Oil Spill Claims – Ken Feinberg BP Fund Statistics – August 31, 2010
Kenneth Feinberg gave the Press-Register new figures Monday on the number of oil spill claims that have been paid by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. As of Monday afternoon (8-31-2010), almost 29,000 people have filed claims. About 1,900 checks have been written for a total of $9.7 million. Feinberg said that forms filed by nearly 20,000 individual workers have been reviewed, and that today each one of them will receive a check or a message telling them what information they need to complete their request for payment.
A spokesperson for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) said that payment statistics will be posted online daily at the GCCF website. The report that was posted on the website early Monday afternoon showed 29,867 claims for emergency advance payments, of which 1,935 have been paid. The total amount paid was $9,767,869.68.
The Washington Independent questioned GCCF spokesperson Amy Weiss about Feinberg’s promise that individual claims would be paid within 48 hours. “The 48 hours, as Ken has said, is 48 hours after the documentation is in.” She added that “every claim has been looked at so far.” Weiss said 88% of the requests were for lost earnings, about 6 percent were for “loss of subsistence use of natural resources,” and 4 percent were for damage to property.
Nearly all of the claimants have filed for emergency payments, which are supposed to cover losses for six months, before a final payment is made. One confusing thing is that there have been 1,358 “final claims” submitted, even though the GCCF isn’t accepting final claims yet. Feinberg appears to be confused by this, too, because the GCCF’s report says “Review underway to determine whether claimant intended to file Final Claim.”
If you filed for a final payment by mistake, there are at least two reasons you may want to withdraw it and submit a temporary claim. First, the final claim isn’t likely to be paid and you may not receive the temporary payment you are entitled to receive. Secondly, a final payment requires you to give up the right to request any further payments from BP, whereas temporary payments allow you to request more money.
If you want to read the rules Feinberg issued for processing requests for payments, we’ve put those online for you to read at Scribd.
Ken Feinberg BP Fund related posts:
- Oil Spill Claims: Feinberg Off to Slow Start on BP Claims
- Ken Feinberg – New Oil Spill Claims Rules Blasted by Attorneys General
- Oil Spill Claims | Rules Set by Feinberg for $20 Billion BP Fund
Check back here for the latest information on getting paid for oil spill claims, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Also, we will soon be launching some new websites with information for people who want help getting paid on oil spill claims.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
