This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1985. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could fund a cleanup.

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.

The heating-oil tank system at this property was in operation approximately twenty years before the contamination was discovered in 2005, placing its use squarely in the pre-1986 era when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies carried no effective pollution exclusion in Washington. The petroleum release into soil and groundwater is the kind of gradual, operations-linked contamination those policies were written to cover. The cleanup costs the property owner still faces — ongoing monitoring, future sampling, and any additional remediation needed to reach closure — could plausibly be funded by historical carriers whose policies were in effect when the tank system was operating.

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.