BP Claims Director Daryl Willis proudly claimed that BP hasn’t rejected any claims. He bragged about BP renewing the $5,000 checks to fishermen and others hurt by the BP oil disaster.
However, let’s look a little deeper into the numbers. As per the Escambia County EOC, BP claims in Florida total 7,215 with approximately $4,920,897.45 paid. Willis, whose official title is Vice President of Resources, said that 1,600 claims have been paid in Florida—-which means only 22 percent of the claims made have been paid. The average check is $3,076, not $5,000.
Willis admitted after I questioned his figures that only 10 claims over $5,000 across the entire Gulf Coast region have been paid. None in Florida, only one in Louisiana. Five of those claims were to local governments.