A Flexible Program That Recovers Your Incident Response Costs

Response Recovery bills the liable party's insurance company for your labor, personnel and consumable costs, shifting the incident cost burden away from taxpayers.

Over 4 million recovered since 2007

Responsibility, Not Residency

Fire departments around the country are billing for their emergency response services. If you want to capture this extra revenue, you have to answer one basic question: Do you have the time and expertise to do the billing yourself? We do.

Very Satisfied Customers

We are one of the early pioneers in cost recovery billing. With fire departments nationwide participating in the Response Recovery program, we’ve built a track record of responsive customer service, innovation and high claim payment rates.

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NEW! Smartphone/Tablet App

Collecting claim information from the field has never been easier, thanks to CM Mobile (TM). From an iPhone or an Android smartphone or tablet, you can collect scene information, labor, consumables, equipment and scene photos with just a few taps. Fully customizable to your department's workflow and very easy to use!

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Flexible Use of Funds

We have two flexible programs designed to minimize your time dealing with incident data. From smartphone apps to simplified online software, we make the process of collecting and submitting claim information fast and easy.

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Looking for No-Cost Consumables?

Use your Response Recovery funds to purchase absorbents.

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EMS Crew at patient side

Other Response Recovery Benefits

  • Full help with drafting your ordinance or resolution
  • A staff of dedicated billing professionals
  • Extensive investigation and analysis experience
  • Multilingual claims processors
  • Active participation in legislative activities
  • Continuous process improvement
  • Full knowledge of state-by-state regulatory requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. If your municipality or district needs an ordinance or resolution, we can provide a template, along with advice on how to work with your local legislators to get it enacted.
Yes. If you have an intra-county mutual aid agreement, we can work with you to bill for incidents that may be attributable to other departments. (Please note that we can only bill for your costs, not for the department that you're assisting).
We bill off of your state's rating schedule. Every quarter, we'll check with you to see if things have changed, whether it's the hourly rate for a lieutenant or the fee for a piece of rolling equipment. That way, your billing always reflects your most current expenses, allowing us to maximize the amount we can collect for you.
If any law, code or ordinance authorizes a cost recoverable service, you can bill for it. Put another way, EF Recovery will file claims for any service that your fire department chooses to bill. Here is a partial list of services for which our clients bill. - Brush Fires/Rescue - Fluid Spill - Extrication - Major/Minor Hazmat - Vehicle Fires - Illegal Fires - Swift Water / Dive Rescue - False Alarms - Pipeline Incidents - Power Line Incidents - Arson Investigation - Inspection Billing
The decision of which party to bill for an incident is entirely yours. You can choose to bill only out-of-area residents or bill all responsible parties. You also decide how we approach each party, from no contact to "soft billing" (sending a few letters requesting payment) to direct phone calls. In all cases, our team is professional and courteous, maintaining the image and integrity of your department and the important role it plays in the community.
Yes. And we welcome it.

Insurance carriers resist making payments, even when a claim is fully justified. We have an independent investigation team, great relationships with state insurance commissioners, and very deep experience getting valid claims paid. Where many fire departments stop when the insurance company says, "No," we keep pushing through. That's why we collect nearly 80% of all of the claims we submit.
Nothing. Using your incident response information, we gather all the information and create the claim for you. You log into our system, look over the claim to make sure it's right, then click the Approve button. That's it. We stay on it until the claim gets paid.
Very little. With the Response Recovery program, we do the work, not you. Use our mobile app called CM Mobile to submit your claim information directly from the field or enter the incident into your fire reporting system. We'll take it from there and manage the claim all the way through payment.
Depending on the number of incidents in your jurisdiction and a strong resolution or ordinance, the Response Recovery program can recoup a significant portion of your incident response costs. We are very good at finding the responsible party and working with their insurance company to recover every dollar to which you are legally entitled.
We can review your ordinance or resolution to make sure it contains everything that's needed to jump-start your cost recovery program. We understand the fees that we can charge and will work with your staff and your legislators to enact the strongest ordinance possible-without threatening any local bond funding measures.
In most instances, no. Once we have the citizen's insurance information, we'll send the bill directly to their carrier without involving them in the process. If the claim is improperly rejected, we'll pursue the insurance company until it's paid-without citizen involvement.
Every month, you'll receive a full report on what we've billed, what money we've received on your behalf, and what claims are uncollectible (plus how long we've been working the claim). In addition, we're constantly adding new reporting tools that give you visibility on all of your billing activity so you know exactly what's happening all the time. You will always have a full record and accounting of every claim.
With the Full-Service Program, you're in full control. You set the collections policy in accordance with your area's enforcement, resident billing, and charity policies. Do you want to write off the claim or send it to a collection agency of your choosing? You decide how it's done and we execute the plan.
Our team of billing experts knows exactly where to look to find the information they need to complete your claim. If the response involves multiple vehicles, we will find the responsible party to bill.

For most claims, we need the party's name, insurance company and policy number. This information may be on your call sheet or available through your CFIRS or NFIRS reporting system. Our team will work with you to find the most efficient way to get this information automatically, for every claim.
Yes. If your municipality or district needs an ordinance or resolution, we can provide a template, along with advice on how to work with your local legislators to get it enacted.
With the Response Recovery Program, there is no software to download and maintain. In most instances, our engineers can link to your fire reporting system to get the information we need to start the claims process.
  • A decade of providing billing services for fire department and ambulance companies across the United States
  • In-house IT department providing custom reporting, data analytics, and software development for customers
  • A staff of dedicated billing professionals
  • Extensive investigation, reporting, and analysis through Responder Investigations, a licensed investigation company
  • Ongoing billing, compliance, and HIPAA training
  • Multilingual claims processors
  • Active participation in legislative activities, education, and training on billing industry trends, continuous process improvement, and state-by-state regulatory requirements