According to neighboring Alabama’s Attorney General, Luther Strange, more than 32,367 individuals and businesses in the state have filed claims to secure their share of a recent BP oil spill settlement. The settlement money was put aside to compensate those who suffered damages in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite the good news about tens of thousands of people accessing the settlement money, Attorney General Strange says there are many thousands more who might qualify for money but who have not yet filed the proper paperwork to collect. Strange says that so far 9,600 of the claims that have been filed in Alabama have been found eligible for settlement money and claims administrators continue to review thousands more. Of the claims that have been deemed eligible, $573 million has been paid out to claimants from the state.
Though this all is good news for those in Alabama, the claims administrator of the civil settlement fund, Patrick Juneau, says good news has been spread across the region as 172,000 claims have been filed in five states. Those claimants have so far received $3.5 billion of settlement money.
Juneau has been traveling around the region meeting with various business leaders and government officials trying to spread word about the money that is available for those companies and individuals who lost money as a result of the oil spill. Juneau has said businesses need to understand that they do not have to be located on the coast to qualify for settlement money. Instead, the claims administrator uses a system that tries to detect if the company lost revenue due to the oil spill. If that revenue drop can be shown then the company is entitled to a share of the settlement.
Juneau says that while many people assume they won’t qualify for settlement money, there’s no harm or expense in filing to see. Juneau says that the Gulf Coast was devastated by the massive oil spill and the entire region suffered enormous damage as a result. He says that to leave settlement money on the table is ridiculous given the severity of the disaster.
If you’ve been impacted by this or any other oil spill, don’t hesitate to contact the Mississippi BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill lawyers at Kilpatrick & Philley at toll free 601-707-4669.
Source: “$573 million in BP oil spill claims paid in Alabama, but some who qualify haven’t filed, AG says,” by Stan Diel, published at AL.com.
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