This property has a documented history as a automobile dealership going back to 1946. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup — and recover costs already spent.

Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible

Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.

Automobile sales, servicing, and equipment repair took place on this property continuously from 1946 through 1987 — four decades of operations predating the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based Commercial General Liability coverage. The contamination tied to those operations — underground storage tanks, floor drains, hydraulic equipment — is precisely the kind of gradual, operations-linked release that pre-1986 CGL policies were written to cover. With cleanup costs spanning more than a decade of soil excavation, tank removal, groundwater recovery, and planned bioremediation, historical carriers who issued policies during the Wilson Motors and Brewer Chrysler Plymouth years may be obligated both to reimburse past remediation expenditures and to fund the work still ahead.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful coverage claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage. Restorical then manages the claim, including accounting, to ensure the cleanup is funded in a timely manner.