The government of the U.S. directed BP to pony up $20 billion for an oil leak fund. A mere pittance of those mega billions has been dispersed to Gulf coast residents who say their livelihoods have been overturned by the environmental and economic carnage. People demanding recompense complain a lot about the claims process, which is infested with attorneys attracted to settlement money like flies on turds.
Getting through BP oil spill claims
About 19 percent of the $20 billion BP set aside for the oil leak claims was paid in the BP oil spill claims with $3.8 billion paid in total by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility a year after the Gulf of Mexico accident last year. The latest report from Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed by the Obama administration to disburse the BP oil leak fund, said that 201,261 claims have been paid. There have been over 857,000 claims already. BP oil spill claims will be paid until August 2013 by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility which has 3,200 employees in its 35 offices in five states. The claims process has been considered unfair, slow and confusing by several people getting Feinberg a lot of criticism.
Damage proof
Feinberg made a statement on Tuesday about the BP oil spill fund management saying “Amounts requested by claimants very often bear no reasonable relationship to the damages really proven,” since $20 billion was requested by one applicant. About 72 percent of the claims from the BP oil spill have had payments or offers made. There have been claims denied too. There are pending claims also. Usually they just need some documentation. Figuring out the BP oil claims process has been hard on some of the individuals for instance fishermen. They are used to dealing in cash and without paperwork. In 574 cases disputed by claimants who believed payment was too low or rejection was unfair, the Coast Guard, charged with arbitrating disputes, hasn’t overturned a single one.
Getting the cash is all that matters
Tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents — particularly vulnerable populations with language and culture disadvantages such as the region’s large contingent of Vietnamese fishermen — have been misled into signing up with lawyers or have been unaware that claims have been filed in their name. Feinberg spoke on the fraudulent activity. He said it was “an obstacle to the efficiency and speed in getting the checks out.” The New York Times states that several law firms have targeted Vietnamese fishermen to con them onto their client lists. When BP settles, lawyers end up with more money for how many clients are on the list. The New York Times states of a San Antonio law firm that filed claims for thousands of Vietnamese, all listed as deckhands with identical earnings. The claims were rejected, and many people were surprised to discover their names on the list.
Information from
CNN Money
money.cnn.com/2011/04/18/news/companies/BP _spill_claims/?npt=NP1
24/7 Wall Street
247wallst.com/2011/04/19/the-BP -20-billion-gulf-claims-facility-has-paid-nearly-nothing/
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gulf-spill-claims-20110419,0,2595018.story
New York Times
nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/19spill.html?_r=1
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