BP Claims Process for Damages from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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BP announced that it has accepted responsibility under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) and created a claims process for obtaining compensation for losses. Even though oil has yet to hit Florida's beaches, condominium and other property owners have both lost income and incurred expenses as a result of the oil spill. Click HERE to review the claims manual. A word to the wise - think carefully before you accept compensation or sign any documentation supplied by BP. You may inadvertently release BP from additional claims or damages.
BP bears responsibility for various categories of damages, such as:
- Removal and Cleanup Costs
- Property Damage
- Subsistence Loss
- Net Lost Government Revenue
- Net Lost Profits/Earning Capacity
- Costs of Increased Public Services; and
- Natural Resource Damage
BP has reportedly paid out more than $3 million in damages to Floridians thus far. The Miami-Herald indicated there are complaints about the lack of oversight regarding these claims, while BP's 40+ page claims manual states that the United States Coast Guard plays a "significant role".
Condominium associations are not immune to losses and damages from the oil spill. Many associations in the Panhandle area run in-house rental programs and/or collect revenue from an on-site rental agent to supplement annual budgets. Moreover, associations are joining together to decide whether to devote funds to protect the beaches with barriers such as floating booms and the like. Those types of efforts are expensive.
Attorneys John Cottle and John Townsend have been hard at work meeting with community association clients to discuss potential losses, the powers and duties of the association with respect to mitigation efforts, preserving evidence of loss and the claims process. We strongly encourage community association leaders and managers not to bear the burden of this event without appropriate legal counsel. One mistake and the next claim could be against you, instead of (or in addition to) BP.
You can find the state of Florida’s online resource for information about its response to the oil spill at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm.
