Terms of use

Last updated: 27 September 2026

These terms govern use of spill-response.com (the “Site”) and enquiries submitted through it. Please read them alongside our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. If you arrange work with a specialist, that specialist’s own terms should be provided to you separately.

Important information Spill-Response provides general information and may introduce you to independent specialists. We are not an emergency response service. If there is immediate danger, contact the appropriate emergency service or authority. Do not rely on this Site as a substitute for site-specific professional advice. Any specialist you appoint is responsible for its own assessment, advice and work.

1. Who we are and what the Site does

Spill-Response is a trading name of Silverback Digital Ltd (“we”, “us” and “our”). The company’s registered office is 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ. Registered in England and Wales, company number 17110085.Contact: [email protected].

The Site provides general information about oil spills and a way to request an introduction to a potentially suitable independent specialist. We are an information and referral service. Unless we expressly agree a separate written engagement, we do not inspect your site, provide a site-specific risk assessment, carry out emergency response, environmental consultancy, remediation, loss adjusting, insurance broking, legal advice or regulated advice, or supervise a contractor’s work. A referral request does not itself create an engagement for any of those services.

2. In an emergency

Do not wait for a reply from this Site if there is an immediate danger. Move away from danger and contact the relevant emergency service, utility, environmental regulator or other appropriate authority as the circumstances require. Take only actions that are safe and within your competence. Avoid ignition sources and direct contact with spilled fuel. Do not enter confined spaces or contaminated areas or attempt work on tanks, pipework, drains or electrical systems unless competent and it is safe to do so.

An online form, email or referral request is not an emergency reporting channel. We do not guarantee that an enquiry will be seen, answered, accepted or passed to a specialist within any particular time. Using this Site does not satisfy any legal, regulatory, insurance or contractual duty to notify someone else. You remain responsible for obtaining urgent help and making any required notifications.

3. General information, not a site-specific diagnosis

The Site’s articles, checklists, illustrations, examples and other materials are general educational information. Oil spills differ by fuel, quantity, ground conditions, drainage, buildings, receptors, weather, location and local law. Content may be incomplete, simplified, out of date or inapplicable to your circumstances. Photographs and generated or edited images may be illustrative and should not be treated as evidence of a particular site condition or safe method of work.

Do not use Site content as a substitute for competent on-site assessment or advice from the appropriate professional, insurer, regulator or authority. Before acting, verify what applies to your location and circumstances. We may correct, change or remove content without notice, and we do not undertake to monitor a particular incident or update you when information changes.

4. Referrals and independent specialists

If you request help, we may review the information you provide and introduce you to one or more independent specialists. We may also be unable or decide not to make an introduction. An introduction does not certify, endorse or guarantee a specialist’s qualifications, availability, insurance, regulatory status, suitability, price, response time, work, advice or outcome. Any screening we undertake is limited to the checks we actually describe; you should ask the specialist for evidence relevant to your job.

A specialist is responsible for its own assessment, quotation, contract, health and safety, permissions, insurance, work, advice, invoices and complaints. You decide whether to appoint a specialist and contract directly with it. We are not a party to that contract and have no authority to bind you or the specialist. Unless expressly agreed in a separate written contract, we do not manage or supervise the specialist, act as your agent, or hold client money.

We may receive a referral fee or other commercial benefit if an introduction leads to work. This does not increase the price you pay unless the specialist expressly tells you otherwise, but we cannot guarantee that another provider would quote the same price. You are free to seek other quotes and should assess suitability and scope before authorising work. If a different commercial arrangement applies to your enquiry, we will explain it before asking you to proceed.

5. Your enquiry and information

Please provide accurate contact details and describe what you know, distinguishing observation from assumption. Do not omit urgent facts such as an active leak, affected drain or watercourse, occupied building, vapours, nearby well, or immediate safety concern. Do not rely on the form to convey urgent instructions. You are responsible for checking that you have authority to share photographs, documents, access details and personal information about other people.

By submitting an enquiry, you ask us to use the information to assess and respond to it and, where appropriate, share relevant details with potential specialists so they can consider contacting you. Our Privacy Policy explains the handling of personal data in more detail. Do not send sensitive personal information or confidential third-party material unless it is genuinely necessary. Submission does not guarantee a referral or any particular outcome.

You grant us a non-exclusive permission to use material you submit only as reasonably needed to handle your enquiry, keep appropriate records and comply with law. You confirm that doing so will not knowingly infringe another person’s rights. Do not submit unlawful, misleading, abusive or malicious material.

6. Insurance, cost and regulatory matters

Information about insurance, claims, liability, reporting, sampling, clean-up methods, costs and potential outcomes is general. We do not decide whether a policy covers a loss, whether an insurer will pay, what a regulator will require, what remediation standard is appropriate, or who is legally responsible. Seek advice from your insurer, broker, qualified consultant, solicitor or relevant authority where needed. Preserve evidence and follow any applicable policy, statutory and professional requirements.

7. Site use and intellectual property

You may view, print and share links to Site pages for lawful personal or internal business use, with attribution to Spill-Response. You may not republish substantial content, scrape the Site at scale, use its content to train a model, remove ownership notices, impersonate us, interfere with security or operation, or use the Site unlawfully without our written permission. Rights in our original text, branding, layout and other protected material remain with us or our licensors. Third-party names and materials belong to their respective owners.

Links to regulators, insurers, specialists or other sites are provided for convenience. We do not control their content, availability, privacy practices or services. You use them under their own terms. We may suspend or change the Site for maintenance, security or other operational reasons. We do not promise uninterrupted access or that the Site will be free of errors or harmful code; use appropriate device and security precautions.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, or any other liability that applicable law does not permit us to exclude or limit. Nothing in these terms removes any right or remedy you have under applicable consumer law.

Subject to that paragraph, we do not accept responsibility for a loss to the extent it is caused by inaccurate or incomplete information supplied to us, your failure to seek urgent or appropriate independent help, an event outside our reasonable control, or a specialist’s independent act or omission where we have not ourselves breached a legal duty. We are responsible for our own acts and omissions to the extent required by law. No term is intended to exclude liability where doing so would be unlawful or unfair.

For visitors acting wholly or mainly for business purposes, and only to the extent permitted by law and reasonable in the circumstances, we exclude liability for loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings, business opportunity and indirect or consequential loss arising solely from use of the free Site or an introduction. This does not limit liability arising under a separate written agreement with us, which will have its own terms.

10. Complaints

If you have a concern about the Site or an introduction, contact [email protected] with the details so we can investigate. Complaints about a specialist’s assessment, work or charges should also be raised directly with that specialist. Contacting us does not pause any legal deadline or replace reporting to an insurer, regulator or other authority.

11. Changes and severability

We may update these terms by posting a revised version with a new date. The version in effect when you use the Site or submit an enquiry applies to that use or enquiry; changes do not retrospectively remove accrued rights. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue so far as legally possible.

12. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of Northern Ireland, subject to any mandatory protections or rules that apply where you live. If you are a consumer, you may bring proceedings in any court that has jurisdiction under applicable law, and nothing here deprives you of mandatory rights in your country of residence. If you are acting for business purposes, the courts of Northern Ireland have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory rule to the contrary.