A refinery or plant fire is a business interruption claim first. The waiting period, the restoration period and your declared values decide the outcome.
Last updated: October 2026
Lost throughput priced at outage-period crack spreads. Instrument and electrical damage the first walk-down misses. Agencies on site within hours and a carrier that pays in tranches. We document and negotiate the full loss for the policyholder, and we tell you plainly when a question belongs with your attorney.
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Tell us what happened. A licensed Texas public adjuster will review the loss with you, and tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having. The review is free.
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Business interruption on refinery and petrochemical losses now runs above its historical 3-to-1 ratio to property damage, and some claims reach 10 to 1. At Delek's Tyler, Texas refinery, business interruption was about 55% of the insurance proceeds it reported for 2009.
Sources: Marsh, 100 Largest Losses in the Hydrocarbon Industry, 29th edition (2026); Delek US 10-K for fiscal 2009 (share computed).
The first 72 hours after a refinery or plant fire
Agencies arrive within hours. At Tyler in 2008, OSHA investigators were en route the same day, and EPA brought air and site monitoring, including its ASPECT monitoring aircraft. What you preserve, report and record in these first days becomes the claim record.
Make it safe, then hold the scene. Keep failed pipe, flanges, valves and fittings in place until investigators and the insurer have seen them. Tyler's fire reportedly re-ignited from a fracture on a second line, so every heat- and debris-damaged line is evidence, not only the origin.
Check the federal reporting clock. The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) rule, 40 CFR 1604.3, requires a report within 8 hours of an accidental release that causes a death, a serious injury, or estimated property damage of $1 million or more. Whether your release qualifies, and how you respond to investigators, are questions for your attorney.
Give written notice to your broker and every insurer that may respond: energy property and business interruption, machinery breakdown if it sits in a separate policy, liability and umbrella. Under the Texas prompt-payment statute, a notice of claim means a written notice. Log dates, times and claim numbers, plus any CSB and National Response Center (NRC, the federal spill and release hotline) report numbers.
Photograph and video every unit before demolition: the control room, cable trays, analyzers, field instruments, tanks and the rack.
Protect the recovery rights. Under typical energy wording, the insurer takes over your recovery rights once it pays, and you must not waive them. Your own cause-and-origin (C&O) expert and a joint evidence protocol protect that recovery. Do not sign new contractor agreements with waiver terms until your attorney has read them.
Keep selling if you safely can, and open cost codes. Tyler kept its terminal rack open to sell finished product from inventory. From day one, keep separate codes for emergency response, demolition, loss repair, and any turnaround or upgrade work.
Do not lock in a cause theory. Early reports on the 2023 Marathon Galveston Bay fire left the cause open. Keep claim papers to observed facts until investigators finish.
Sources: JOIFF Tyler incident report (2008); EPA Delek response profile; 40 CFR 1604.3; Tex. Ins. Code §542.051; Universal Sompo energy policy wording (illustrative); Globes (Nov. 2008); CBS News Texas (2023).
Delek Tyler, 2008: from fire to final payment
On November 20, 2008, a fire near the saturated gas plant and naphtha hydrotreater at Delek's 60,000 b/d (barrels per day) refinery in Tyler, Texas damaged the control room. The refinery employed about 270 people, and its parent company was worth about $206 million after the fire. That is the scale of a mid-market operator: a small senior team carrying the agencies, the rebuild, the customers and the claim at once.
The insurance program carried a $1.0 billion limit shared by property damage and business interruption, a $5.0 million deductible and a 45-day business interruption waiting period. The plant stayed down through the cause-and-origin review and was fully operational 179 days after the fire. The insurance took much longer.
| Day | Date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Nov. 20, 2008 | Fire near the sat gas plant and naphtha hydrotreater; control room damaged |
| 45 | Jan. 4, 2009 | Business interruption cover begins after the 45-day waiting period |
| 105 | By Mar. 5, 2009 | Insurance payments have started |
| 168 | May 7, 2009 | About $82 million received or approved |
| 179 | May 18, 2009 | Fully operational after a phased startup |
| 222 | June 30, 2009 | $96.6 million in cash received; in August the BI claim was still being calculated |
| About 500 to 590 | Q2 2010 | Final $17.0 million payment; $141.4 million gross in total |
Day counts are computed from the fire date.
