Risk Management

3rd Party Claims & Complaints

In this section you can find out how to file a claim or serve a summons and complaint against the University. You will also find information here about what to do if you are a UC employee who receives notice of a 3rd party claim or you are served with a summons and complaint in which you, and the University, are named defendants.

How to Make a Claim Against UC

If you want to file a claim against the University for bodily injury or property damage, you may complete an Online Incident Report. If you prefer you can call in the claim to the University Claim Hotline at (800) 416-4029. 

How to Make a 3rd Party Auto Accident Claim

If you are a 3rd party who has been involved in an automobile accident with a University vehicle that causes injury or damage to yourself, your passengers, or your vehicle and you want to report it and/or make a claim, you may take the following steps:

• Submit an Online Incident Report to report loss or damage within 24 hours of the date of the accident. If you prefer you can call in the claim to the University Claim Hotline at (800) 416-4029. 
• All 3rd party claims against the University are handled by the University’s Third Party Claims Administrator, Sedgwick.
• After you report the accident and make a claim, a Sedgwick claims adjuster will contact you and request all the relevant information. The adjuster will ask for any notes or diagrams you have made, photographs of the accident scene and/or your vehicle, cost estimates to repair the damage to your car, and in the case of injuries, any invoices or bills for medical services. If there was a police report, provide it, or the police report number, to the adjuster.
• When the adjuster has collected all the relevant information about the accident, a decision will be made about the University’s liability.

Serving a Complaint on the University

Neither the campus Risk Management office nor any campus employee is authorized to accept service of a summons and complaint in which The Regents of the University of California, the University of California, Riverside, or the University of California is named as the defendant. The Office of the General Counsel is solely authorized to accept service of a summons and complaint in which the University is the defendant.

Should you wish to file suit against The Regents of the University of California, you must serve the Office of the General Counsel in Oakland, CA in person or by mail, with a complaint pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure. If you wish to effect service by mail, send a copy of the Summons and Complaint along with an appropriately executed Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt form and self-addressed stamped envelope to The Regents at the following address:
          Office of the General Counsel
          University of California
          Office of the President
          1111 Franklin St., 8th Floor
          Oakland, CA 94607
          tel. (510) 987-9800, (800) 933-9777
          fax (510) 987-9757

Although California Government Code section 900, et seq. requires that claims against public entities be presented in specific ways, The Regents of the University of California is exempt from these claims-filing provisions by California Government Code section 905.6.

Serving a Complaint on a UC Employee

If an individual employee is served with a summons and complaint in a civil action in which he or she is a named defendant and the University is also a defendant, the employee should accept service only on his or her own behalf. It should be made clear to the process server that the employee is not accepting service on behalf of The Regents or the University. The process server should be referred to the Office of the General Counsel as to service on The Regents of the University of California or, if he or she wants to speak to someone on campus, the UCR Risk Management office.
An employee who has been served with a summons and complaint in which the University is also a party, should note the date and time of acceptance and how the documents were served (by mail, personal service, or left with someone else). The employee should immediately notify his or her supervisor and the campus Risk Management office that he or she has accepted service of a summons and complaint on which he or she is a named defendant. The campus Risk Management office will immediately contact the Office of General Counsel and together the offices will coordinate a response to the lawsuit with the employee. The phone number for the Office of the General Counsel is (510) 987-9800.

UC Employee Receives Notice of a Claim

If you are a UC employee who receives written or verbal notice of a claim against the University, obtain the name and contact information of the claimant, and contact the campus Risk Management office immediately so it can take appropriate action. Do not admit liability, accuse anyone of fault, or make any promises.