Transparency.
When it come to the GCCF, there is none. The Justice Department has called for transparency in how the claims process is being handled. Attorney Generals in the Gulf Coast have called for it. The residents with claims in the pipeline have demanded it. Feinberg has promised it.
But still, there is no transparency.
Instead we have a wall of secrecy erected around the GCCF and allowed to remain by the neutral arbitrator, Feinberg and as a result there is tremendous frustration by thousands of people who never asked for this oil spill, but are all suffering from its toxicity. Instead we have the stories from the ground of what exactly is occurring and these stories are alarming, disappointing and ridiculous, especially when the problems all come from the agency whose sole purpose was to make things right for the businesses and residents of the Gulf Coast.
We get allegations of private investigators hired by the GCCF. We get indiscriminate payments to some and denials to others, often for people on the same boat. We get deficiency letters that start the waiting periods for payments all over again. We get accusations of online forms with errors, posted intentionally as stall tactics by the GCCF. We get rules that change arbitrarily. We get an informational GCCF website that posts information that doesn’t make sense or is wrong.
Consider just a few of the stories being posted to a comments section on the website, ProPublica.
Regarding a visit from the private investigators hired by the GCCF:
“My advice is to get a lawyer fast and have them meet you there. This is a EAP claim and most lawyers will give you advice without charging you for whatever you might get in your EAP payment…Not sure where you are at but this could turn real ugly if you don’t protect yourself now. These guys are not nice. They showed up at a friends and was very very rude. (After 3 hours of attacking her paperwork she finally called the police on them. It was something as simple as the IRS didn’t have her name right. She got married and they haven’t filed this years taxes so they did not know about the legal name change when she got married.. She went through HELL….for hours. Finally they realized the problem then she was approved and then still waited almost 30 more days to get paid.) They are there to not to be on your side but on BP’s side. After all they are the ones paying them. Remember they are recording YOU.. it is on them but they don’t tell you. So whatever you say is being recorded.”
Regarding indiscriminate payments to some and not to others:
“Some people were denied and have NO CLUE why! How about the folks who got denied when their coworkers who got paid the same and filed at the same were approved? how fair is that?”
“All these waiters and waitresses bragging about their money driving around in new cars and they deny the people who really need it!! I was denied and still to this day do not know why…my status states “Reason to be posted soon…” WTF-EVER! I filed for my final we will see what happens! Our leaders are being paid by BP that is why they aren’t doing shit to help anyone!”
Regarding deficiency letters and stall tactics:
“Another turn of events…I just received a call from the GCCF informing me that I would be receiving a deficiency letter in the mail. I freaked out on that poor girl! I said “ANOTHER ONE?” She said that she was just giving me a courtesy call in regards to the letter they mailed us on the 28th and upon further digging… she can see the claim I sent on the 30th and the claim on the 3rd. ?? Seriously? Poor girl… I wouldn’t want her job today…I get so many different answers, but no payment….I have no idea what the heck is going on… apparently they do not either…I just NOW received a courtesy call to inform me that my initial claim form was not valid. WTH?”
“The 90 days Final Claim is from the time they receive the documents. But again if there is one thing missing you will have to re-file and then your 90 days will start all over again. This too is another stall tactic. The stats on the website are not correct. Don’t rely on what you see on the website. Feinberg will stall and delay some final and interim payments then push them out to October he will then again announce another Quick Payout for final claims. He is using stall tactics to push to accept quicker and not fair payouts to the claimants. His advice (from an adjuster) is have an attorney and wait because the rules will change again in the next few months.”
And finally:
“Does anyone know how to withdraw a claim with the GCCF? There was no way to see what files were uploaded when they were completed uploaded and I uploaded the wrong files. Mostly I just don’t want to deal with the GCCF anymore also.”
Confused yet?
Frustrated?
This is the result of a broken system and a real lack of transparency.
When some claims are accepted, yet others are denied for no given reason…when claimants are made to feel like criminals and have to hire attorneys to ward off private investigators grilling them on their legitimate claims…when the time tables for needed payments are constantly restarted and nobody can tell them why…when the front office of the GCCF tells a claimant one thing, only to have the home office say another and no reason given for this discrepancy…when the GCCF conducts their business at a snail’s pace while people are running out of money, being forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy…when all this occurs, your system is broken.