Lesson 1
The waiting period is a cash gap. No business interruption was paid for the first 45 days, and management said BI money lagged the claim by months. Plan cash through the waiting period, and ask for partial payments on documented, undisputed amounts.
Lesson 2
The first estimate ran low. The rebuild estimate rose from $40 million to about $58 million, roughly 45%. The first numbers rested on visual inspection, and instrument and electrical costs ran higher.
Lesson 3
The claim followed the market. The Gulf Coast 5-3-2 crack spread averaged $9.14 a barrel in the first quarter of 2009, more than double the prior quarter. Business interruption was measured against outage-period margins.
Lesson 4
Restart was not the finish line. In Q2 2009 the plant ran 53,103 b/d against 60,000 b/d of capacity, and sales channels, not the plant, set the limit. Delek said BI would continue after restart to fund customer-recovery costs.
Sources: Oil & Gas Journal (2009); JOIFF (2008); Globes (2008, 2009); CSP Daily News (2009); Delek US 10-K for fiscal 2009; Delek Q1 and Q2 2009 earnings calls; C-Store Decisions (2010).
Mechanical integrity, maintenance work and secondary failures
At plants older than 30 years, mechanical integrity failures caused 65% of losses in Marsh's data through 2019. Marsh's 2026 edition still ranks mechanical and non-mechanical integrity failures as the top causes of major downstream losses. WTW counted about $6.8 billion in gross downstream losses in 2025, a tally of insured and uninsured losses above $1 million, not final adjusted claims.
Mechanical integrity failure in aging equipment.
Mechanical integrity (MI) and process safety management (PSM, an OSHA standard) are the programs that keep process equipment fit for service.
What it means for your claim: expect wear, corrosion and gradual-deterioration exclusions to come up. Inspection and maintenance records carry this fight.
Releases during maintenance or repair.
On October 10, 2024, a partly opened flange at Pemex's Deer Park refinery released about 27,000 pounds of hydrogen sulfide in about an hour. Two contract workers were killed and 13 people were hurt, and Deer Park and Pasadena sheltered in place. In December 2021, four contractors were hurt in a fire during repair of a bypass line leak on a gasoline unit at ExxonMobil Baytown.
What it means for your claim: pull work permits, isolation records and the contractor agreement. Waiver terms are a question for your attorney.
Rupture, then secondary failures.
At Freeport LNG in June 2022, overpressured piping ruptured, and debris breached nearby piping and started a second fire.
What it means for your claim: scope every heat- and debris-damaged line, and preserve each failed component.
Hidden instrument and electrical damage.
Tyler's estimate grew about 45% as instrument and electrical work grew past visual estimates.
What it means for your claim: test control rooms, cable trays, analyzers and field instruments before anyone signs off on scope.
Firewater and runoff.
EPA photographed runoff at a creek outfall during the Tyler response.
What it means for your claim: cleanup brings agency oversight. Check the pollution cleanup and debris removal sublimits.
Freeze and grid failure.
Winter Storm Uri shut Gulf Coast refineries through power outages, short gas supply and process unit damage.
What it means for your claim: separate physical freeze damage from utility interruption, because each can fall under a different coverage part.
Texas losses on the record
| Date | Event | What it cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mar. 23, 2005 | BP Texas City isomerization unit explosion | 15 people killed and at least 170 hurt at a 475,000 b/d refinery; OSHA penalties of $21 million in 2005 and $50.6 million in 2010 |
| Feb. 2008 | Big Spring refinery fire | Back in operation two months later |
| Nov. 27, 2019 | TPC Port Neches explosion | More than $600 million in damages; thousands of residents evacuated; the operator went bankrupt |
| June 8, 2022 | Freeport LNG explosion | No injuries or off-site damage; FERC approved Train 1's return 273 days later |
| May 15, 2023 | Marathon Galveston Bay fire, Texas City | At least one worker killed |
| Oct. 10, 2024 | Pemex Deer Park release | Two contract workers killed, 13 hurt |
Downtime varies with what burns, so restoration evidence has to be specific to your plant. Insurance outcomes are public only where an operator disclosed them or a dispute reached court.
