Guidelines for Claimants
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This document is only a brief summary of the key elements
of the OPOL Agreement and Rules and as such must be qualified
by the further details contained in the OPOL Agreement and Rules.
WHAT IS OPOL?
The Offshore Pollution Liability Association Limited (the
'Association') is an oil industry body set up as a company limited
by guarantee which administers a voluntary strict liability compensation
scheme 'OPOL' to which all UK offshore operators are parties.
The Agreement, as amended from time to time, has been in effect since 1st May 1975, and membership
of OPOL is a condition for the granting of a licence by Government.
The OPOL Agreement requires each operator to accept strict
liability, subject to a few exceptions, for pollution damage
and the cost of remedial measures incurred following a spill
from its facilities up to a current maximum of US$120,000,000
per incident.
- OPOL is intended to encourage prompt remedial action by operators
of offshore facilities in the event of a spill.
- OPOL intends that all admissible claims associated with a
spill should be settled in an orderly and expeditious manner
without recourse to the Courts and avoiding complicated and lengthy
jurisdictional problems.
- OPOL requires that each operator provides satisfactory evidence
of its ability to meet any liability under the Agreement.
- OPOL requires that all claims must be lodged against the
operator who has caused the pollution, and that the operator
is solely responsible for meeting these claims.
- OPOL provides for a mutual guarantee from all of its other
members for the settlement of claims up to US$120 million in
the event of a default by an operator.
- OPOL does not take away a claimant's right to seek redress
through the Courts for losses which exceed the maximum recoverable
under the Agreement, or those beyond the scope of the Agreement.
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