Insurance Claims
Oversight Services

Subrogation

Insurance Claims
Investigative Services

ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS

Dorson is a firm whose experience stems from thirty five years in the environmental consulting industry and has emerged as a leader in the assessment of environmental insurance claims. As this facet of our business has grown, so too has our level of services and technical expertise. We’ve been retained by most insurance companies with environmental claims to act as their “eyes and ears” in the field. Our experience and relationships enable us to open up lines of communication and develop methods, which assist in effective claims resolution. We represent your interests in all matters involved in claims and litigation management.

The primary goal with ICOS is to provide the claims handling professional with fast, accurate information so they can do their job. The objective is to help manage the cost of claims settlement while effecting a successful conclusion. Our service frequently eliminates the need for attorneys and long protracted legal proceedings. ICOS saves our clients substantial amounts of money while providing excellent service.

Our approach includes knowledge of insurance as well as environmental regulations; we investigate and manage the project simultaneously. We interface with the regulatory agency, insurance company and the insured making sure that the action to be taken is appropriate and reasonable. We “project manage" the situation to keep control of the costs and make the correct engineering judgments. We know what is required for environmental claims and we know how much it should cost. The results have been significant verifiable cost savings for our clients.

The ICOS system functions as follows:

The insurance carrier calls Dorson to advise us of a claim or a potential claim.

1. Dorson responds within 24 hours with a field visit. A complete assessment of the situation is made.
2. Normal preliminary assessments and reports are completed and information is sent back to our clients within days.
3. If this is a new situation, the claims handler will make a decision as to coverage.
4. If there is coverage or in an ongoing situation the following issues can be monitored by Dorson:

• How did incident occur and is there subrogation potential?
• Is the most cost effective cleanup technique being used?
• Has a detailed proposal for the cleanup been presented to the carrier?
• Are all proposed costs and existing bills properly delineated and in line with competitive rates?
  

The Benefits of ICOS:

We provide a detailed investigation into the claim history to surface subrogation potential and understand the nature of the claim, along with assessing the present site conditions so that critical decisions can be made by well informed claims handlers. We are also fortunate to have kind, good natured people on our staff who can communicate well with the insured, gently deflecting all decisions regarding coverage to the insurance professional. Dorson also has extensive experience in the development of subrogation files and, if the circumstances are favorable, can often deliver a technical package so complete it often short circuits protracted negotiations.