Sources: Marsh 26th and 29th editions; Reinsurance News on WTW (2026); WTW Energy Market Review 2026; Pipeline & Gas Journal (2024); gCaptain (2021); FERC; Delek Q1 2009 call; EPA; EIA (2021); OSHA; Globes; Texas Attorney General; Insurance Business (2025); CBS News Texas.
Why business interruption is the bigger number, and how refinery BI is built
Marsh's 2026 report puts business interruption (BI) above its historical 3-to-1 ratio to property damage on these losses, with some claims at 10 to 1. Marsh's own loss rankings count property damage only, so even its largest-loss figures understate what an operator loses.
Refinery BI is lost throughput times the margin the plant would have earned during the outage, less the costs that stop. The question that matters is which margin. Tyler's claim followed live markets: the Gulf Coast 5-3-2 crack spread, a benchmark refining margin, averaged $9.14 a barrel during the outage, double the quarter before. Expect the insurer's accountants to test every projected margin.
What the number is built from
- Throughput by unit in b/d, product yields, and rack and wholesale volumes, from the plant historian and DCS (the plant's process data archive and distributed control system)
- Crack spreads and crude differentials during the outage. Tyler's WTI-linked crude slate mattered against plants priced off Brent or LLS.
- Contango (futures above spot) and inventory effects. WTI contango averaged over $4.50 a barrel in Q1 2009 and $1.90 in Q2.
- Continuing versus non-continuing expenses: payroll, contractors and fixed costs
- Hedging kept outside the claim, as Delek did
How we build it
We do not hand the carrier one calculation. We model the loss several independent ways, against your real throughput and margins, against lead times for process equipment, and against the ramp back to full rates, and use those models against each other. The look-back period matters too: a soft year inside a multi-year average can drag your baseline down when it does not reflect normal operations.
The waiting period
The waiting period, or time deductible, is the first stretch of outage the policy does not pay. Tyler's was 45 calendar days. The standard ISO business income form uses 72 hours, with extra expense starting at once, but energy programs are often written on their own wording. Check when your clock starts and how partial operations count. Our free business income worksheet lays out the pieces.
BI to property damage on some downstream claims, above the historical 3 to 1
Marsh 29th edition, 2026
Tyler's BI waiting period before any income loss was paid
Delek 10-K, fiscal 2009
Gulf Coast 5-3-2 crack spread average in Q1 2009, during Tyler's outage
Delek Q1 2009 earnings call
Sources: Marsh 29th edition (2026); Delek Q1 and Q2 2009 earnings calls; Delek 10-K for fiscal 2009; ISO CP 00 30 specimen.
Declared BI values and volatility caps: the trap set at renewal
Most downstream programs carry a volatility clause. LMA 5515, the standard downstream version, caps BI recovery based on the BI values you declared at renewal and a negotiated cap percentage. Marsh says past losses exposed large gaps between declared and actual BI, and insurers then lean on the caps. WTW says some insurers now review how clients calculate BI values, and it urged buyers to review their declarations so they can recover in full. With crack spreads that can double in a quarter, as Tyler's did, the gap between declared and actual can be wide.
Renewal is the time to check. WTW reported double-digit cuts in North American energy property rates in Q1 2026, so the market is giving buyers room to fix declarations and sublimits before a loss rather than after.
