compensation for you. The written agreement sets out how case costs are handled.
