Environmental Cleanup
How It Works
As the nation’s only insurance archaeology firm offering claims management services and working exclusively for policyholder and property owner clientele, Restorical Research is regularly hired by state and local governmental agencies under sole-source contracts.
We specialize in insurance cost recovery services for policyholders facing environmental liabilities with end-to-end services that guide clients from initial discovery through full insurance recovery. Our success is measured by obtaining insurance coverage for our clients, ranging from historical policies to fund environmental cleanup, redevelopment, and property transactions.
While most insurance archaeology firms focus on completing a single step, such as locating old policy documents or reconstructing missing records, their work often ends before insurance funding is realized. These firms are best suited for traditional procurement and RFQ processes that are designed for interchangeable vendors and the commoditized products they provide.
Restorical operates differently. We support your project from initial discovery through financial recovery, with one clear objective: helping you access insurance funding to pay for environmental cleanup, redevelopment, or transaction-related costs tied to legacy contamination. These outcomes depend on Restorical Research’s proprietary data, policyholder-only representation, and continuous involvement. This specialization has helped fuel Restorical Research’s growth over the past two decades as our clients have come to rely upon our Proven Process and specialized suite of services.
What Makes Restorical Research a
Sole-Source Provider
Restorical Research stands alone in insurance archaeology. For more than 20 years, we’ve worked exclusively for public and private policyholders, auditing insurers nationwide and building a proprietary database of carrier behavior and policy specimens.
Across more than 2,000 projects throughout the United States, we’ve developed deep insight into how insurers respond, where coverage disputes arise, and how claims can be advanced efficiently. That experience leads to meaningful results for public agencies and private organizations seeking insurance funding instead of stalled claims or incomplete recoveries.
Public agencies that engage Restorical under sole-source contracts do so because of the integrated scope of services we provide. Restorical does not perform one task in isolation. Instead, we deliver a fully coordinated insurance cost recovery system that includes:
- Finding lost insurance policies: Locating and recovering historic commercial general liability (CGL) policies that may respond to legacy environmental liabilities.
- Insurance policy reconstruction: Reconstructing and organizing historical evidence to substantiate missing or incomplete policies.
- Site history: Identifying past owners, operators, and tenants to uncover every potential coverage source.
- Trigger analysis: Underwriting each claim with our proprietary trigger analysis in an effort to develop a comprehensive coverage strategy.
- Coverage strategy development: Working exclusively for policyholders, ensuring our interests align fully with yours.
- Assigning insurance in purchase & sales agreement: Creating pathways for non-policyholders to obtain coverage.
- Insurance allocation analysis: Evaluating each carrier’s policy value and developing recovery strategies in coordination with qualified coverage counsel.
- Claims management: Supporting the entire claims process, pre- and post-tender, with legal counsel and consultants. Overseeing claims and accounting workflows to keep projects coordinated and compliant.
- Forensic accounting: Providing dedicated in-house forensic accounting to track, validate, and document all project costs.
- Cost recovery: Holding insurers accountable through established protocols that ensure payment obligations are met.
- Real estate advisory: Supporting acquisitions and dispositions, using historical insurance as a financial asset that strengthens property value and reduces liability.
These capabilities function as a single, unified system that cannot be duplicated by splitting tasks among multiple vendors or by engaging an insurance archaeology firm that sells a stand-alone product. Because of this integrated structure, public agencies often determine that sole-source contracting is appropriate when engaging Restorical for insurance cost recovery services.
The Restorical Difference
Restorical delivers a unified, end-to-end insurance cost recovery system that no other provider can replicate. Our coordinated approach to historical insurance recovery ensures your project isn’t fragmented across multiple vendors or stalled by handoffs. Each part plays a critical role in moving your project from initial investigation to its insurance-funded outcome.
Historical Research & Evidence Development
Historical policy discovery & reconstruction
Restorical locates decades-old CGL policies and rebuilds incomplete records using primary and secondary evidence. Detailed coverage schedules are created so insurers can no longer dispute what existed.
Site history &
trigger analysis
Each project includes a full review of ownership, operations, tenant activity, and potential release events, establishing when contamination occurred and which policies apply.
Insurance allocation
analysis
Our team identifies all responsive carriers and coverage periods to ensure every available insurance layer is considered during recovery.
Coverage, Claims & Financial Recovery
Coverage strategy development
Policy value is assessed, and a recovery strategy is developed in partnership with qualified coverage counsel, ensuring clients are positioned for maximum insurance response.
Claims management
Each project includes a full review of ownership, operations, tenant activity, and potential release events, establishing when contamination occurred and which policies apply.
Forensic accounting & cost recovery
All environmental investigation and cleanup costs are tracked, validated, and documented with the right level of detail required for timely reimbursement.