| Coverage or issue | Tyler or typical wording | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Combined PD/BI limit | Tyler: $1.0 billion shared by property damage and BI | Sublimits under the main limit, and whether one event can use up the shared limit |
| Property damage deductible | Tyler: $5.0 million | How it applies per occurrence and alongside the BI waiting period |
| BI waiting period | Tyler: 45 calendar days | When the clock starts and how partial operations count |
| BI declaration and volatility clause | LMA 5515 caps recovery against declared values and a cap percentage | The values declared at renewal against the actual loss, and the cap percentage |
| Valuation | Like kind and quality, without betterment (illustrative energy wording) | Separate cost codes for loss repair, turnaround work and upgrades |
| Coinsurance | Insured values of at least 100% of new reproduction cost less reasonable depreciation (illustrative wording) | Whether scheduled values meet the clause; see the coinsurance penalty calculator |
| Wear, corrosion and breakdown | Excluded in the floater form of one illustrative wording | Whether machinery breakdown cover sits elsewhere in the program |
| Contingent time element | After Port Neches, FM Global paid $50 million under this sublimit on a neighbor's $100 million claim | Which sublimit applies when a neighbor's or supplier's loss stops you |
| Civil authority | Indorama argued its civil authority and BI cover was not limited to that sublimit; a federal court let the suit proceed | The order's wording and dates, and how the cover stacks with other sublimits (for your attorney) |
| Debris removal and cleanup | Wreck removal has its own sublimit in the illustrative wording | The amounts, and whether firewater and runoff cleanup fit inside them |
| Proof of loss and suit limit | Detailed sworn proof of loss; suit within two years and a day (illustrative wording) | Your policy's due dates; suit timing is for your attorney |
Large refinery programs are often manuscript or surplus lines wording, and large risks with $5 million or more in insured property values are exempt from Texas form approval, so read every term against your own policy. How a clause applies to your facts is a legal question when it is disputed. We document the loss and present it; coverage interpretation in a dispute belongs with your attorney.
Sources: Delek 10-K for fiscal 2009; WTW Insurance Marketplace Realities 2026: Energy; WTW Energy Market Review 2026; WTW release (Apr. 2026); Marsh 29th edition; Universal Sompo energy wording (illustrative); Insurance Business (Aug. 2025); TDI commercial property filing checklist.
Why the first repair estimate runs low, and what sets the restoration period
Tyler's rebuild estimate rose about 45%, from $40 million to about $58 million, because the first estimates rested on visual inspection and instrument and electrical costs ran higher. Delek expected most rebuild costs to be repaid, subject to its deductible and the adjuster's approval. That approval is where the fight sits: whether added scope is loss damage, betterment or deferred maintenance.
If you pull turnaround work forward while the unit is down, keep it on its own cost codes so it never blurs the loss repair. WTW says insurers are focusing on maintenance, turnaround planning and contractor selection, especially in refining, so expect those records to be requested. Send every estimate revision with test results and cost codes attached.
What sets the period of restoration
- Rebuild scope, above all instruments and electrical
- Long-lead electrical gear. In Q2 2025, power transformers averaged 128 weeks of lead time and switchgear 44 weeks (Wood Mackenzie data). A contractor reports 65 to 95 weeks for 5 to 25 MVA substation transformers in 2026.
- Investigations. Tyler stayed down through the cause-and-origin review, and WTW says regulatory challenges can extend post-loss outages.
- Restart approvals. FERC approved the return of Freeport LNG's Train 1 on March 8, 2023, after four earlier staged approvals, 273 days after the fire.
- Prices. Producer prices for power and distribution transformers rose 91.4% from January 2020 to July 2026, and steel mill products rose 27.6% in the year to September 2026.
After restart
Business interruption does not have to stop the day a unit restarts. Tyler ran 53,103 b/d against 60,000 b/d of capacity in Q2 2009 because its sales channels had to be rebuilt. Check whether your policy has an extended period of indemnity and how long it runs. The standard ISO form gives 60 days after operations resume unless a longer period was bought.
Sources: Delek Q1 and Q2 2009 earnings calls; WTW (Oct. 2025); POWER (Jan. 2026) citing Wood Mackenzie; Terrapin Construction Group (2026); FERC; Next Move Strategy Consulting citing BLS (Oct. 2026); BLS PPI (Oct. 2026); ISO CP 00 30.
When the plant next door explodes, or your crude line fails
On November 27, 2019, the TPC plant in Port Neches exploded. Thousands of residents were evacuated over Thanksgiving, damages ran past $600 million, and fires burned until January 4, 2020. Its neighbor Indorama regained site access on January 29, 63 days after the blast. Indorama made a $100 million claim. FM Global paid $50 million under its contingent time element sublimit, and Indorama argued its civil authority and BI cover was not limited to that sublimit. In 2025 a federal court let Indorama's suit proceed. It is a coverage dispute, not a result.
