Many are familiar with the April 20, 2010 Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, but many don't know what has occurred since then. A settlement has been entered, and there are numerous businesses and individuals who may have claims and not even know it.
First, you need to determine if you are eligible to make a claim. One way to do that is to go HERE for an interactive mapping tool. If you insert your address, you will see whether or not you are in one of the specific zones to qualify for filing a claim in the settlement. Most of North Alabama is Zone D which DOES qualify.
Next, you need to determine if you meet the qualifications to file a claim. Essentially, Any individual and any business from a few miles north of Mobile all the way up to the TN border qualifies, even if they cannot show the spill had a direct effect on their business. There is no conventional causation element. Instead the following two step "test" applies:
- 2010 revenue must be down at least 15% as compared to 2009 or an average of 08 & 09 or an average of 07, 08 & 09 (whichever works best for the claimant), and
- 2011 revenue must rebound at least 10% from that 2010 low.
If you, or your company, meet that test, you have a claim. There are exclusions for any financial services company such as banks, securities dealers (brokers) and insurance companies. However, doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, dentists, restaurants, retail stores, etc. can all qualify, and the turnaround from filing a claim until payment is approximately two (2) months at this time.
If you have any questions, you can go here, or contact our firm.
Comments for this article are closed.