With BP Claim Filing Deadline Passed, No Second Chances for Appealed or Denied Claims

CLEARWATER, Fla., June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- June 8, 2015 was the deadline for individuals and businesses affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to submit a claim under the Court-Approved Settlement (1). Not only does this deadline prevent new claims from being submitted, it also prevents existing claimants from resubmitting their claim. So there are no more "do overs." If a BP claim is denied or appealed, then there is no second chance to re-file the claim.

The BP Claims filing process was intended to be user friendly. (2) However, the statistics have shown that the process may not be so simple. As of June 12, 2015, of the 258,833 claims where a notice has been issued by the claim administrator, 42,756 received incompleteness notices, and another 51,501 received incompleteness denial notices. (3) In other words, not submitting adequate information has affected over 36% of processed claims. By a large margin, incompleteness is the most prominent reason for a claim to be denied.

Even for claims approved by the claim administrator, BP may appeal to request that the claim award be reduced or denied altogether. But the Claimant has the right to fight back and defend the award.

"Any time there is a lot of money being exchanged, there is going to be resistance from the party losing money," says Michael Ziegler, a Florida attorney who assists with BP Claim Appeals and Denials.

"Because of the claim filing deadline, every BP claimant now has all of their chips on the table; there are no second chances." Attorney Ziegler recommends that claimants seek qualified representation. "BP has a large team of professionals to advocate for them. It is more important than ever for a claimant to have their own advocate for appealed or denied claims. Even for claimants who received help with their claim from an accountant or other non-legal facilitator, the claimants still have the right to have an attorney help them as well."

Michael Ziegler has recently launched a website to assists claimants whose BP Claim has been appealed or denied, available at http://www.bpclaimappealattorney.com. For individuals or businesses who have received a notice of appeal or an incompleteness notice, the Law Office of Michael Ziegler can be reached at 727-538-4188. The Law Office of Michael A. Ziegler, P.L. is located in Clearwater, Florida.

1. In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL 2179, Case # 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS (E.D. La. 2010).

2. Hammer, David, "New Gulf oil spill claims administrator's message: We are not BP. We are here to help." The Times-Picayune (June 4, 2012) available online at http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/06/new_gulf_oil_spill_claims_admi.html

3. Public Statistics for the Economic and Property Damages Settlement, issued by Deepwater Horizon Claims Center (June 12, 2015), available online at http://www.deepwaterhorizoneconomicsettlement.com/docs/statistics.pdf

Media Contact:

Michael Ziegler 
727.538.4188

SOURCE Law Office of Michael A. Ziegler, P.L.