BP said Tuesday it has accelerated its process of approving payments for commercial claims related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but two Miami law firms representing fisherman said the oil company’s claim forms are flawed.
BP said it approved initial payments toward 90 percent of commercial large-loss claims that have been filed as a result the ongoing oil disaster. The U.K.-based oil giant said it approved payment of 337 checks for a total of $16 million to businesses that have filed claims in excess of $5,000.
This week, the two firms, Grossman Roth, P.A. and Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, began representing 600 fishermen from the Florida Keys Commercial Fisherman's Association. They warned that BP’s oil spill claim forms are seriously flawed.
“The claim form that BP put on its website is inadequate under the federal Oil Pollution Act,” said Andy Yaffa of Grossman Roth.