Types of Claims
| Claim Type | Description | Who Can Submit |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Resource Damages (NRD) | Costs for:
|
Only specially designated natural resource trustees |
| Removal Costs | Costs to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or clean up an oil spill.
(The costs of cleaning up your own property fall under the category of property damage, not removal costs.) |
Clean-up contractors, called Oil Spill Recovery Organizations (OSROs) Federal, State, and local government entities The responsible party Anyone who helped clean up the spill |
| Property Damage | Injury to or economic loss resulting from destruction of real property (land or buildings) or other personal property.
Does not include personal injury! |
People or entities who own or lease the damaged property |
| Boat Damage | Injury to or economic loss resulting from damage to a boat (a subset of property damage). | People or entities who own or lease the damaged boat |
| Loss of Profits & Earning Capacity | Damages equal to the loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to the injury, destruction, or loss of property or natural resources | Anyone with loss of profits or income (You do not have to own the damaged property or resources to submit a claim under this category.) |
| Loss of Subsistence Use of Natural Resources | Loss of subsistence use claim if natural resources you depend on for subsistence use purposes have been injured, destroyed, or lost by an oil spill incident. | Anyone who, for subsistence use, depends on natural resources that have been injured, destroyed, or lost (You do not have to own or manage the natural resource to submit a claim under this category.) |
| Loss of Government Revenue | Net loss of taxes, royalties, rents, fees, or net profit shares due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources | Federal agencies States Local governments |
| Increased Public Services | Net costs of providing increased or additional public services during or after removal activities, including protection from fire, safety, or health hazards, caused by a discharge of oil or directly attributable to response to the oil spill incident | States Local governments |
Additionally, BP will assess claims for bodily injury, even though this damage is not typically covered by the Oil Spill Pollution Act of 1990.
Filing an Oil Spill Claim
The law firm of Katzman Garfinkel & Berger is filing actions on behalf of any Florida community association, wherever located in the State, and regardless of whether or not that association is or was an association client of KG&B, on a fully contingent basis as a precautionary measure to afford those associations the greatest chance of recovery for losses that may arise out of the BP Oil Spill disaster. Those associations who do file claims against BP through the BP Claim process as well as file in federal court against BP Oil and the other defendants involved with this tragedy, will maintain their “place in line” far ahead of others who have not even contemplated taking action at this time.
Since the representation in this regard is on a fully contingent basis, an association incurs no costs or fees whatsoever unless the firm is successful in obtaining a recovery for the community. If a recovery is obtained, the firm collects its fee pursuant to the terms of its contingency fee agreement with the association. Essentially, it is a “no harm, no foul” situation for associations who choose to be proactive and file on a contingency basis only later to discover that no recovery will be forthcoming as no damage occurred. However, there is significant downside should damages ensue in the coming months or years, recovery be a possibility but an association waited too long to get in line. Associations have no control over the spill, BP’s efforts to contain it and clean it up but they do have control over their own strategy to deal with it as swiftly and decisively as possible to their community’s eventual benefit.
If you would like to review a copy of our Contingency Fee Agreement and a Statement of Client’s Rights for Contingency Fees, please email us at: bpoilinfo@kgblawfirm.com.