Q: One of my questions is- I got 20 vessels and I've been trying to get my vessels with BP-I've got some contracts that say May 5 and I still haven't got a call to put my vessels in the water. And I try...almost everyday I call in and I still haven't gotten to talk to a person. That's my first question. My other question is I am also a marsh fisherman. Now, how do I collect for marshes that you cannot fish and everything is shut down?
Kenneth Feinberg Answer: Now you asked two questions. Let's make sure I understand the question. I take it that the first question is that you are not getting any response from BP for your questions. Is that the problem?
Response: Yes Sir.
KF: Alright well there is a guy here, Darrell Willis from BP. you're about to get a response. He's going to chat with you take down your information so you will get some responses.
Response: I talked to Darrel Willis and I gave him one of my cards and told him the problem that we had and I never had no response.
KF: Two answers: You're going to get a response. And secondly, in about two weeks...I'm going to take over here and you are all going to give me whatever information you need and believe me you are going to get a response.
KF: Now, on oysters or shrimp or fishing-keep in mind this is very important- are you going to be able to file a claim even though the oil hasn't reached your oysters because they won't let you harvest the oysters or you can't sell the oysters? Yes. File a claim. I am not going to require that the oysters actually be harmed by the oil. That is not required. If you can demonstrate that the market for oysters has dried up because of the oil even if oil never reached your oysters, we'll take care of you.
Response: Okay Kenneth, one other thing. I work out of Northwest Grand Isle. And earlier they had oil that came in so we had oil on our releases.
KF: I don't understand the question. You mean the oil has harmed the oyster beds?
Response: Well we couldn't go out to fish.
KF: Valid claims! The resources! You can't get to the fish! The fish don't have to be swimming in oil. We'll take care of this-as long as you file a claim!
Q: So far we're talking about income and it affecting our revenue. My question is should we be hit with a hurricane and our community is flooded and our homes and our properties covered with oil what happens? I know insurance is not going to cover all damage to our properties.
KF: I'll look at that problem but if a hurricane comes along and damages you home this summer with oil caused by the spill because of that natural disaster, you've got a claim.
Q: Good day sir. I was employed by an oil field service company and I was laid off due to the business climate in the Gulf of Mexico because of the spill. Am I entitled to file claims for lost wages?
KF: You have been laid off as a direct result of the oil spill and if it weren't for the oil spill you would still be working? I'll take a look at that. These questions always come up... I think you are eligible. You have been laid off directly as a result of the spill. You have a valid claim.
Q: Sir, is your criteria going to be any different in your program as opposed to the BP program?
KF: Our program will pick up where the BP program left off. I am hoping and I believe that we will find more eligibility then under the BP program. We'll find more people and businesses eligible and we'll process the claims faster. Right now, BP has done a pretty good job of processing wage loss claims. They haven't been as effective as they should be in processing business claims. We've got to do better on that. I think it's fair to say you don't have to refile. We'll pick up where BP left off, accelerate the processing not only of individual claims but business interruption and lost profit claims as well.
Q: My husband owns part of a crab dock but he's also a fisherman. Originally they were compensating us for his fishing loss even though they haven't got around to dealing with our business claims. But now they've stopped compensating us for his fishing losses since he owns part of a company even though they are separate. How is that going to be handled under your program?
KF: File one claim. The claim form is going to say "A-lost fishing or wages-business" and "B) crabs, oysters, shrimp". In one claim form you will file both claims and we will process both claims together.
Q: I own a soft shell crab company. I don't have a soft shell crab at all. I want to know if I make soft shell crabs if BP and the government are going to come eat those crabs?
KF: Not sure I understand the question. You own a soft shell crab business?
Response: I own the biggest one in the state! I got crabs going to Hawaii, the West Coast, the East Coast...BP has only got 10-15% of the oil flow and the rest is on the bottom of the Gulf and in our bays. I want to know if BP and the government are going to eat those crabs! You gotta eat the whole crab!
KF: I don't know if I am going to eat the whole crab or not (applause and laughter) but when you file your claim you are going to state in your claim that you want to be compensated for the entire loss of the crab not part of the crab. In other words, the revenue you are losing is because you can't ship crabs around the country.
