We’re ending Week One of the new claims process – and as you might expect, there are mixed reviews. It could be that expectations – like checks in 48 hours on many claims – were set unrealistically high. And it might be that sorting through the BP documentation, along with the complicated nature of the new applications, will slow things down.
One report from WKRG (News 5) in Mobile quotes a local congressman as saying: “… big promises, big hopes and dreams, you’re exactly right. But so far the checks have not been delivered.” Meanwhile, the mayor of Gulf Shores, Ala., is generous with his understanding. Mayor Robert Craft tells News 5: “I think it will take a little while to work through what BP has left. I’m not sure he [Feinberg] understood how complicated that has become.”
My guess is that Gulf residents, nearly always ready to offer the benefit of the doubt (whether that serves them well or not) will be patient for the first week. But I also suspect that next week, if it becomes apparent that claims-process problems are widespread, all hell will break loose.
The WKRG TV report from Gulf Shores is here: http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/48-hour-claims-promise-a-bust/920682/Aug-26-2010_6-52-pm/
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