Spill Center™, the North American leader in environmental claims management and spill support providing assistance to companies at risk for environmental releases of hazardous materials and regulated substances, has been pitching its program to the insurance industry – and the response has been very positive.
Spill Center was launched in 1990 on the premise that no company will ever have enough spills to get good at managing them efficiently and cost-effectively. Our support program is designed to help spill generators deal with spill emergencies and required regulatory reporting without expending their own resources to build and maintain a spill emergency response system.
By managing spills in jurisdictions throughout North America, we have learned what works and what saves our clients money. We utilize systems and technologies that we developed for defense and security applications and deployed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
We deal with environmental releases and other pollution events every day on behalf of clients, who invariably file claims with their insurers to recover spill-related costs. We decided to approach insurance companies with a plan to enroll their insureds in our program to contain costs and limit potential third-party liability claims after environmental releases.
The program, which is tailored to insurers’ preferences, offers assistance to their insureds with regulatory reporting, spill response management and coordination with authorities at spill sites. We have developed systems for spill response, documentation and reporting as well as North America-wide cleanup contractor referrals and disposal resources.
Insurers participating in the program encourage their insureds to register at no charge in the program and to create a spill contingency plan with their company contact information, preferred contractors, and other details to help our compliance associates coordinate a spill response. The plan is kept in a secure online location for 24/7 access.
In the event of a spill, the insured notifies us by phone, online or by using our integrated mobile reporting app, providing details of the release. Upon notification, we immediately pull up the user’s contingency plan and launch the appropriate response, coordinating everything with the insured. We can make all required regulatory reports, by phone and in writing, or advise the client on completing the reports himself.
Spill Center maintains a database of current reporting requirements and contact information for nearly 30,000 jurisdictions throughout North America. Another database contains comprehensive information on more than 3,000 pre-qualified environmental cleanup contractors who are equipped to respond to spills and pollution events.
We can handle all required spill reporting, provide qualified cleanup contractors, contain spill-related costs and limit potential liability, regardless of the extent of the spill. Insureds enrolled in the program are better prepared to handle environmental spills and pollution events, which can result in lower spill-related costs, directly benefiting the insurance company.
Companies enrolled in the program rely on Spill Center to provide expertise in spill management and regulatory matters to avoid fines and penalties for non-compliance with local, state/provincial and federal reporting rules.
Insurers enrolled in Spill Center’s Insurance Partnership Program see the program of spill support for their insureds as an innovative way to increase preparedness to handle environmental releases, while minimizing spill-related costs and potential liability after spills.
More information about Spill Center is available at www.spillcenter.com. Or contact me by phone at 978-568-1922, or by email at tmoses@spillcenter.com.
