Businessman Suspects BP Oil Will Deny Claim

Houston, TXJ.J., a partner in a company that supports deep water drilling, filed a claim against BP for small business loss of income on June 10 and finally got a call from BP's insurance adjuster yesterday. "Our claim is Loss of Income due to the moratorium, but now I find out that no permits have been issued for shallow water drilling either," says J.J. "I suspect that BP will deny our claim because of federal action, so who becomes financially responsible for our business loss?"

Clearly J.J. and countless others should seek help from an attorney. "It's a terrible thing that has happened to the environment but the destruction of our jobs—our livelihood—is ridiculous," says JJ, who has requested anonymity.

"My last chargeable day of work was May 1. Ten years ago our income, which is directly related to drilling efforts, was about 40 percent deep water; five years ago it was 67 percent; and in the past two deep water accounted for 80 percent of our revenue. Now it's zero. Since our invoices are typically paid within 60 days, our last invoice was recently paid, but now we are wondering how we are going to pay our very expensive insurance policy. How will we be able to offer our services at the end of this year and next year?

"I have read some reports that say only tens of thousands of jobs are directly affected to the spill, but I believe the reports of a minimum 100,000. Others estimate close to 200,000. It isn't just affecting the guys on the rigs: it affects restaurants and hotels, helicopter pilots and more…

"Initially when the spill happened the moratorium was only going to be until the end of May and we figured everyone would be back at work by June or July at the latest. Of course the president's announcement on May 27 that the moratorium would go on for up to six months prompted me to get everything in order for a claim against BP."

When J.J. first filed a complaint, he was told that an adjuster would call within three or four days. J.J. believes he has gotten the run-around—or perhaps it's because tens of thousands of people out of work are also trying to file a claim against BP.

Still, J.J. is hopeful that BP will determine his company has a legitimate claim. But about one month ago, BP indicated that they don't regard losses due to the moratorium to be their cost, even though they are the company that caused the loss of incomes. "The oil industry brings in about $150 billion per year in the Gulf, making it just bigger than tourism. The $1 billion fishing industry is not even close.

"Apparently there is $100 million assigned to loss of income but with 100,000 people out of work, that's about $1,000 apiece. That money won't go very far.

"Obviously we all blame BP for what happened but I am extremely disappointed in our federal government. Between loss of income, business losses and tax losses, we are approaching a loss of $1 trillion by getting rid of the deep water drilling.

"Currently, my partner has drafted the letter to the BP adjuster along with about 50 pages of documents, including a demand from us for confidentiality—they have asked for copies of drivers' licenses, social insurance numbers, tax returns, etc., which is a lot of data sensitive to identity theft. I want to be sure they accept responsibility for the proper handling of our information, otherwise I see yet another month-long delay.

"There is a definite potential that we will need an attorney—it all depends on the outcome of our claim."