BP Oil Spill Damages
& Compensation
Can I recover damages or compensation from of the BP Oil spill?
This is an important question to first ask. The law generally provides recovery of damages or compensation for anyone who has been harmed as a result of the BP/Transocean/Deep Horizon gulf oil spill. The law allows those who have been damaged to recover the damages that compensate you for direct losses caused by the oil spill. Persons who have suffered damages in Florida may make claims against the parties responsible for the spill under the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the Florida Pollution Discharge Prevention and Control Act. If those claims aren’t paid timely, completely, or at all then you may also recover damages under both the federal and state Oil Spill Liability Trust Funds. To see the process and what documentation you need to bring a claim visit the Claims section of this website.
Who can claim damages or compensation?
We are seeing claims from commercial fishermen, shrimpers, crabbers, hotel owners and operators, vacation rental owners and managers, as well as shore side recreational vendors who rent snorkeling gear, kayaks, jet skis, boats, and other offshore excursion owners and operators for sightseeing, diving and fishing. The main question is whether you have suffered a direct loss instead of an indirect loss. In some instances, the law will not allow you to recover for indirect losses. Whether your loss is direct or indirect is a legal question that we can answer on a case by case basis, but if you have real or personal property that has been damaged or impacted by the oil spill then you likely have a claim. If you have a business that has been impacted by the oil spill, then you likely have a claim.
In addition to the recovery against the responsible parties involved in the gulf oil spill, some businesses have a type of insurance coverage called “business interruption insurance.” Depending upon the wording in your insurance policy, you may have insurance coverage for your business loss claims. Please contact us to see if this could provide you with additional compensation for your losses.
Damages for Federal Law Claims
Under the federal law you can be compensated for damages to real or personal property, loss of subsistence use of natural resources, loss of profits and earning capacity due to injury, destruction, or loss of real or personal property or natural resources.
After the Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed into law a new statute, Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA 90”), which deals with damages recoverable for oil spills. You should also be aware that under OPA 90 there are certain caps or limits on the damages that BP or any other defendant would have to pay to others who are damaged. The law limits non-clean-up claims against the people who caused the spill to $75 million. That seems like a lot of money, but when you potentially have hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida affected by the spill this becomes a limited amount of money. There may be reasons that this limitation does not apply in this case, such as gross negligence, and you may be able to recover additional damages under state laws, but be aware that those legally responsible for the spill will likely raise the damage limits as a defense.
As for punitive damages, a few years ago the United States Supreme Court stated that punitive damages awarded in oil spill cases under general maritime law could not be more that the compensatory damages. There is a question as to how this limitation on punitive damages applies to OPA 90 claims. The good news is that there are efforts going on now in Congress to try to increase the cap on damages to $10 billion. Keep checking back here for more information on that issue or contact us directly with any questions..
Damages for Florida Law Claims
Florida has a statute similar to OPA 90, the Florida Pollution Discharge Prevention and Control Act. It is important for you to know that claims under this Florida law are in addition to the damages you can recover under OPA 90. This means if the companies responsible for the spill can limit their damages under OPA 90, and there is not enough to complete compensate you, then Florida law can provide the way to fully recover your compensation. Florida law allows you to recover damages for any destruction to or loss of any real or personal property that is the direct result of the oil spill. The Florida law has no limits of liability on the total property damages against the responsible party. As the law presently stands the law would limit the liability for clean up claims to $150 million.
Florida law claims do not require proof of any negligence. The Florida law does not require you to make any claim against any government trust fund as a condition to any claim against a responsible party. This means that any person may bring a cause of action against a responsible party in a court of competent jurisdiction for damages resulting from the oil spill. For a claim under the Florida law you only need to plead and prove the fact that the oil spill occurred. The Florida law provides limited defenses to liability as with OPA 90. These include: an act of war; an act of government, either federal, state, county, or municipal; an act of God, which means only an unforeseeable act exclusively occasioned by the violence of nature without the interference of any human agency; an act or omission of a third party other than an employee or agent of the responsible party or a third party whose act or omission occurs in connection with any contractual relationship with the responsible party, with some limited exceptions. In order for the responsible party to claim any of these defenses it must plead and prove that it exercised due care with respect to the oil itself, taking into consideration the characteristics of the pollutant and in light of all relevant facts and circumstances, and took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of others and the foreseeable consequences of those acts or omissions.
Florida law also allows you to recover not only your damages, but also the court may award costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney’s and expert witness fees, whenever the court determines such an award is in the public interest. This means that you have a greater chance at a more complete recovery without having to offset attorney’s fees or other costs involved in the claim. Email Rumrell Law today.