Q: BP put me out of business. I won't sell crabs like that to the public. How are they going to get the oil off the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico?
KF: I can help you with the claims. I can't help with the technical way they are going to get rid of the oil on the bottom of the Gulf. But let me ask you a question-you're an expert. How long do you think it will be before you'll be able to harvest those crabs at the bottom of the Gulf again?
Response: Over 30 years.
KF: Well then you've got a total loss of your business.
Response: I could have stopped the leak a long time ago.
KF: I'm not here to stop the leak. I'm here to urge you to get compensated for your loss.
Q: In spite of BP's assertion that large loss claims are being paid on average of 9 days from claim made to claim paid, none of my large loss claims that I have filed on behalf of my clients have been paid. I think I'm running an average of 53 days of all the claims combined from the time they've been submitted. Will claims that have been sitting there for 53 days get any priority once you take over?
KF: Yes. We will immediately prioritize claims that are already in the inventory.
Q: Secondly, will there be put forth a standard set of data required? We have been sending in PDF format the first three years of tax returns and then they want monthly PNLs and then they want three years of checking account records. It changes every single day and it is completely arbitrary.
KF: I agree with you that the current decentralized system is a shambles. In the next couple of weeks when we set up this centralized system online and in these 35 claims offices, we will have it so you will know what we want, systematically and consistently, and it will not change from claims office to claims office.
Q: Okay, next question. Is the third party administrator going to be the same- and by that I mean Worley and ISIS? Are those same claims adjustors going to be the same or are you bringing in all new folks
KF: Worley is staying. They've done a fairly decent job but need more direction. They are a Hammond, LA company and I like that. ESIS is out. You are raising some good questions. You must be a lawyer. We are going to set up a new infrastructure that is systematically consistent, make it easier to file, find out where your claim is, and process that claim.
Q: Lastly, are you going to make the computation process public? Let's say one of my clients gets a check. How did they come up with that amount? Is that going to be transparent?
KF: Transparent. The methodology I am going to use to calculate the claims is going to be public, you can challenge if you think it's wrong, and it'll be made available to anybody who wants it. Secondly, If Governor Jindal has complained to me about anything, it's the absence of reliable data as to where the claims are and where they are going. Homeland Security in Washington is very concerned about the lack of good transparent data. We're going to make that data available. Not personal information because that is private but we are going to get the type of data that everybody needs to see how the program is working. That we will do.
Response: I have been pulling my hair out for the past sixty days dealing with this as an attorney with a few skill sets so it's a complicated process and all us attorneys aren't bad folks. I'd appreciate it if you would take it easy on us unless you really intend to bring in an entire legion of free lawyers and I hope those folks have my clients' interests at heart the way I do.
KF: Let me say, if they don't, they wouldn't be so bad off retaining you.
Q: We're caught in the middle because we can't file a claim with BP because we are in the moratorium and we don't fall with ya'll either. There are thousands of us who are independent contractors and therefore cannot file unemployment. We get " if" from BP and "no" from you. I don't know where we go as businesses because we can't...right now we are at 85% loss in business and most of the vendors we service are at 85 and 90%. I want to know where all of us can go.
KF: You are exactly in no-man's land. I want you to understand the dilemma here. If your business has been adversely affected by the moratorium, not the spill but the moratorium, you are not eligible for any of the $100 million dollar moratorium and you are not eligible under the program I am administering. You're only hope right now is a lawsuit and I'm not advising that because I am not sure you can win it. So all I can say to you is of all the questions I have heard here today, yours is the most distressing because I can only do what I can do. I can only help the fisherman, oyster harvesters, crabbers, rig workers, and people impacted by the spill. I do not have a satisfactory answer for businesses impacted by the moratorium right now. I'm sorry.
Q: My husband is an inland charter captain in Montana and comes back in the winter to work here. He's got a claim he's been working on and I've been told to wait to turn it in and I've been told to turn it in now. When do I turn it in?
KF: Turn it in now.
Q: My second question is do I save for this year and hopefully next year we won't need it because his customers will be able to come back to fish or do we go for two years?
KF: Right now, come in and get 6 months of emergency pay without waiving any rights. Six months from now when the oil has hopefully stopped come in and seek what you believe you need to make yourself whole next year and the year after depending on how long you think the spill is going to adversely affect your husband's business.
