Recover Costs. Fund Readiness. Protect Your Budget.
Cost recovery is one of the most effective ways for fire departments, especially Volunteer Fire Departments (VFDs), to secure the funding they need without raising taxes or relying solely on donations. By billing for the equipment, manpower, and resources used during emergency incidents, cost recovery turns everyday responses into vital revenue that supports your department’s mission.
Our Cost Recovery software automates the entire process, significantly reducing administrative workload while ensuring accuracy, compliance, and transparency — from incident documentation to insurance reimbursement. Below, we break down how it works.
What is Cost Recovery?
Cost Recovery is a means to obtain reimbursement from insurance companies for expenses incurred when your personnel respond to calls.
Recoverable incidents include calls such as:
– Fires
– Rescues
– MVAs
– Hazardous materials incidents.
We file claims with the insurance companies that cover homes and vehicles and attempt to recoup the cost that your department expended mitigating the situation.
Our cost recovery process helps departments:
– Replace essential gear
– Maintain apparatus
– Purchase safety equipment
– Invest in ongoing training
These funds ensure your firefighters stay protected, your community stays safe, and your department stays ready for the next call.
With a streamlined system, clear documentation, and industry-backed practices, cost recovery transforms financial stress into financial strength — so your team can focus on what matters most: serving your community.
Why automation makes a difference
Manual Cost Recovery processes are time-consuming and inconsistent, often leading to missed opportunities. With our affordable fire department software, ResponseMaster:
– Billing is triggered automatically from approved incident reports
– Documentation stays attached to the claim
– Claim status is visible at all times
– No duplicate data entry is required
Automation ensures no eligible incident is overlooked while keeping administrative workload to a minimum.
How do we handle Cost Recovery?
We provide a fully Integrated Cost Recovery Program as part of our ResponseMaster software subscription. By simply enabling the billing feature, any qualified incident report that contains involvement data will automatically trigger the billing process once the report is completed and approved per your department policy.
An invoice is automatically generated and sent to one of our Cost Recovery Specialists who will then file a claim with the insurance company on your behalf. These Specialists will work with the insurance companies to determine if the claim is covered under a given policy and find the most effective coverage that applies.
If the insurance company pays on the claim, we will send the funds to you at the beginning of each month, less a service fee. If we are not successful in a recovery, there is no cost to you. You may view the status of all your claims from within the program, including notes and attachments. We strive to be as transparent as possible within our service.
What is your Recovery Rate?
Anyone who quotes you their recovery rate percentage is providing you with a best-case scenario. The actual number can vary anywhere between 0% to 100%, depending on a variety of factors:
– Is the responsible party insured?
– Is the policy active?
– Does their policy cover payments for their services provided by your department?
– Did the actions taken on scene fall into a category that is covered by the policy?
One department may run a dozen calls, all of which are not recoverable, while another can run the same number and type of calls and recover on every single one. Our Cost Recovery Specialists will work to recover what can be recovered given the particular situations.
Can I choose when not to bill?
Yes! By enabling the Incident Billing Approval Process, reports must be reviewed by a designated person or persons in your department who can determine whether or not you wish to have us bill for the incident.
If you choose not to bill, no claim is generated, and the file is closed.
Isn’t this double taxation?
This is probably one of the most asked questions when it comes to Cost Recovery. Many state health and safety codes permit Emergency Services Districts to impose fees for services rendered. This is in addition to taxes that may have been collected by the district to fund day-to-day operations. Generally, when the Legislator grants local governments the authority to collect revenue, they expect that provision to be utilized.
Another example of this would be a municipal water or electric bill. Tax dollars are used to build out the infrastructure and for operations, but you pay monthly for the amount that you use. While you are permitted to bill for services, there is no guarantee that the insurance company will pay the bill.
Some insurance policies expressly exclude fire and emergency costs, while others may have a policy limit on how much they will pay per each type of incident. These vary greatly from policy to policy.
Why Emergency Solutions?
Emergency Solutions, Inc. is firefighter owned and operated. As an active group of firefighters, both paid and volunteer, we’ve been where you are now. In performing day to day operations, we realized we could be more efficient in the way we do business. Current solutions on the market were pricey and dismissive of customers, inspiring us to create our own solution in 2017.
We are committed to making technology and training solutions that are both affordable and easy to use. Our goal is to ensure that small and medium-sized fire departments have access to the same solutions that are currently only available to large departments, while also providing more efficient and cost-effective solutions for large departments.
We exist for one reason: we are firefighters dedicated to making firefighters’ lives easier and safer by helping fire departments run smarter, safer, and more efficiently. Our platform is purpose-built for emergency services, grounded in compliance, and tested in the field. We are proud of our US-based support team to guide you through any questions you may have.
Ready to strengthen your budget without raising taxes?
Cost Recovery allows your department to reclaim funds you’re already earning—without adding administrative burden or financial strain on your community.
With ResponseMaster’s integrated Cost Recovery Program, you can turn incident data into real dollars that support readiness, safety, and long-term sustainability.
Our goal is simple: give small and medium fire departments access to the same powerful tools and financial strategies that large departments have enjoyed for years.