Deepwater Horizon - Claims

AN OVERVIEW OF THE OIL SPILL CLAIMS PROCESSES

Individual and Business Claims

How can the Attorney General’s Office help if I have a question or concern about my claim or the claims process?

While the Attorney General is not a party to the private class action settlement in the federal court case over the oil spill, Floridians with questions and concerns about their claims or the claims process often call our consumer hotline. If you have a question or concern, you may reach our office at 1-866-966-7226. The consumer hotline analysts will take the specifics about your complaint and forward it for review by an attorney within our office. The attorney will look for trends and, in demonstrated hardship cases, will work with the administrators of the Court Supervised Settlement Program (“CSSP”) and the BP Claims Program, as applicable, to facilitate any pending claims towards resolution. To the extent problems or anomalies in the claims process are detected, our office will also work to address those directly with the claims administrators, as warranted.

What is CSSP?

The Court-Supervised Settlement Program or CSSP was established as a result of the private class action settlement with BP on behalf of certain individuals and businesses affected by the oil spill. The CSSP is responsible for administering the claims process set forth in the settlement document. Its role is to review and pay eligible claims to the individual and business class members wishing to make a claim for economic or other losses suffered as the result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Who may file a claim with the CSSP?

Not all individual and business claimants in Florida are eligible to file a claim for their oil spill losses with the CSSP. Only those potential claimants who live or work in the following Florida counties may file with the CSSP:

• Bay, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Monroe, Okaloosa, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.

Claimants accepting payments through the CSSP will have to execute a release of their claims against BP and certain other defendants, extinguishing any and all past, present or future claims for economic or other losses against the settling parties. For more information on whether you or your business may be eligible to file a claim and applicable deadlines, please review theCSSP website.

NOTE: If you were covered by the settlement, but chose to opt out of the CSSP process and pursue other remedies, the Class Action Settlement required the opt-out to be submitted by November 1, 2012.

Where do I file my claim if I do not reside or work in one of the counties listed above?

BP has established a separate Claims Program for all individuals and businesses that are not covered by the CSSP or chose to timely opt out of the CSSP. For more information, please review theBP Claims Program website.

Government Entities

1. A. State Government Economic Loss Claims


• What is the Attorney General’s role in pursuing the State’s economic loss claim?
  

  The Attorney General’s Office filed an economic damages lawsuit against BP and Halliburton in the Northern District of Florida on April 20, 2013. That lawsuit is part of the ongoing Multidistrict Litigation case in New Orleans before Judge Barbier (MDL 2179) but any trial on the State's economic loss claims will take place within Florida.



2. B. Local Government Claims


• What has the Office done to assist local governments?
  

  While it is not within the Office’s purview to represent local governments in pursuing their claims for any losses due to the oil spill, the Attorney General’s Office continues to work with the Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities, as requested, to ensure that local governments are properly informed of their rights under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and related laws.