The Story of BP Claims
BP is the oil and energy giants operating in 80 countries and six continents. They are one of the biggest names in the world economics. They have extensive operations all across the world and provide energy solution to their impressive list of clientele. Their operations include from exploration to extraction of oil and gas reserves; from production of oil products to their marketing and availability to consumer market. Despite their impressive history and performance report, they have a huge liability on them in the form of BP claims. BP claims are the claims that originate from the Deep horizon oil spill which is regarded as one of the darkest incidents in the history of petroleum and gas industry.
History of the Process
The hazardous incident took place in the Gulf of Mexico in the year 2010. The accident caused harm to a number of groups and individuals in the neighbouring areas and gave rise to a number of BP claims. BP claims have been a burning issue for last two years. However, recently, the issue has been claimed to be resolved as there has been an interim agreement between the BP and Plaintiffs Steering Committee and the conflicts regarding BP claims have been decided. The process will be more transparent now and will try to address the emergency funds problem related to BP claims more efficiently.
Reasons for New Agreement
The BP and its fund facility were earlier criticized for its failure to address the legitimate claims in a transparent and efficient manner. It was blamed for deliberate delay in the process of BP claims resolution and funds allocation to the victims of the BP oil spill. The number of claims has crossed a million marks and it continues to increase at a very fast rate. The fund facility also faced legal threats from many state governments who wanted more transparency and clarity in the process of fund transfer to the sufferers of the one of the most damaging accidents in the history. However, the Company and its mechanism, seems to get its act together to answer the BP claims in a more efficient way.
The funds available at the BP Claims are $20 billion, which are provided as a compensation for the residents affected by an oil spill disaster. Filing of claims for compensation is been done by most of the victims, which are being processed by the BP contractor, who determines whether to pay them the BP Claims. Few victims are dissatisfied by their decision could file a claim with the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a fund established by Congress after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill or go to court. At a stretch, more than $81 million has been disbursed for the 66,000 BP Claims been filed. Yet, there are few complaints, which states that slow processing was endangering their families.
The White House has the agreement for the $20 billion fund and will completely remove BP from decisions on claims validity and on the amount to be paid. "Independent Claims Facility” as a body will be deciding the BP Claims. As per them, decisions on claims are supposed to be made within 90 days of a claim being filed. The seamless BP processing will be seamless, thus the victims can use the current claim forms. An additional step for the dis- satisfied victims of the BP Claims will be included with any claim determination. A panel constituting of three judges will be serving as the first step in appealing any decision by the fund administrator. Victims retain the option of seeking money from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund or heading to court.
By the BP Claims, the BP is authorized to appeal claims only over $500,000. According to the White House blog, the fund available is aimed for individuals and businesses harmed by the spill including, fishermen, hotels, restaurants and many others. BP Claims by local, state, tribal and federal governments are also to be filed with BP and will be handled separately. Rig workers who lost their jobs will get unemployment compensation from a separate program that is funded through a $100 million contribution from BP. There is also a chance for multiple BP Claims filing based on the losses caused by a spill.
The solution to BP Claims
BP claims refer to the number of claims instituted and applied against the oil giants BP. These claims are instituted by the people and groups who have suffered loss due to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident was highly devastating and harmed a lot of individuals and business groups operating in the affected area. The affected groups include real estate developers and builders; hospitality and tourism vendors along the coast, the local fishermen and boat owners and the colonies and societies settled in that area.
The new Agreement
BP claims have been provisionally settled with a representative organisation of the claimants but are subject to final documentations. The representative organisation is called as Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PRC) and collectively represents all the claimants against the oil spill. BP claims have to be decided in written form within a span of 45 days so as to finalise the BP claims. If the BP claims are not finalised within the said 45 days, the provisional contract permits both the parties to terminate the decided conditions. The parties are free to go back on their respective promises if the contract is not scripted within one and the half month.
How it will work?
The BP claims are being addressed through dedicated infrastructure put in place exclusively for the claims solution. The PRC mechanism along with the Gulf Coast Claims facility aims to focus on addressing the BP claims already filed under GCCF while compensating the new claims separately. BP realises the importance of personal and environmental claims and tries to address these concerns with full dedication. The BP has also provided funds to governments of many states to address the governmental claims. These funds have been provided under different laws pertaining to the environmental and other state damages. BP claims are given utmost importance as the firm has developed a dedicated mechanism to address them. The facility provides for a dedicated hotline numbers to inform the claimants about the status and also to register new BP claims. The project also aims to inform more and more people to avail the compensation available to them.
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