Compare the standard ISO civil authority terms: cover starts 72 hours after an order bars access, the premises must be within one mile of the damaged property, and income is paid for up to four consecutive weeks. A 63-day lockout runs well past that. Energy wordings vary, so read yours before you need it.
Civil authority.
Keep every evacuation and access order with the times it was issued and lifted, and log each day the site was barred.
Contingent time element.
A third-party crude pipeline feeding Delek's El Dorado, Arkansas refinery failed in 2012. Delek received a $49.0 million settlement in January 2016, more than three years later, and $42.4 million of it was BI. Keep supply, pipeline and interconnect agreements in the first-week pull.
Utility interruption.
Winter Storm Uri shut Gulf Coast refineries through outside power outages and short gas supply as well as freeze damage on site. Separate days lost to the outside utility from days lost to physical damage.
Claims against a neighbor's operator are a question for your attorney, and recovery from a bankrupt operator, as at TPC, runs through bankruptcy court. Start with your own policy rather than waiting on someone else's. For related losses see our chemical plant fire page and our upstream oil and gas page.
Sources: Insurance Business (Aug. 2025); Texas Attorney General (2024); ISO CP 00 30 specimen; Delek BI insurance proceeds note (fiscal 2017 filing); EIA (2021).
The shortfalls in these claims are predictable. So is how we fight them.
Expect the insurer to pay in tranches over many months while its experts test cause, scope and BI. In August 2009, nearly nine months after the Tyler fire, Delek said its BI claim was still being calculated and well above amounts received. None of this means the carrier is acting in bad faith. It means the program is complex and the default reading of it favors the insurer unless someone answers with documentation.
The timeline is set shorter than real lead times, investigation holds and restart approvals.
Our move: We reconstruct the period from dated vendor quotes, equipment lead times, investigation and permitting steps, and the ramp back to full rates.
Accountants test every projected margin and favor a baseline that understates normal operations.
Our move: We build BI from historian and DCS throughput and outage-period crack spreads and differentials, model it several ways, and keep hedging separate.
A volatility cap is applied because declared BI values fall short of the loss.
Our move: We reconcile the claim to the renewal declaration and show the calculation. Where the cap wording itself is disputed, we work alongside your attorney.
Added instrument and electrical scope is called betterment or deferred maintenance.
Our move: We send every estimate revision with test results and separate cost codes for loss repair, turnaround and upgrade work.
Wear, corrosion or breakdown is raised against a covered fire or explosion.
Our move: We assemble inspection, maintenance and mechanical integrity records and work from the origin investigator's findings. Coverage positions in a reservation of rights go to your attorney.
A contingent time element, civil authority or cleanup sublimit is applied as the ceiling.
Our move: We document each day of the outage by cause and the cost of each piece, so every coverage part is measured on its own facts.
Payments arrive in tranches while the claim stays open.
Our move: We press for partial payments on documented, undisputed amounts and calendar every proof-of-loss and records deadline.
Sources: Delek Q2 2009 earnings call; WTW (Oct. 2025); Marsh 29th edition; Universal Sompo energy wording (illustrative).
Texas: the agencies, the weather and the claim clock
Texas holds about 32% of U.S. refining capacity, so a Gulf Coast storm or freeze hits many plants at once, and the same agencies keep showing up.
Agencies that investigate and can gate restart
| Agency | Role after a fire | Example |
|---|---|---|
| CSB | 8-hour reporting at or above the $1 million damage threshold; investigates major incidents | Investigated the Pemex Deer Park release |
| OSHA | Investigates worker deaths and injuries; can cite and fine | BP Texas City: $21 million settlement in 2005, then $50.6 million in 2010 for failure to abate |
| TCEQ | Texas environmental regulator; investigates and penalizes | Investigated Pemex Deer Park; had fined Tyler before its fire |
| EPA | Emergency air and site monitoring; enforcement | Ran air monitoring at Tyler |
| Texas Attorney General | Sues for environmental penalties for the state | TPC: $12.6 million for violations after Dec. 16, 2022, plus a $150 million penalty stipulation in bankruptcy |
| FERC | Approves an LNG terminal's staged return to service | Freeport LNG: approvals from Jan. 26 to Mar. 8, 2023 |
Which TCEQ permits or approvals gate a rebuilt unit is a question for your environmental counsel and permit staff. Your reporting duties to any agency are a question for your attorney.