Transactions, Legacy Liability & Special Circumstance Support
Acquisition & disposition advisory
Historical insurance assets are identified and aligned with purchase and sale agreements to reduce liability, strengthen deal structure, and support redevelopment without additional out-of-pocket costs.
Toxic succession & legacy liability recovery
Restorical uncovers coverage tied to former owners, long-closed operations, and historic activities that impact sites today.
Environmental proof-of-claims support
When a carrier enters liquidation, the required documentation for environmental proofs of claim is prepared and submitted to preserve the client’s right to recovery.
Who We Serve
Many firms can locate old insurance policies, and some may assist with aspects of claims management. However, most of those firms represent both policyholders and insurance companies, and some even serve as outsourced claims departments for carriers. That dual role can create a conflict of interest and divided priorities when complex environmental claims are involved.
Restorical Research is structured differently. We work exclusively for policyholders, property owners, public entities, and responsible parties, and we do not represent insurance companies in any capacity. We do not provide insurer services, carrier subrogation, or shared long-tail exposure programs, and we have no ownership or financial ties to insurers. This independence ensures that our guidance, strategy, and advocacy remain fully aligned with your interests.
When negotiations become complex or contentious, there is no ambiguity about where our loyalty lies. Whether you are preparing for redevelopment, managing an active cleanup, or navigating a property transaction, our Proven Process is designed to help you access insurance funding that can support your work.
Public Sector
We support public agencies responsible for managing, redeveloping, or remediating contaminated properties, especially when legacy operations or incomplete records make insurance recovery complex. Our work helps agencies reduce financial burden, accelerate project timelines, and ensure environmental compliance with funding that should already be available through historical coverage. Our public clients include:
- Cities and municipalities
- Counties and regional governments
- State agencies and environmental departments
- Universities and colleges
- Ports and maritime authorities
- School districts and educational institutions
- Transit agencies and transportation departments
- Utility districts (water, sewer, stormwater, energy)
- Housing authorities
- Redevelopment authorities
- Tribal governments
- Special purpose districts (fire, conservation, parks & recreation)
Private Sector
Private organizations rely on Restorical when environmental impacts threaten property value, redevelopment plans, or operational budgets. We help owners, investors, and operators uncover historical insurance, reduce out-of-pocket cleanup costs, and navigate transactions with clarity and confidence. Our private clients include:
- Auto body shops
- Breweries and beverage producers
- Brownfield owners and developers
- Bulk plant facilities
- Bus barns and fleet operations
- Car dealerships
- Dry cleaners and former dry cleaning sites
- Farming and agricultural operations
- Gas stations and fuel retailers
- Industrial and manufacturing facilities
- Landfills and waste management sites
- Waterfront and maritime properties
- Water & Wastewater Utilities
- Redevelopment projects
- Residential properties
Our Proven Process
Task 1
Intake Call & Onboarding
Research & Deliverables
Findings & Recommendations
Task 2
Coverage
Recovery & Tracking
Completion & Review
Task 2 concludes once project goals have been achieved, whether that involves securing insurance funding, completing a transaction, or recovering costs. The process closes with a final call and feedback discussion to confirm outcomes and close the project with clarity.
Pricing
Our pricing model is clear, predictable, and aligned with your goals. Because every property has a unique history and each project follows our Proven Process, fees are structured around the work required at each phase rather than offered as stand-alone services. And, best of all, our fee is linked to our clients’ success.
Task 1 is billed as a fixed fee, typically $5,000, and focuses on answering a single question: whether insurance recovery is possible. This phase covers intake, insurance archaeology research, site history development, trigger analysis, policy nexus, and determining whether a good-faith claim can be submitted to one or more insurers. When coverage is viable, we provide a clear strategy and recommendations for moving forward. Our goal is to complete Task 1 within 120 days.
Task 2 covers claim coordination with coverage counsel, working with consultants on invoicing, active claims management, reimbursement protocols, and ongoing forensic accounting. This phase is billed under an earned contingency fee arrangement, 15% of monies recovered, meaning Restorical is compensated only when insurance funds are successfully paid.
This structure provides both public and private clients with a clear financial path forward. Costs are known upfront, incentives are aligned, and responsibility stays with a single provider from evaluation through recovery, avoiding the inefficiency and risk of managing multiple vendors.
insurance policy
Start the Proven Process
If your organization is facing environmental liability, redevelopment challenges, uncertainty around historical operations, or difficulty selling a contaminated property, we can help you recover the insurance coverage that should already be paying for these costs. Our Proven Process provides a clear, coordinated path for evaluating your site’s history, identifying applicable policies, and securing the funding needed to move forward.
If you represent a public agency, we can provide a complete sole-source justification packet, including scope of work, past performance, proprietary workflow explanations, and documentation demonstrating why an RFQ will not produce comparable vendors. Schedule an intake call to begin the Proven Process or request justification materials to support your procurement review.
