This property has a documented history as a property with a heating oil tank going back to 1939. Historical insurance policies issued during those prior operations and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.

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 underground heating oil tank at this property was installed circa 1939, nearly five decades before the 1986 shift away from occurrence-based liability coverage. Insurance policies in effect during the tank's decades of pre-1986 operation were written without the pollution exclusions that became standard after 1986. The cleanup costs incurred to address petroleum-diesel contamination in groundwater — tank decommissioning, investigation, and remediation — represent expenditures that historical carriers from that operational window may be obligated to cover.

Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.