More than 100,000 BP claims lack proof

[Casino67]

Polijam.com:

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. administrator in charge of the BP oil spill fund said he can't pay 80 percent of the remaining 130,000 claims because they lack adequate documentation.

Ken Feinberg said upwards of 100,000 claims that haven't been settled yet simply "lack proof," The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday.

"The claims that were denied had woeful, inadequate or no documentation to speak of," Feinberg told foreign journalists in Washington Monday.

He did not rule out settling claims at a later date if proper documentation was provided.

Feinberg has been under fire from the Obama administration, U.S. gulf state leaders and local businesses for what they consider to be the slow pace of disbursements from the $20 billion compensation fund.

At the same time, BP has accused Feinberg of being overly generous in his payouts.

Any money remaining in the fund would revert to BP under an agreement with the White House.

//END//

[Pepper]

Casino

Feinberg looks and sounds like a guy who walked in off a Seinfeld set. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

I do not envy his job.

[SrWoodchuck]

I'm wondering how a "street vendor" that sold burrito's or beignet's.....that didn't keep records.....would ever be able to prove he lost his whole income due to no oil, or oil workers?

 

On the other hand Feinberg is kind of a hoot.

 

He seems sincere about getting money to the people that needed it......without participating in one of Louisiana's better known pastimes......corruption. [Apologies to Ace Rimmer, and the mostly honest citizens of Louisiana]

[Pepper]

SrWoodChuck

"Feinberg is kind of a hoot"

he is

if you are not on the waiting end.

 

For some it might be hard to prove loss of income, but wouldn't something called last year's tax return help?

[SrWoodchuck]

SrWoodChuck

"Feinberg is kind of a hoot"

he is

if you are not on the waiting end.

 

For some it might be hard to prove loss of income, but wouldn't something called last year's tax return help?

Maybe it's different in the other gulf states, but I'd bet a lot of these claims for denied compensation, are people living hand-to-mouth.

 

Quite a few of those really small businesses are "all cash" enterprises.....no taxes.....so it's a matter of applying the "reality of government" to a street vendor that has to live the reality of the street.

 

One of the things I read, when Feinberg first started doling out funds.......how do you compensate a stripper for the tips she lost, from the no longer watching, unemployed oil workers?

 

How about the oyster shuckers at Acme Oyster house in NOLA that got laid off, because of the demise of oil-soaked oyster beds? Maybe Acme gets paid, but the shuckers? Not likely.

 

This is the difference in the two realities.....and one that Obama was attempting to tap with the '1099' health care law & a million new IRS agents.....the "cash" or underground economy.

 

If these people can't make a living at their old jobs......do the less violent ones think about theft, burglary, fraud & con jobs? Or do they reach a point of desperation that would include a more violent or dangerous way of staying alive?

[Pepper]

SrWoodChuck, I understand your point, but if they did not file tax returns they are apparently not going to get a nickel.

 

Official requirements from http://www.gulfcoastclaimsfacility.com

 

 

I. Requirements for Documenting Individual Lost Earnings Claims

Any person claiming lost earnings as an employee or wage earner must submit the documents described below. If you are self-employed, an owner of rental property, or operate a business as a sole proprietor, and you pay the expenses of the operation and report business income on a Schedule C or other business tax form, then use the documents list for Business Lost Profits claims in Section II rather than this list.

1. Documents that establish your earnings history from January 1, 2008, to the present

(a) Provide federal income tax returns for 2008 and all subsequent years up to your most recently filed return. Include all W-2 forms, 1099 forms, and other attachments or schedules to each return. If any of your prior year federal income tax returns are not available, provide a statement explaining why.

( b ) For any prior year for which you cannot provide a federal tax return, and for the current year through the date you are claiming a loss, you must establish your earnings history for the entire period with at least one of the following sources:

(i) State tax returns, including all W-2 forms, 1099 forms, and other attachments or schedules to each return.

(ii) Paycheckstubsorotherpayrollrecordsfromallemploymentdemonstratingallearningsfrom1/1/08 up to the present.

(iii) A letter or other records from an employer that describe when you were working and your rate of pay and total earnings.

[SrWoodchuck]

If only I had named my company, "Gulf Coast Flooring"....I'd be able to file a claim [I can document all those things].......and be denied.

 

What about any new businesses that opened & didn't have a chance......or the documentation to support a loss of potential income? Industrial & commercial businesses that lost new or remodel investment money, due to oil service companies folding?

 

I really believe that BP went into this thing, knowing that a large number of claims would be rejected.

 

Put Feinberg in charge of Pigford, before all the money is doled out......that is a travesty, too.

[clearvision]

Works out well for anyone who happened to retire/planned to retire around the time of the spill. Just dig up last returns and voila, an extra years income.