Freeze and hurricanes
Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 shut in an estimated 3.7 million b/d, about 20% of U.S. refining capacity, and Gulf Coast runs fell 28% in a week, with most disruptions around Beaumont-Port Arthur, Houston and Corpus Christi. TDI counted 7,237 business interruption claims from the freeze, with $519.5 million paid. In Hurricane Harvey, Gulf Coast refinery inputs fell 34% in the week ending September 1, 2017, and regional utilization dropped from 96% to 63%. Check named windstorm and flood sublimits and deductibles before the season.
The Texas claim clock
Texas gives an admitted insurer 15 days after written notice to acknowledge a claim, 15 business days after receiving all requested items to accept or reject it, and 5 business days to pay once it accepts. A surplus lines insurer gets 30 business days to acknowledge and 20 business days to pay. An insurer that is liable for the claim and misses these deadlines owes 18% annual interest plus reasonable attorney's fees under §542.060. Whether that applies to your claim is a question for your attorney. Our prompt-payment deadline calculator works out the dates.
Public adjuster rules
A Texas public adjuster's total fee, including expenses, may not exceed 10% of the insurance settlement. You may cancel a public adjuster contract in writing within 72 hours of signing, for any reason. Claim checks must name you as a payee, and a commercial policy may not prohibit you from hiring a licensed public adjuster. Public adjusters may not practice law.
Related tools: Business income worksheet, Coinsurance calculator and Texas claim deadlines.
Sources: EIA (2021, 2017); 40 CFR 1604.3; Pipeline & Gas Journal; OSHA; JOIFF; EPA; Texas Attorney General; FERC; TDI February 2021 winter weather summary; Tex. Ins. Code §§542.055 to 542.060, 4102.007, 4102.103, 4102.104, 4102.156, 4102.158; 28 TAC §19.708.
Documents to pull this week
Pull these in the first week, before demolition and before the insurer's first records request. Each one answers a dispute described above.
Policy and notice
the full energy property and BI policy with endorsements, declarations, sublimits, waiting period, indemnity period and volatility clause; the BI declaration or worksheet submitted at the last renewal; a notice log with the date and time of notice to each insurer and the broker, plus any CSB and NRC report numbers.
Agencies and evidence
correspondence and site-access logs for OSHA, EPA, TCEQ and the CSB, with any air monitoring data; photos and video of every unit before demolition; chain of custody for failed pipe, flanges, valves and fittings, and a joint inspection protocol; work permits, isolation and lockout records, and contractor job packages for work under way; inspection and maintenance records for the failed equipment and the last turnaround scope; prior OSHA, TCEQ and EPA actions (Tyler had prior OSHA and TCEQ penalties).
Scope and cost
every contractor estimate and revision, with dates; separate cost codes for emergency response, demolition, loss repair, and turnaround or upgrade work; instrument and electrical test results for the control room, cable trays and analyzers; purchase orders and vendor quotes showing lead times for long-lead equipment; salvage inventory and disposal records, since salvage recoveries go to the insurer until it is repaid.
Income
daily throughput by unit, unit rates and yields from historian and DCS exports; crack spreads, crude differentials, contango and inventory records for the outage, with hedging kept separate; rack and wholesale volumes, customer contracts and customers lost after restart; payroll, overtime, contractor invoices, and continuing versus non-continuing expenses; budgets and forecasts made before the loss.
Contracts and recovery rights
crude supply, pipeline, interconnect and utility agreements; contractor and vendor agreements with indemnity or waiver-of-subrogation terms, for your attorney; any civil authority or evacuation orders, with the times issued and lifted.
Sources: JOIFF (2008); Universal Sompo energy wording (illustrative); Delek Q1 2009 earnings call.
The insurance company's adjuster works for the insurance company.
