Though BP claims they will pay out compensation on all "legitimate claims" arising from the Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill and that they have written checks for over half of the claims brought against them, newly released information shows that the company has yet to pay out on any of the 1105 claims for "bodily injury".
The 1105 bodily injury claims consist of 1,105 claims for compensation for bodily injury, including 298 claims for respiratory ailments, 275 claims for anxiety or stress, and 261 claims for nausea.
This may be a sign that BP are still looking at ways to manage how to pay these claims and damages.
Company statistics show that there are 400 more bodily injury claims than there are worker injuries or illnesses described in BP's most recent count, which includes all information up to June 17.
Max McGahan, BP spokesman,said in an e-mail that "claims for bodily injury are still under review for compensability."
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 is the main law which outlines a companies responsibility when involved in an oil spill. The 1990 Oil Pollution Act is a federal law which was passed in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez disaster. The law states that a company is liable for "removal costs and damages resulting from an incident," but according to a legal professor, it doesn't cover bodily injuries caused by workplace or environmental conditions.
BP have created a web page with the title "How to Make a Claim", which lists areas covered by the Oil Pollution Act, such as property damage, loss of earning capacity and cleanup costs. The page also states: "BP also will evaluate all claims for bodily injury even though they are not payable under the Oil Spill Pollution Act of 1990."
In regards to bodily injury, the page gives the following information to those looking to claim under it, "You will need to provide medical records, medical bills, or pharmacy records to support the claim."
More on this story and on how BP aims to deal with these bodily injury claims as it becomes available.
Please click here for more on the various categories of personal injury accidents