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Oil Spill Claims Information
Posted: 5/6/10

BP is now accepting claims for the Gulf Coast oil spill. Please call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858.

See a BP fact sheet here for additional information (Click here to view fact sheet)

If you are not satisfied with BP’s resolution, there is an additional avenue for assistance available through the Coast Guard once BP has finalized your claim. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process can call the Coast Guard at 1-800-280-7118.

More information about what types of damages are eligible for compensation under the Oil Pollution Act as well as guidance on procedures to seek that compensation can be found below and at www.uscg.mil/npfc.

For more information about the response and recovery efforts and to sign up for updates from the Joint Information Center, go to www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

Types of Claims

Claim Type	Description	Who Can Submit
Natural Resource Damages (NRD)	Costs for: Assessing an area's natural resource damages, Restoring the natural resources, and Compensating the public for the lost use of the affected resources.	Only specially designated natural resource trustees
Removal Costs	Costs to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or clean up an oil spill. (The costs of cleaning up your own property fall under the category of property damage, not removal costs.)	Clean-up contractors, called Oil Spill Recovery Organizations (OSROs) Federal, State, and local government entities The responsible party Anyone who helped clean up the spill
Property Damage	Injury to or economic loss resulting from destruction of real property (land or buildings) or other personal property. Does not include personal injury!	People or entities who own or lease the damaged property
Boat Damage	Injury to or economic loss resulting from damage to a boat (a subset of property damage).	People or entities who own or lease the damaged boat
Loss of Profits & Earning Capacity	Damages equal to the loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to the injury, destruction, or loss of property or natural resources	Anyone with loss of profits or income (You do not have to own the damaged property or resources to submit a claim under this category.)
Loss of Subsistence Use of Natural Resources	Loss of subsistence use claim if natural resources you depend on for subsistence use purposes have been injured, destroyed, or lost by an oil spill incident.	Anyone who, for subsistence use, depends on natural resources that have been injured, destroyed, or lost (You do not have to own or manage the natural resource to submit a claim under this category.)
Loss of Government Revenue	Net loss of taxes, royalties, rents, fees, or net profit shares due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources	Federal agencies States Local governments
Increased Public Services	Net costs of providing increased or additional public services during or after removal activities, including protection from fire, safety, or health hazards, caused by a discharge of oil or directly attributable to response to the oil spill incident	States Local governments

Claim Format

There is no required format for claims. You must, however, support your claim with documentation, put the claim in writing, and sign it.

Background

The primary source of revenue for the fund is a nine-cents per barrel fee on imported and domestic oil. Collection of this fee ceased on December 31, 1994 due to a "sunset" provision in the law. Other revenue sources for the fund include interest on the fund, cost recovery from the parties responsible for the spills, and any fines or civil penalties collected. The Fund is administered by the U.S. Coast Guard's National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC).

The Fund can provide up to $1 billion for any one oil pollution incident, including up to $500 million for the initiation of natural resource damage assessments and claims in connection with any single incident. The main uses of Fund expenditures are:

State access for removal actions;

Payments to Federal, state, and Indian tribe trustees to carry out natural resource damage assessments and restorations;

Payment of claims for uncompensated removal costs and damages; and

Research and development and other specific appropriations.

Structure of the Fund

The OSLTF has two major components.

The Emergency Fund is available for Federal On-Scene Coordinators (FOSCs) to respond to discharges and for federal trustees to initiate natural resource damage assessments. The Emergency Fund is a recurring $50 million available to the President annually.

The remaining Principal Fund balance is used to pay claims and to fund appropriations by Congress to Federal agencies to administer the provisions of OPA and support research and development.

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