After a major loss, the carrier sends its own adjuster, and often a forensic accountant and engineering consultants, all retained by the insurer. They are competent and they are not neutral; their job is to resolve the claim on terms favorable to the company that pays them. A public adjuster is the licensed counterweight: we represent the policyholder only, we build and present the claim, and we negotiate the settlement.
On a refinery or petrochemical loss the asymmetry is the whole problem. The carrier brings cause-and-origin investigators, engineers, estimators and forensic accountants. We document the full loss with the same rigor, and we are paid a percentage of what we recover, so our incentive is your number. We are licensed public adjusters, not attorneys: when a question turns on agency reporting duties, how a sublimit or volatility clause applies in a dispute, or liability to neighbors and contractors, we work alongside your attorney rather than in place of one.
What happens after you call.
Loss review and policy analysis
We read the actual policy and endorsements - limits, BI and extended-period provisions, machinery-breakdown, pollution terms, exclusions and any reservation of rights - and assess the full scope before anyone commits to a number.
Document everything, including corrosion and contamination
Process equipment, corrosion beyond the burn, and regulated contamination. We bring in industrial hygienists and environmental and engineering expertise to establish the true footprint and cleanup required, while the evidence still exists.
Build the business-interruption claim - modeled several ways
From real throughput and financial data: margins, custom-equipment lead times, the extended period of restoration, and the right look-back baseline, modeled independently and used against each other to substantiate the full loss.
Present, negotiate, and settle
We present the documented claim, contest the predictable shortfalls - the restoration period and the pollution exclusion first - and negotiate the settlement on your behalf through to resolution.
Questions refinery and petrochemical operators ask.
How soon must a refinery fire be reported to the Chemical Safety Board?
The CSB rule, 40 CFR 1604.3, requires a report within 8 hours of an accidental release that causes a death, a serious injury, or estimated property damage of $1 million or more. Whether a given release qualifies is a question for your attorney. Log every report number in your claim file.
Does business interruption insurance pay from the first day of downtime?
Usually not. Most programs carry a waiting period. Delek's Tyler refinery had 45 calendar days; the standard ISO form uses 72 hours. Check when your clock starts and how partial operations count, and plan cash for the gap.
How is business interruption calculated for a refinery?
Lost throughput times the margin the plant would have earned during the outage, less costs that stop. The inputs are unit throughput and yields, crack spreads and crude differentials for the outage, inventory effects, and continuing expenses, with hedging kept outside the claim.
Why is BI often bigger than the property damage?
Because every day down costs margin on every barrel, and restoration can run for months. Marsh's 2026 report puts BI above its historical 3-to-1 ratio to property damage, with some claims at 10 to 1.
What is a volatility clause, and can it cap our claim?
A volatility clause, such as LMA 5515, caps BI recovery based on the BI values you declared at renewal and a negotiated cap percentage. If declared values fall short of the actual loss, the cap can limit recovery. Review your declaration at every renewal. A dispute over how the cap applies belongs with your attorney.
Will insurance pay when the repair estimate grows?
Added scope from the loss should be part of the claim, subject to the deductible and the adjuster's approval. Tyler's estimate rose about 45% as instrument and electrical costs grew. Send each revision with test results and separate cost codes for any turnaround or upgrade work.
Does BI stop when the unit restarts?
Not necessarily. Check for an extended period of indemnity. Delek said Tyler's BI would continue after restart to fund customer-recovery costs, and the plant ran below capacity while sales channels recovered.
Are we covered if a neighboring plant's explosion forces an evacuation?
Possibly, under civil authority or contingent time element cover. After Port Neches, the neighbor Indorama regained access 63 days later, received $50 million under a sublimit on a $100 million claim, and sued over the limit. Read the sublimits now; a dispute over them belongs with your attorney.
What if a supplier's pipeline failure shuts us down?
Contingent business income may respond. After a third-party crude pipeline feeding Delek's El Dorado refinery failed in 2012, Delek received a $49.0 million settlement in 2016, $42.4 million of it BI.
Should we keep the failed equipment?
Yes. Keep failed pipe, flanges, valves and fittings under a chain-of-custody log and a joint inspection protocol. The insurer takes over your recovery rights once it pays, and that recovery depends on the evidence.
