If you believed BP, you would think that Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed claims administrator, is passing out BP’s money to undeserving claimants willy-nilly. But the facts, as history has shown in this litigation, do not support BPs spin.
The claims administrator just released his monthly report. Table 4 tells the tale of the tape.
Click here or on the image for a full-size view.
Table 4 shows that, thus far, Mr. Juneau has determined 12,447 claims eligible for payment. But he has denied or otherwise closed 15,384 claims (which includes 217 claims in which no payment was due under the settlement.) I’m no math major, so somebody double check my addition. But I am pretty sure that 15,384 is greater than 12,447. So that means that the court-appointed claims administrator has actually denied more claims than he has deemed eligible for payment.
This pesky little fact directly contradicts BP’s well-orchestrated public relations campaign to besmirch Mr. Juneau and the claims administration process. It once again compounds BP’s problem in which it says one thing, but the facts show another.
Any objective observer can see that Mr. Juneau is fairly implementing the agreed-to settlement. Every court that has looked at it has determined that. In fact, it looks to me that BP is getting more “wins” than “losses” in the claims process. But BP continues to try to unwind its contract. And in the meantime, the people and the businesses of the Gulf continue to wait for BP to honor its “Commitment to the Gulf.” BP, those folks and businesses are waiting — not winning. You are.
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8 Comments
Rick
BP, or British Petroleum I’m proud to say, has conducted itself admirably in the face of the questionable ambulance chasing US lawyers.
My guess is, Barbiers actions over this will have implications for all companies in the future seeking to trade within the US and that you will never again see the sort of integrity as shown by this British Company.
Barbier and co should enjoy the windfall while it lasts, as years of delay and questionable legal tactics lay ahead for the victims of the next big disaster.
This is a quite interesting analogy
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/simon-read-if-a-cash-machine-pays-out-too-much-money-are-you-just-a-common-criminal-if-you-take-it-9068454.html
I guess for Lawyers it’s fair game to take advantage of BPs naive notion that it was fairness that the ambulance chasers were after.
But Just for the record, much more damaging to the US, is the legacy left behind for those companies that will follow.
This case has promoted the well founded idea that the US legal system and its administrators are greedy and cannot be trusted to act fairly.
It’s quite strange that the US legal system is maintaining is that British petroleum should pay even the known fraudulent claims against it. We are all sure to remember this when we next make an insurance claim.
BP and all that follow will also remember these actions and act accordingly the next time.
You will find that no one will ever trust or treat the US fairly again.
First of all Mr French, I resent your ill thought our not to bright assumption that, “Stephen” is just another BP hired gun/troll. Please be aware that like British Petroleum, I too have standards.
I think most free thinkers will agree that British Petroleum has to pay up and compensate people and places for its many errors, and in the early stages with some political pressure it seemed to be going well. In fact I don’t believe that any other company has ever stepped up to the plate quite like British Petroleum did.
Much the same happens when lawyers get involved with a perfectly amicable divorce settlement. Within a few short exchanges the mutual animosity starts. After which there are no more winners, only rich lawyers.
I believe the unethical selfish actions of a few US Lawyers have set a line in the sand that few, including BP will be able or willing to cross again.
J.R. Whaley
Rick / Foundonly -- You really need to be more careful when you just cut and paste comments from earlier apologist postings. As to the "admirable" way BP has acted, I would point you to this video showing the destruction BP has caused.
http://video-embed.nola.com/services/player/bcpid1949030309001?bctid=3483030524001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAPmbRMTE~,BWCCSzT6s9kk8xlYY9rVrKw3SC5F9_7L
Jim
Rick, I believe people who wish to enter into agreements will also remember BP's Actions. In this country when you enter into a contract your expected to live up to the terms. BP entered into this contract and then ended up with buyers remorse. Apparently, they do their contract work, like their oil well and end up with disastrous affects. BP wants a second bite of the apple and have never acted admirably in this process. I have watched clients lose everything they have because BP has acted "admirably" throughout the process. Read the 1200 page agreement, then explain how BP can now say it did not mean what it signed. Then if you care to explain how BP can have policy 495 implemented in clear violation of the agreement as well as Policy 345. BP has policies in place that will make it impossible for claims to produce records to meet these requirements. However, BP can "blend" revenues and expenses in a way that allows them to minimize the actual value of a claim. When is the last time you went to a restaurant or cash business and gave your name and address for a purchase. Please enlighten me on how a business in that type of industry is supposed to provide those records complying with 345 v3. Yes BP sure is one stand up company!!!!!
You should do more research.
