Trust claims manager urges local governments to file notice-of-claim forms and update state database

Jeff Rowley, claims manager at the Utah Local Governments Trust, told a membership webinar that local governments should file notice-of-claim forms promptly, preserve evidence at incident scenes and update their designated-agent information on the state database after a legislative change to the notice-of-claim process.

Rowley said the notice-of-claim requirement is a threshold procedural step under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act that a claimant must meet before a district court will have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit. "Any person having a claim against the governmental entity . . . shall file a written notice of claim with the entity before maintaining an action," Rowley said, quoting the statute's procedural requirement and explaining why compliance matters.

The notice-of-claim rule matters because it gives public authorities a chance to investigate and, where appropriate, settle claims before costly litigation. Rowley said the trust's best practice is to give claimants a notice-of-claim form at the scene when appropriate and to forward any returned notices immediately to the trust so claims professionals…