Frequently Asked Questions

States do not incur any direct costs. Contributions are instead paid by the oil-receiving entities in each State (the contributors). There are no fixed fees to pay. The level of contributions varies each year, depending on the amounts of compensation and claims-related expenditure the 1992 Fund or the Supplementary Fund has to pay. This, in turn, depends on the incidents which have occurred. Contributions also cover the running costs of the Secretariat, for which the annual administrative budget is relatively small.

Contributing oil is crude or heavy fuel oil that has been transported by tanker to or within a Member State, before being discharged into a port or terminal installation. The IOPC Funds uses the total volume of oil transported in this manner to calculate contributions and allocate the costs of compensation, claims-related expenditure and administrative expenses between the contributors in Member States.  The amount invoiced per tonne of contributing oil (the levy) is dependent on the budget requirements for that year and the total amount of oil received in the relevant calendar year. Read more about how the invoices are calculated below.

If there are no entities in a 1992 Fund Member State that receive more than 150 000 tonnes of contributing oil in a year, the State must still officially inform the Fund by submitting a nil report. The State will have financial protection in the event of any tanker spills but will not be required to make any contributions.  If that State is also a Member of the Supplementary Fund, the State will pay contributions as if it had received one million tonnes.

It is the first physical receiver of the oil in a Member State who is normally liable to pay contributions, provided that the oil has previously been transported by sea. It does not matter whether the oil is received on behalf of another company. There may be exceptions based on national legislation.

Member States must communicate the name and address of any person liable to pay contributions and the quantity of contributing oil received by them to the Director of the IOPC Funds each year. If a company goes through a name or structural change, the Member State must inform the IOPC Funds about any transfer of rights and obligations. Contributors can notify the IOPC Funds directly of changes to contact details such as contact names, email addresses or company address.

If you receive more than 150 000 tonnes of contributing oil per year, you should submit an oil report, and your government authority should request that you do so. If this has not happened, please contact us at oilreporting@iopcfunds.org. We will then liaise with your government authority to ensure the proper action is taken.

There are two types of levies: to the General Fund and to Major Claims Funds. The General Fund covers administrative expenses and compensation payments for incidents up to a limit of SDR 4 million and levies are based on oil received in the previous year. Major Claims Funds are established for substantial payments of compensation and claims-related expenditure for specific incidents. Contributions to a Major Claims Fund are based on the oil received in the year preceding the incident. Levies to Major Claims Funds are usually staggered over several years to reduce the burden on contributors and allow estimates of the amount required to be refined over time.   

The governing bodies, composed of representatives of the governments of Member States, decide on the levies required for payment of compensation and administrative costs. The levy amount is divided by the total quantity of contributing oil received in all Member States in the relevant year to give a levy per tonne of oil received. The quantity of oil received by each contributor is then multiplied by the levy per tonne to determine the amount to be paid by that contributor. Read more here.

When all claims and expenses for a Major Claims Fund incident have been settled, the balance of that Major Claims Fund is reimbursed to the contributors in proportion to their total contribution to that Major Claims Fund.

The Director is aware that high levies create a burden on contributors and that such increases may be unexpected and therefore difficult to budget for, with some contributors having become accustomed to lower levies in recent years. However, this fluctuation in the financial requirements of the organisation is unavoidable as it is due to a corresponding fluctuation in the number and size of incidents in which it has been called upon to pay compensation. The IOPC Funds does not operate on the basis of an annual levy, avoiding the invoicing of contributors for monies when they are not required but instead, only invoices when incidents occur or circumstances require it to do so.

Once the Secretariat has published the budget documents presented to the governing bodies, it will be possible for the Secretariat to estimate the contributions owed by your company, should the governing bodies approve the proposed levies. Please contact contributions@iopcfunds.org for more information.

The Secretariat aims to give contributors as much time as possible to prepare for the payment of invoices. All contributors have access to the budget documents which are published online. The Secretariat notifies all registered contributor contacts of levy decisions as soon as they are adopted by the governing bodies, and invoices are issued by the end of November, with payment not due until 1 March of the following year.

The Director issues an invoice to each contributor following the decision by the governing bodies to levy annual contributions. The contributions are payable directly to the 1992 Fund by the individual contributors.

Yes. You may request invoices in USD or other currencies. The amount owed to the IOPC Funds will remain as GBP and the prevailing exchange rate on the day of receipt will be applied to the funds received. If you would like to make payment in another currency, please contact contributions@iopcfunds.org for advice on exchange rates and alternative bank account details.

You should notify the IOPC Funds via email, referencing your contributor number and the specific changes required. Updated invoices or confirmations will be issued accordingly.

Company name changes, mergers, acquisitions or financial restructuring will need to be verified by Member State authorities. The Secretariat will ask the Member State to confirm the name change and verify the details of any legal transfer of rights and obligations.

Contact the IOPC Funds and your Member State authorities to explain the situation. The IOPC Funds and the Member State will cooperate to establish whether your company or the previous operator should pay contributions.

Member States should inform the Secretariat as soon as possible. The Secretariat will lodge a claim for any outstanding contributions.

The Contributions team will send an official receipt for all contributions paid to the Funds. If you have remitted funds but not yet received a receipt, please write to contributions@iopcfunds.org with details of your payment, including bank remittance advice if available. The Secretariat can use this information to investigate delays directly with our bank.

Credit balances may arise due to reimbursements or overpayments. The Funds encourages all contributors to promptly request a reimbursement. Any remaining credit balances will be applied to future invoices for contributions. If you are associated with another contributor, you may request that the credit be transferred.

Interest will be charged on unpaid contributions, from the due date, at an annual rate 2% higher than the lowest London clearing bank base rate prevailing on 1 March. The IOPC Funds will send regular reminders of outstanding contributions, first to the contributing company and later to representatives from the Member State. The IOPC Funds relies on Member States to facilitate payment from contributors in arrears.

It is possible for a contributor to pay an invoice in instalments. Please ensure that the contributor reference and invoice number are clearly referenced in the bank transfer. Notification of your payment plans by email would also be appreciated. Please note that any amounts remaining outstanding after the due date will be subject to interest charges, calculated on a daily basis on the full remaining balance of contributions.

The IOPC Funds are intergovernmental organisations based in London, United Kingdom. Under Article 34 of the 1992 Fund Convention and under Article 16 of the Supplementary Fund Protocol, the IOPC Funds are exempt from all direct taxation on its assets, income including contributions and other property in Member States.

For administrative matters such as customer setup, audit balance confirmation, tax status verification, or similar requests, please contact contributions@iopcfunds.org.

Interest on unpaid contributions is calculated from the due date at an annual rate, set each year on 1 March, which is 2% above the Bank of England base rate on that date. In the interest of fairness to all contributors the 1992 Fund cannot waive interest charges.