Guide
Who pays for biohazard cleanup?
The short answer: whoever owns the property arranges the work, then looks to insurance, to the state's victim compensation program or to an estate to cover the bill. Here is how each of those works in California.
Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Four places the money can come from
- The owner or the estate
- The person who owns the home or vehicle hires the company and is its customer. When the owner has died, the bill is normally a debt of the estate, and whoever is handling the estate approves the work.
- Insurance
- Homeowner, renter, landlord and auto policies sometimes respond. Whether yours does depends on its wording and on what happened, so the only dependable answer comes from your agent or insurer. Ask before the work if you can, and ask what proof they want: photographs, the police report number, an itemized invoice.
- CalVCB, after a violent crime
- The California Victim Compensation Board lists crime scene clean-up among the expenses it can cover, when the crime happened in a home or a vehicle.
- A landlord
- In a rental, the owner generally has to get the unit cleaned whatever is settled later between the owner, the tenant's estate and the insurers. See the page for landlords.
CalVCB in plain terms
CalVCB is a state program that repays certain costs of violent crime. For cleanup, it can repay any individual who paid, or took on the duty to pay, the reasonable cost of cleaning the scene. A relative, a friend or a property owner can qualify.
There are strings. The company must be registered with the California Department of Public Health as a trauma scene waste management practitioner; work by an unregistered business is not repaid. Only the biohazard cleaning counts, not new carpet or repairs. The benefit has an upper limit. And CalVCB is the payer of last resort, so you are expected to claim on insurance and anything else first.
You can apply online, on paper or through a victim advocate. The general deadline is seven years from the crime, and a bill must be sent in within three years of the date of the work. Applicants are expected to cooperate with police and prosecutors, with exceptions for domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault. CalVCB's helpline is 800-777-9229.
Close to home, the Riverside County District Attorney checks and approves these claims under contract with the state. Completed forms can be emailed to DVSClaims@RivCoDA.org or brought to a DA office. Indio's is at 82-995 Highway 111, Suite 101. The claims unit is on 951-955-5460.
If an insurer says no, or says nothing
Ask for the decision and the reason in writing. The California Department of Insurance takes questions and complaints from policyholders on 1-800-927-4357.
Biohazard Cleanup Indio has no dealings with insurers and cannot tell you what a policy covers. Ask the cleanup company for an itemized invoice and photographs. You will need both for any claim you make.
What makes one job cost more than another
No two are alike, which is why a company prices after seeing the room. Five things move the figure. The size of the affected area. How long it was left, since time lets fluids travel. What they soaked into, because tile cleans and carpet, pad and mattresses do not. How much has to be cut out and hauled off as regulated waste. And access: stairs, a gated community, the inside of a vehicle.
Ask for the scope and the price in writing before work starts, and ask what could change the price once they have begun.
Questions about paying
Nobody from the family has come forward. Who is responsible?
When someone in Riverside County dies with no known next of kin and nobody able to act, the county's Public Administrator can look after the estate and protect the property. The office is on 951-443-2300.
Do I pay the company before I know whether I will be repaid?
Usually, yes. The company is paid by its customer, and repayment from an insurer or CalVCB follows later. Ask about payment terms before you agree to the work.
Does victim compensation apply to a natural death?
No. The program is for crime. After a natural or accidental death, look to insurance and the estate.
Ready when the home has been handed back
There is no rush to phone tonight. Once police or the coroner have released the property, a single call reaches a cleanup company that works in Indio and the neighboring desert cities.
One number, any hour
Describe the room or the vehicle in your own words. An independent cleanup company takes it from there, and hiring it stays your choice.
Call (760) 289-3572Answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
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