Feinberg Urges Denied Spill Claimants to File Fresh Applications
Kenneth Feinberg urged claimants who are denied compensation from BP Plc’s $20 billion oil-spill fund to try again with a fresh application.
The Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which Feinberg runs, has made errors in the five months it has been paying victims of the largest U.S. spill, he said today in a speech to the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association in Wesley Chapel.
“We’re trying to do the right thing,” Feinberg said.
Victims whose emergency claims have been rejected should resubmit the application to receive a possible interim or final payment, Feinberg said. The 471,000 claims for compensation that has been filed exceeded its forecast, and that has led to inconsistencies in judging the claims, he said.
Feinberg said he will do a better job explaining the reasons a claim is rejected.
Dave Batutis, 58, said yesterday the claims facility didn’t give a reason for rejecting a $168,000 emergency claim for his business, Captain Dave’s Seafood Market in Hollister, Missouri.
Batutis said he was forced to close the store because sales plummeted after the spill when he was unable to get Gulf Coast shrimp to sell to area restaurants.
“It’s a nightmare and we can’t figure out what’s going on,” he said in a phone interview. “I basically lost everything I worked for for 10 years.”
Feinberg said the facility paid more than $3.27 billion in claims since August to almost 170,000 individuals and businesses. Florida residents and businesses account for more than $1.3 billion, he said.
‘Doing Something Right’
“We must be doing something right,” he said.
Keith Overton, chief operating officer for Tradewinds Islands Resorts in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and chairman of the Florida hotel group, said his relationship with Feinberg had developed over time.
“It was hate early, and it has moved to the love side,” Overton said as he introduced Feinberg to the hotel group.
Feinberg had said physical proximity to the spill would be used to assess claims. He reversed course in October under pressure from Florida officials such as former Attorney General Bill McCollum.
Overton said the claims fund has “made a big difference in the lives of many of us.”
An emergency claim exceeding $800,000 for his hotel was paid and Overton said most applications from larger hotels on the Gulf Coast have been approved.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at jsnyder24@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net.
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