Thursday, November 1, 2012

Q&A with Patrick Juneau - Gulf claims administrator

Patrick Juneau - Deepwater Horizon
Claims Administrator
Q&A Oil Spill Chief Weighs In
by Emily Pickrell, Houston Chronicle
Q: How does the Deepwater Horizon Claims Center differ from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility?
A: These are two totally different programs. The Deepwater Horizon Claims Center is a precise, detailed settlement program. It lays out the formula for how you go about determining what your claim is worth and eligibility. It is based on a detailed document, as distinguished from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, whose detail was significantly less. If a claimant wanted to know about eligibility, it difficult to assess under the GCCF.
My main responsibility is to make sure that the settlement program is settled across the board and that there is equal treatment for everyone. We are not going to short one dime off that settlement agreement.
I report to myself and Judge Barbier and that's it. Barbier's a hands-on guy and asks me for data all the time. This is not a transitory thing to him.
Q: How many people are accepting the claim offers they have received from the Claims Center?
A: We have distributed $572 million (as of Oct. 15) with a current acceptance rate of 73 percent. We are aiming for 90 to 95 percent acceptance rate. The resounding feedback of all these determination letters so far has been incredibly positive, with as high as 90 percent acceptance rate from a variety of people.

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