[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR177.102]

[Page 19-20]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 177--ADMINISTRATIVE CLAIMS UNDER THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 177.102  Administrative claim; when presented; appropriate OPM office.

    (a) For purposes of the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), 2672, and 
2675, a claim is deemed to have been presented when OPM receives from a 
claimant, his or her authorized agent or legal representative, an 
executed Standard Form 95 (Claim for Damage, Injury or Death), or other 
written notification of an incident, accompanied by a claim for money 
damages stating a sum certain (a specific dollar amount) for injury to 
or loss of property, personal injury, or death alleged to have occurred 
as a result of the incident.
    (b) All claims filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act as a result 
of the alleged negligence or wrongdoing of OPM or its employees will be 
mailed or delivered to the Office of the General Counsel, United States 
Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20415-
1300.
    (c) A claim must be presented to the Federal agency whose activities 
gave rise to the claim. A claim that should have been presented to OPM, 
but was mistakenly addressed to or filed with another Federal agency, is 
presented to OPM, as required by 28 U.S.C. 2401(b), as of the date the 
claim is received by OPM. When a claim is mistakenly presented to OPM, 
OPM will transfer the claim to the appropriate Federal agency, if 
ascertainable, and advise the claimant of the transfer, or return the 
claim to the claimant.
    (d) A claimant whose claim arises from an incident involving OPM and 
one or more other Federal agencies, will identify each agency to which 
the claim has been submitted at the time the claim is presented to OPM. 
OPM will contact all other affected Federal agencies in order to 
designate the single agency that will investigate and decide the merits 
of the claim. In the event a designation cannot be agreed upon by the 
affected agencies, the Department of Justice will be consulted and will 
designate an agency to investigate and determine the merits of the 
claim. The designated agency will notify the claimant that all future 
correspondence concerning the claim must be directed to that Federal 
agency. All involved Federal agencies may agree to conduct their own 
administrative reviews and to coordinate the results, or to have the 
investigation conducted by the designated Federal agency. But, in either 
event, the designated agency will be responsible for the final 
determination of the claim.
    (e) A claim presented in compliance with paragraph (a) of this 
section may be amended by the claimant at any time prior to final agency 
action or prior to the exercise of the claimant's option under 28 U.S.C. 
2675(a). Amendments must be in writing and signed by the claimant or his 
or her authorized agent or legal representative. Upon timely filing of 
an amendment to a pending claim, OPM will have 6 months in which to make 
a final disposition of

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the claim as amended and claimant's option under 28 U.S.C. 2675 (a) will 
not accrue until 6 months after the filing of an amendment.