Q: I'm a shrimp processor from Houma, LA. When the spill started in April, we had inventories. We also chose to work when the season was over and I think we are being penalized for that. We worked product, we sold product, and we sold off inventory. Consequently in June, we made a meager profit. Well, BP is basing their claims off of profit and loss. We talked to them and looked at production figures which are way off compared to last year and inventory figures which are about 15% of what they were last year this time and we got denied. Is your system going to take care of me who has no inventory now and little possibility of buying too much more?
KF: First of all, you actually got word from BP that claim was denied?
Response: Let me rephrase- it's not a denied claim. They said we are not eligible for any funds in the month of May and June but may be eligible by August or September when we start showing losses. But how do we survive to that point?
KF: I don't understand. You're already suffering because there is nothing in your warehouse to sell. You have no inventory.
Response: I don't understand it either.
KF: I think you have a valid claim, my friend. We had better talk before I leave today and I better make sure I have the right information for you.
Q: My name is Charles Heart. We're in a joint venture with BP and H20 Clean Filtration System. We are able with BP to bring up 720,000 gallons a minute at 200 feet wide and 800 feet deep. I'd like to talk to you after as well.
KF: If you filed a claim with BP and the claim has not been decided, we will resolve those claims in the next few weeks.
Q: My question is about cash. A lot of people have been working for cash. A lot of people are probably afraid to go file a claim with BP because they've been working for cash and are afraid of the IRS and all that stuff in between.
KF: There is nothing illegal about getting paid in cash. Nobody says that is illegal. When you file your claim with me and you say that your lost wages are only received in cash, I need you to help prove the amount. There are various ways to help prove the amount. You can show me a tax return, a profit loss statement from your company, check stubs, or you can even come to me and say, " Mr. Feinberg here is my captain that I work for. He'll vouch for me". I don't care but I've got to corroborate it somehow. Let's say you are able to corroborate the cash. I'll give you 6 months of cash but you are going to get tax forms from me. I cannot violate the law. I have to give you that 1099 form.
I do not need a tax form to corroborate your cash. I will be as generous as I can but I cannot violate the law. I can't accept a claim from an undocumented worker. Doesn't have to be a citizen but has to have a green card and be a lawful worker. I cannot violate the immigration laws or the IRS. I'll work with you but I cannot violate the law.
" Mr. Feinberg if I come to you with a cash claim are you going to send my file to the government?" Absolutely not. This is a confidential submission. We will provide some important data to Governor Jindal to make sure they understand the overall program and how it is working but we are not going to disclose to anybody your private file.
Q: I'd like to know how long it will be before the rig workers get paid?
KF: How long before the moratorium rig workers get paid?
Response: Yes.
KF: Well, not on my watch at least not yet. I'll try and get an answer to that question. I don't know the status yet as to where that 100 million dollars is. Public officials right here in the parish are asking me that question. Again, that is not part of my program yet. I am hoping it will be and I will let you know as soon as I can.
Q: Once I put my claim in, the guys that are working for BP said they are waiting on your final word before they issue out any money to the rig workers.
KF: You are able to file the claim with BP but they say they won't pay that claim because they are waiting for Mr. Feinberg? Darrel Willis from BP is right here. They've paid out about 150 million dollars worth of claims before I ever showed up so I think you ought to talk to Darrel about getting that claim processed and if it is a tough case in a problem area, I'll try and get to that claim as soon as I can when I'm up and running in the next two or three weeks.
KF: Your concern on behalf of Indian tribes is not simply loss of fishing rights? It's that the whole natural area has been adversely affected by the spill and natural resources are threatened. Absolutely you have a claim. The individual members of your tribe adversely affected by the oil ruining fishing rights and scenic land, is absolutely compensable.
Response: Not only that but our fair grounds and Indian lands are being adversely affected by the oil. Every time you get close to the mark, they change it.
KF: I can't compensate for physical injury before the spill but to the extent that the spill has adversely affected your use of the land, that is absolutely compensable. I do not know if you filed a claim yet but you should file a claim and we will help you file a claim.
Q: Mr. Feinberg you mentioned that you will be in operation in three or four weeks. Will you have a Houma office? Will you keep the offices BP currently operates?