Eyeswideopen
Rick / Foundonly
You got it wrong again it’s the greedy court vendors and accountants.
http://www.deepwaterhorizoneconomicsettlement.com/docs/CourtStatusReportNo.21.pdf
Please review page 9 table 8 $17.5 Million has only been reimbursed to law firms and claimants for accounting support when these firms have collectively spent ten’s of million only to have their resources tied up. I challenge you to seek how much has been spent on these trained assassins issuing these denials and incomplete notices. I’ve heard it’s been estimated over 700 million so far. And here you are now blaming the problems on the U.S. attorneys for what Bp did.
My second point: do you think a claimant should file their own claim and then deal with trained professionals in stalling and delaying payments just look back at GCCF and the BDO final report. Then “if” and only “if” an offer is received they run the gauntlet through the appeal process once again by trained BP attorneys. It’s hilarious that you think the claims center is paying and compensate people that are undeserving with all the stipulations put in front of them.
The only greedy attorneys you should be complaining about is BP’s, what have they paid for their legal defense once again it’s estimated currently over 1 billion. That reminds me this means Justice Scalia and Alito’s kids have already benefited from Bp’s action.
Eyeswideopen
Ted Olsen writes :Unless the mandate is recalled and stayed, countless awards totaling potentially hundreds of millions of dollars will be irretrievably scattered to claimants that suffered no injury traceable to BP’s conduct.
Draw your attention to line 6 of the chart 3711 failed Business claims filed wow !!!!!!
36 paid are you feeling the same pain these people are feeling.
Reality Time
I believe the posting by "Rick" and its reference to an obvious other posting is clear evidence of what is occurring with dishonest postings to confuse the public. I would hope that the posting by "Rick" gets a lot more attention as it proves the existence of the "trolls" and that they are out there.
Eyeswideopen
Troll spotter I just found a pattern by reviewing several post and I located the buzz words.
When talking about BP they use Admirably & Integrity.
When talking about claimants they use Windfall & Questionable or Fraudulent.
When talking about lawyers trying to help victims they call them Ambulance Chasers, Fraudulent & Unethical Selfish.
So I took the liberty to rewrite the Trolls talking point.
Statement: “BP, or British Petroleum I’m proud to say, has conducted itself admirably in the face of the questionable ambulance chasing US lawyers.”
Should read:
BP, or British petroleum I’m proud to say, has conducted itself “admirably” by lying about the amount of oil that was released, killing 11 people and destroyed thousands of acres of U.S. wetlands. Along with inflecting financial harm on countless U.S. businesses and families.
Statement: “My guess is, Barbier’s actions over this will have implications for all companies in the future seeking to trade within the US and that you will never again see the sort of “integrity” as shown by this British Company.”
Should read:
My guess is Barbier’s actions over this will have implications for all companies in the future seeking to trade within the US. That’s right we are requiring all drilling platforms to have on location the proper equipment to contain a spill because the “integrity” of the last British Company was like a spineless jellyfish that continued to try and wiggle out their comments made to the gulf residents.
Rick Lacey
Please consider the following before judging BP.
Within days of the Deepwater Explosion, BP decision makers watched live video of between 60,000 and 110,000 barrels per day blowing out into the Gulf and subject to per-barrel fines of between $1,100 and $4,300 per barrel. That represented a cash bleed of between $250 million and $470 million a day for an indeterminate amount of time.
They decided to report that the well was leaking 1,000 barrels per day and make the rest of oil disappear by pumping a toxic chemical called Corexit down to the blowout to combine with and disperse the oil. Because the force of the blowout exceeded the pumping capacity for the Corexit, much of the oil would fail to combine and would surface as oil slicks. The oil slicks would be sprayed with the same toxic chemicals.
BP decision makers were aware that the boat crews and clean-up workers it would hire would be over sprayed with Corexit and that coastal residents would also be exposed.
BP decision makers knew from the Valdez experience that there would be collateral damage. Some of the workers would become sick immediately, but most would show symptoms over time. Nearly all would have their lives shortened and few would survive past age 50. Millions of animals and fish would be killed and large areas of the Gulf would be left toxic and lifeless.
The effected workers would have to be paid off. A worst case calculation would have been something like $50,000 paid to each of as many as 100,000 people equals $5 billion.
If it took 100 days to kill the well, the plan would save BP up to $42 billion.
The alternative to the plan was simple. Let the oil surface. Contain and vacuum it into tankers and pay the per-barrel fines.
BP made the decision to gas Americans to save money.
Anyone who doubts my analysis should know I am a former BP Senior Financial Analyst.
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