How long does a refinery fire claim take to settle?
Longer than the repair. Tyler was fully operational 179 days after its fire, but the final insurance payment came about 16 to 19 months after the fire, after payments in tranches.
Is a public adjuster the same as a lawyer?
No. A Texas public adjuster is licensed to document, present and negotiate your insurance claim and may not practice law. Questions about agency reporting, coverage disputes and claims against neighbors or contractors belong with your attorney, and we work alongside them.
What does it cost to hire a public adjuster?
We work on a percentage of the recovery, with no upfront cost. We're only paid if and when you recover, which aligns our incentive with maximizing your settlement. Fee specifics are discussed up front before you commit to anything.
Tell us what happened. We'll tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having.
No cost, no obligation. The fastest path is the phone - for a major loss, call and talk to a person today.
713-369-4300Start a claim review
Tell us what happened. A licensed Texas public adjuster will review the loss with you, and tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having. The review is free.
For fire claims, we call you back within 1 hour and visit your property within 24 hours or less.
A major loss is decided in the first moves. Make yours count.
Talk to a public adjuster who works only for you. No upfront cost - we're paid a percentage only if you recover.
713-369-4300Crossroads Insurance Recovery Advocates · TDI License 1924788
This page is general educational information about commercial property claims, not legal advice or advice on your specific claim. Crossroads Insurance Recovery Advocates, Texas public adjuster entity license #1924788.
Don't take our word for it
- Marsh: 100 Largest Losses in the Hydrocarbon Industry, 29th edition (2026)
- Marsh: 100 largest losses, 26th edition (data through 2019)
- WTW: Energy Market Review 2026
- WTW: Insurance Marketplace Realities 2026, Energy (Oct. 2025)
- Reinsurance News: energy insurance market and WTW loss count (Apr. 2026)
- WTW press release via StockTitan (Apr. 2026)
- 40 CFR 1604.3: CSB accidental release reporting
- Insurance Business: Indorama ruling in FM Global insurance dispute (Aug. 2025)
- Texas Attorney General: environmental penalties for TPC (Nov. 2024)
- Pipeline & Gas Journal: gas release at Pemex's Texas refinery (Nov. 2024)
- CBS News Texas: fire at Marathon refinery in Texas City (May 2023)
- FERC: Freeport LNG incident, June 2022
- gCaptain: fire at Exxon's Baytown refinery (Dec. 2021)
- EIA: cold weather led to Gulf Coast refinery shutdowns (Mar. 2021)
- EIA: Hurricane Harvey and Gulf Coast refinery runs (Sept. 2017)
- OSHA: BP Texas City refinery penalties history
- POWER: Transformers in 2026 (Jan. 2026)
- Terrapin Construction Group: 2026 lead times
- Next Move Strategy Consulting: transformer and switchgear prices (Oct. 2026)
- BLS: PPI Detailed Report, Table 2
- Delek US: 10-K for fiscal 2009
- Delek US: Q1 2009 earnings call
- Delek US: Q2 2009 earnings call
- Delek US: BI insurance proceeds note (fiscal 2017 filing)
- C-Store Decisions: Delek Q2 2010 results
- CSP Daily News: Delek upbeat downstream (2009)
- Oil & Gas Journal: fire-damaged Tyler refinery restarts (2009)
- Globes: Delek insurance payments (Mar. 2009)
- Globes: Tyler refinery after the fire (Nov. 2008)
- JOIFF: Tyler refinery fire incident report (2008)
- EPA: Delek Refinery Explosion response profile (2008)
- Universal Sompo: oil and energy package policy wording (illustrative)
- ISO CP 00 30 business income form specimen
- TDI: commercial property filing checklist
- TDI: February 2021 winter weather data summary
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.051, definitions
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.055, acknowledging a claim
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.056, accepting or rejecting a claim
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.057, payment of claims
- Tex. Ins. Code §542.060, damages for delay
- Tex. Ins. Code §4102.104, public adjuster fees
- Tex. Ins. Code Chapter 4102, public adjusters
- 28 TAC §19.708, public adjuster contracts and fees