Page 114 - claims information pack ebook_e

Guidelines for presenting claims for clean up and preventive measures

4. What claims are admissible?

General principles 4.3 Decisions in respect of response operations,
4.1 In all cases claims must satisfy the following particularly at sea, often have to be taken
admissibility criteria which are set out in full urgently to deal with the unforeseen situation
in section 1.5 of the Claims Manual: of an oil spill. The shipowner’s insurer/1992
Fund will take this into account when
● Claims will be paid only for costs resulting considering decisions taken by the authorities
from contamination by persistent oil from in such circumstances together with the
a tanker.
information that was available to them at the
● There must be a close link between the time these decisions were taken. However,
contamination and the costs claimed. as the incident proceeds and the situation
becomes better understood and controlled,
● Claimants must prove how much they have
spent and must provide information to there is an expectation that measures and
support this. their corresponding costs would be reviewed 9
as soon as possible to ensure that they
● The expense must have already actually continue to meet the test of reasonableness.
been incurred. Claims for future anticipated For example, the opportunity might be taken
costs will not be considered. to renegotiate rates accepted in the heat of
● All claims should relate to measures that the moment.
are reasonable and justified and will be 4.4 Claims for costs of response measures
assessed on a case-by-case basis taking are not accepted when it could have been
into account the particular circumstances foreseen that the measures taken would
of the incident and the location in which be ineffective, for example if dispersants
it occurs. were used on solid or semi-solid oils or if
booms were deployed with no regard to their
4.2 Claims for the costs of measures to prevent
or minimise pollution damage must meet the ineffectiveness in fast flowing waters. On the
other hand, the fact that the measures proved
criteria above to be considered admissible
but in particular, the test of reasonableness. to be ineffective is not in itself a reason for
rejection of a claim, provided that, at the
Were the actions taken proportionate?
Were the costs of those measures justifiable? time when the decision was taken to adopt
that particular measure, it could have been
Whether measures are considered reasonable
is judged against a technical appraisal of considered technically reasonable. When
assessing such a claim, the 1992 Fund would
the prevailing circumstances and the facts
available at the time the decision was made take into account the information that was
available to the authorities at the time the
to take the measures. In most cases the test
is applied to some physical action which decisions were taken.
is intended to materially reduce the risk of
pollution damage.