Thousands of cases have already been filed against BP and its partners as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Under the settlement terms, residents and workers affected, injured, or got ill as a result of the clean-up will be eligible for compensation of any and all medical expenses incurred and regular check-ups thereafter for the next 20 years.
BP has established an escrow fund of $20 billion to compensate for all the damages and losses as a result of the Deepwater Horizon incident. The fund will be used to pay for the claims of victims for the losses they incurred, expenses for the clean-up operations, and medical expenses of victims who were affected by the chemicals used in the clean-up operations.
There’s a window period for the submission of the claims and the supporting documents required as proof. An oil spill attorney will be able to provide a guide if you believe that you have a legal claim. Filing of settlement claims were finalized last April 2012 and BP has already started processing all the claims and reports submitted to their office. The court-supervised settlement system is not on a roll and has already released funding to pay for the claims.
Initially it was the GCCF that processes all the claims of BP oil spill victims but it was closed down eventually and all claims have been transferred to court-supervised claims facilities. Claimants are now required to file their petition and claims to a court with the assistance of an oil spill attorney to represent them in court.
With regards to supporting documents required to be submitted, here are just some of the examples.
For individual claims, the BP claims center requires the last three months tax returns of claimants to provide evidence of earnings. Additional documents may also be asked by a claims adjuster. For business owners, they are required to present their financial statements to show the standing of their business in the last 3 months following the Deepwater Horizon incident. This will help claims adjusters to find out how much a particular business lost and how much they will be compensated. Medical claims, however, requires documents that will prove the medical condition of the victim and if this condition has been caused by the oil and chemical debris of the accident. All these documents are required to be submitted to a BP claims facility for processing. Claimants are notified of the status of their claim via their oil spill attorney.