Yet Feinberg and the GCCF soldier on unaffected, immune to the kind of charges and complaints that if levied against them in a private business, would get them fired.
The GCCF was created for the purpose of making things right on the Gulf Coast, but little is right…not for thousands of residents still stuck in this mess, not for who knows how many businesses…no, little to nothing is being made right at all for those so frustrated by this claims process, unless of course they should happen to own shares in British Petroleum stock.
Have a nice day.
Drake Toulouse: Photography and Words 
This is so true. My husbands coworker was paid within 3 weeks of filing his EAP with very little proof. My husband sent in substantial proof and he still has not got paid. We had to hire an attorney. There is no rhyme or reason to their methods…. and no one is police-ing these people. Its like Feinberg is his own government and we are mute slaves.
Kinda makes you wonder where the President is? Or Congress? And maybe more importantly…whre is the mainstream, national media?
-Drake
mainstream, national media? We haven’t gotten get real news from MSM for years now. They have become the handmaidens of the oligarchy and are members of The Village (DC).
Agreed…I’ve actually written abot this in the past and as a person with a communications degree, I’ve studied it. When Clinton allowed media consolidation back in 93, it was the beginning of the end…yet, I still hope…
-Drake
I believe local governments who have already received large sums of money for lost tourism is keeping the local problems mute. They want out of towners to believe everything is kosher and everyone is moving on.
We locals are losing everything we own, our homes, our vehicles, our jobs/businesses, and I cannot even begin to tell you drain of the emotional strain has been on everyone. But you cant get compensated for the emotional distress. I wonder how many people just contemplate taking their lives on a daily basis since the oil spill and the ongoing lies and delay of claims being paid. God knows the thought has crossed my mind. 90 days since we filed our EAP….. and no word. Where do you go from here.
“Where do we go from here”
That indeed is the question and one without a whole lot of answers. Local politicians, beat in their door and make them beat in the door of state politicians and on up. Your community…band together. If you have faith…believe. Most importantly, as a social worker writing this…if the depression gets that bad, talk about it, do not hide it…seek help. As long as you are alive there is still something that can be done, things that haven’t been thought of yet…and practically, get a lawyer to help.
I wish there were more for me to say about this…I really do…but my thoughts are with you, sincerely.
I do not know my reason for denial nothing specific nobody can answer my question the letter I received was a generic letter everyone receives. I hope and pray I don’t get denied my final. All these reports are coming out are far worse than the sugar coating BS they are trying to do! Our coast IS not safe why in the hell are they letting people fish in the waters? OMG what are the affects of eating the fish going to be on our health?
Agreed and worried…best case scenarios from the government and their agencies allow for the profits to continue short-term, but on the long term…nobody knows and few are questioning…
=Drake
The mood of the US citizenry is full of anger with our government, Wall Street and corporations like BP that take the resources of the USA and offer environmental and economic damages in return, all the while being granted tax free profits.
The only reason the GCCF administrator has been getting away with the lies, stalling and shortchanging behavior is because 70% or more of the people in the US, including the Gulf Coast communities have been turned into sheep.
Ken Feinberg is doing the best job possible for his client BP. The actions taken by the GCCF Administrator over the past five months, (yes even before the GCCF took over the process) was to attempt to direct the blame toward him instead of BP. Unfortunately for Claimants involved in the process, Mr. Feinberg has zero interest in being fair or just, especially when an individual or business has the proper documentation and their claims pass the $100K mark.
With a glowing letter of support for the Feinberg claims process offered by a friend and fellow NYU law school professor, Stephen Gillers, Mr. Feinberg is actively seeking support from the media, Washington DC and BP. He could care less what the people of the Gulf Coast want, or believe.
President Obama & BP are happy with the GCCF process claiming the process is still young and adapting to the evironment as needed.
Hopefully most of the claims are settled realistically before Feinberg gets a taste for lamb, and decimates the lives and businesses in the GOM.
So what most of you don’t know is that a contract company names Worley who gas several politicians in their pocket were the ones who BP used. When taken and given to GCCF, the same people remained to work these claims. The ones in the offices you visit are still Worley who make from $450 up per day. These people have NO experience in this type of claim and are told daily what is new. Ohio did for a while hire some people to answer the phones but now good ole Worley people are answering. To top it off, those investigators they are looking for fraudulent activity are a bunch of retired FEDS who will bust you for nothing just like they did when they worked for the government. Its all a big government coverup.