Paying for Emergency Services
Fire
departments that respond to environmental spills typically are authorized to
seek reimbursement from spill generators. But not all the charges appearing on their
invoices are reasonable or reimbursable. Transporters
are being charged for everything from the cleaning, maintenance and replacement
of gear to salaries and benefits of the emergency responders. Every invoice
should be scrutinized and every authorizing statute questioned to avoid paying
more than the law requires.
Common
Problems on Invoices
At Spill Center,
we routinely screen invoices from emergency response agencies as part of
our service to our transportation company subscribers. We look for questionable
line items and unreasonable (out of line with other providers) or unauthorized
charges on invoices such as:
-
Line items not directly arising from the
incident such as a labor charge with a pro-rated benefits cost or an administrative
overhead charge.
- Unreasonable scope of work, as when multiple
fire companies respond to a minor fuel spill and each one invoices the spill
generator.
- Math Errors are among the most common problems
we find on these invoices. Never assume the math is correct. The numbers might
not add up.
For
more information on Spill
Center's Invoice Auditing
Service, call Tom Moses at 978-568-1922, X222 or email him at tmoses@spillcenter.com. Visit www.spillcenter.com for more information
about Spill Center subscriber services.
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