If you believed BP, you would think that Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed claims administrator, is passing out BP’s money to undeserving claimants willy-nilly. But the facts, as history has shown in this litigation, do not support BPs spin.
The claims administrator just released his monthly report. Table 4 tells the tale of the tape.
Table 4 shows that, thus far, Mr. Juneau has determined 12,447 claims eligible for payment. But he has denied or otherwise closed 15,384 claims (which includes 217 claims in which no payment was due under the settlement.) I’m no math major, so somebody double check my addition. But I am pretty sure that 15,384 is greater than 12,447. So that means that the court-appointed claims administrator has actually denied more claims than he has deemed eligible for payment.
This pesky little fact directly contradicts BP’s well-orchestrated public relations campaign to besmirch Mr. Juneau and the claims administration process. It once again compounds BP’s problem in which it says one thing, but the facts show another.
Any objective observer can see that Mr. Juneau is fairly implementing the agreed-to settlement.Every court that has looked at it has determined that. In fact, it looks to me that BP is getting more “wins” than “losses” in the claims process. But BP continues to try to unwind its contract. And in the meantime, the people and the businesses of the Gulf continue to wait for BP to honor its “Commitment to the Gulf.” BP, those folks and businesses are waiting — not winning. You are.