KF: Yes. We will maintain the 35 offices BP has set up along the Gulf. I got a call that Galveston needs an office. We may supplement with additional offices and staff but we want to make it as convenient as possible. We will do what we can to make sure it is accessible.
Q: You managed the 9/11 disaster from start to finish. First of all, what period of time did it take to complete that management and how do you envision this spill disaster with the width and berth as compared to 9/11?
KF: 9/11 we resolved 7300 claims for death and physical injury in 33 months. Less than three years. This program that I am setting up will be in effect for three years. Now, you imply an interesting question. " Mr. Feinberg, you're around for three years but we are not sure how long the effects of the spill...we might now be able to fish for six year, eight years, thirty years. How are you going to deal with this problem?" We are going to sit down with you and say, " How long do you think it will take before you business will be restored?" We will have experts from around the area and write a check for the amount of time we think your business will be affected. You do not have to take the check because if you do, you are releasing BP.
Response: I assume you communicate with the president on a regular basis. Since you and he are touring the gulf coast, I would plead with you to reflect your ability to understand the tremendous impact on the people of the gulf coast and that the president realize that some of the actions he is taking are working to exacerbate the economic disaster.
KF: I do not speak to the president at all. I am not working for the administration or BP. I am working for you. It is not political.
Q: My question is last year I had a lot of problems with my boat and only made $8,000 dollars fishing. This year I have a bigger boat but have probably lost $50,000 in shrimping already. I am wondering how am I going to determine my losses on my claim.
KF: Last year you owned a smaller boat and made $8,000 dollars and this year you have a bigger boat and would have made $50,000?
KF: Show us that you would have made $50,000 dollars. Explain it and corroborate it. If you can't corroborate it, it's $8,000 dollars or something in between. You've got to sit down and explain to our people how you would have made $50,000. If it's real and not too speculative, we pay it.
Q: Do I have to file a different claim?
KF: If you filed with BP, you don't have to file again. We will inherit that claim and process it as soon as we can.
Q: Once you take over in a couple of weeks and someone files a claim, how long before someone actually gets a check in their hand?
KF: If it is an emergency payment, we hope to process that claim within 24 hours and pay within 2 or 3 days thereafter.
Q: Also, does the business have to be directly affected? Let's say you have a restaurant and you can show that your sales have decreased in the last two or three months, can they go ahead and file a claim also?
KF: They can file a claim. Whether a restaurant will be compensated will depend on whether it is eligible. How close is it to the Coast? How dependent is it on the fishing? We're going to have to make some judgment calls. I can't pay a restaurant in Boston that says it can't get shrimp but I am certainly willing to pay a restaurant on the Gulf Coast.
Q: If someone goes to work for BP will that effect their emergency payments?
KF: If you go to work for BP it will not effect your emergency payments except in one way. We will deduct, obviously, the amount that you are getting from BP as wages as a substitute for your being out of work. So if you were going to get $5000 unemployment you get $3000 a month from BP as wages, you will get $2000 a month. You will not be ineligible.
Q: Will seasonal variations have an impact on your payment?
KF: Sure, we'd want to know what those seasonal variations are and factor that into your payment.
Q: One last question. We filed a claim on shrimp but the family, which is like ten brothers and sisters, has oyster beds. Do we have to file another claim and does each individual have to be there on that claim?
KF: If it's a business, you file one claim as a business. If it's ten siblings working and have their own income and have their own share, they file separately. We'll process it either way.
Response: We can file the oyster on the shrimp claim also?
KF: Yes.
KF: Let me just say this before I turn it back over to our leader here. I will come back as often as necessary. My frustration is if people don't file a claim. I want to try and help. I've got this money to distribute but can only help if the claim is filed. I am acting independently. I am enormously grateful for Governor Jindal who helped set up this entire day of meetings. I will do everything I can to help you folks. I wish you well and I cannot imagine what you are going through. I hope to be able to help you in some way.
End of the Transcription
If you have any questions about making a BP claim or would like to request a Free Copy of "7 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Filing a Claim for Money from BP", call Lavis Law Firm at toll free 1-866-558-9151 or contact us online.
Ask A QuestionRequest A Free ConsultationRequest An Article
