BP Deepwater Horizon Economic & Property Damages Settlement

Entered into in May 2012, the court supervised settlement program was designed to compensate those individuals and businesses that experience losses as a result of the oil spill. The $20 billion settlement ends years of litigation over the deadly 2010 BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people and devastated the region’s local economies. The judge would find that the worst oil spill in the nation’s history was due to BP exhibiting “gross negligence" and “willful misconduct" leading to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

BP has reportedly set aside some $54 billion that will be paid over 16 years to cover costs associated with the disaster including settlement claims. Although the processing and payment of said claims was thought to happen quickly in a matter of weeks or months, the reality is much different. Unfortunately, the hardships of administering a 1,000 page program have been more difficult than expected.

BP Claim Settlement by the Numbers

If you have filed a BP claim, you are probably all too familiar with these difficulties. Making matters worse was the implementation of Policy 495, which was designed to more accurately measure a claimant’s loss. Policy 495 requires Claim Administration accounting vendors to exercise professional judgment with regards to determining if a profit and loss (P&L) statement provided by a claimant is insufficiently matched. While Policy 495 is designed to keep both sides honest with regards to paying out claims, it has resulted in yet another delay in payouts. Principal payouts are as follows:

• $5.5 billion civil penalty to the United States under the Clean Water Act (payable over 15 years)
• $7.1 billion to the United States and 5 Gulf Coast States for Natural Resource Damages (payable over 15 years)
  • $1.0 billion committed for early restoration towards NRD
  • $232 million to be added to NRD interest payment to cover unknown damages
• $4.9 billion to settle economic and other claims made by 5 Gulf Coast states (payable over 18 years)
• $1.0 billion to resolve claims made by 400 local government entities

BP Settlement Funding

As a follow up to a previous BP Oil Spill Settlement Funding article, Thrivest Link is fully committed to assisting those individuals and business owners that were affected by the BP oil spill. Those claimants in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida who were affected by the disaster have experienced lost wages, loss of business profits, business and property damage and the physical inability to work and provide an income. If you are a claimant and are in need of monetary assistance while waiting on your claim settlement, Thrivest can help.