Well, what would you do?

[Care4all]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

 

[Care4all]

don't get me wrong, the 20 billion in the fund is much much much more than the 75 million dollar cap that was in our laws to protect oil companies....but 'buyer' beware, that this will be all you get from bp, so make certain you calculate ALL of your potential damages before requesting the money from them.

 

[Nate]

I would say for them to wait since the extent of the damage is still uncertain and there's no way to know how long it would take for the Southern coast to rebound from this. But because these people are struggling now a lot of them taking the quick and guaranteed money.

 

[sangha]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

 

[Care4all]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

 

[Alpha1]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

Well, that identifies part of the problem....getting your news and talking points form MSNBC.....and just because its Scarborough Country makes no difference...

 

[Care4all]

I would say for them to wait since the extent of the damage is still uncertain and there's no way to know how long it would take for the Southern coast to rebound from this. But because these people are struggling now a lot of them taking the quick and guaranteed money.

with 911, most all of them took the settlement money offered from the fund....but there were a handful of people that held back from taking it, and sued for more funds.

I was downsized at my last job, along with 600 other people.

the company had a severance kitty/fund.

as an executive with the corporation i was offered 6 months severance pay, plus unemployment, plus the company paid my health care insurance and life insurance during that 6 months....but i had to sign a non-competitive doc saying i would not go to work for one of their competitors during that 6 months, or disclose any private information about the corporation or their marketing plans, AND sign a concession that I would NOT SUE THEM for more in damages down the road.

i think this is pretty typical...???

 

[Care4all]

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

Well, that identifies part of the problem....getting your news and talking points form MSNBC.....and just because its Scarborough Country makes no difference...

don't you think you should try to find out if this is true or not instead of this knee jerk reaction of bashing the media before you know the facts alpha?

 

[Immanuel]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

I do not know if things have changed in the last week or so, but, if I am not mistaken when the fund was set up and President Obama announced it, he stated that accepting funds from the relief fund would not prevent anyone from seeking further claims in the future nor would they waive their right to sue.

I don't know for sure that things did not later change, but I have not heard that to have been the case.

Immie

 

[xotoxi]

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

Well, that identifies part of the problem....getting your news and talking points form MSNBC.....and just because its Scarborough Country makes no difference...

don't you think you should try to find out if this is true or not instead of this knee jerk reaction of bashing the media before you know the facts alpha?

He's a troll.

Like Superman and Kryptonite, trolls are destroyed by facts.

 

[sangha]

I would say for them to wait since the extent of the damage is still uncertain and there's no way to know how long it would take for the Southern coast to rebound from this. But because these people are struggling now a lot of them taking the quick and guaranteed money.

with 911, most all of them took the settlement money offered from the fund....but there were a handful of people that held back from taking it, and sued for more funds.

I was downsized at my last job, along with 600 other people.

the company had a severance kitty/fund.

as an executive with the corporation i was offered 6 months severance pay, plus unemployment, plus the company paid my health care insurance and life insurance during that 6 months....but i had to sign a non-competitive doc saying i would not go to work for one of their competitors during that 6 months, or disclose any private information about the corporation or their marketing plans, AND sign a concession that I would NOT SUE THEM for more in damages down the road.

i think this is pretty typical...???

I just want to make clear that I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just saying that I don't know if you're right in this case.

In class action cases, you are right to say that the settlement often says that accepting a payment means giving up any future claims. However, this is not a class action suit (yet) and BP hasn't settled with anyone, so I'm not sure if it applies in this case.

And, just to make it clear, I'm not saying you're wrong or way off base or anything like that. I just don't know if it's true in this case.

 

[Immanuel]

I would say for them to wait since the extent of the damage is still uncertain and there's no way to know how long it would take for the Southern coast to rebound from this. But because these people are struggling now a lot of them taking the quick and guaranteed money.

with 911, most all of them took the settlement money offered from the fund....but there were a handful of people that held back from taking it, and sued for more funds.

I was downsized at my last job, along with 600 other people.

the company had a severance kitty/fund.

as an executive with the corporation i was offered 6 months severance pay, plus unemployment, plus the company paid my health care insurance and life insurance during that 6 months....but i had to sign a non-competitive doc saying i would not go to work for one of their competitors during that 6 months, or disclose any private information about the corporation or their marketing plans, AND sign a concession that I would NOT SUE THEM for more in damages down the road.

i think this is pretty typical...???

I just want to make clear that I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just saying that I don't know if you're right in this case.

In class action cases, you are right to say that the settlement often says that accepting a payment means giving up any future claims. However, this is not a class action suit (yet) and BP hasn't settled with anyone, so I'm not sure if it applies in this case.

And, just to make it clear, I'm not saying you're wrong or way off base or anything like that. I just don't know if it's true in this case.

Agree with Sangha on this one and add that since you said you heard the tail end of the report, you might not have heard the entire report and may have missed an important fact like maybe, this fund has been set up differently.

Immie

 

[Immanuel]

Here's an article I found from early May. Sure it is an old article, but BP admits that the early waivers were a mistake. Okay, the word was "misstep" not mistake. Is there a difference?

BP admits "misstep" over oil spill claims waivers | IBTimes

MIAMI - BP said on Monday that waiver clauses in contracts it offered to Alabama fishermen to help fight the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had drawn allegations that it was trying to buy them off to give up the right to sue the company.

"That was an early misstep," BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward told National Public Radio, when asked about Alabama media reports about a waiver campaign.

"It was a standard contract the team was using," Hayward said, referring to a contract BP recruiters used to hire fishermen and their boats to assist in deploying booms to help try to contain the oil spill before it reached the U.S. coast.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King told Reuters that although he had no first-hand knowledge of the alleged BP waivers practice, he had been told it involved offers of payments of up to $5,000 (3,285 pounds) to people affected by the oil spill who agreed not to sue the company.

"They're saying that it was a mistake and that they've corrected it. But the fact remains that there are people in Alabama who believe that BP was offering them $5,000 in exchange for a release (from liability)," King told Reuters.

Again, an old article. Not sure if things have changed, but I would not be surprised to find out if they had.

And here is an article from the 17th of June:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/16/AR2010061602614.html?hpid=topnews

Under the deal, BP will pay $5 billion annually over the next four years into an escrow account for damage claims from the gulf, setting aside an equivalent amount of U.S. assets as collateral until the fund reaches $20 billion. The figure is not a cap on the potential damages, and the company received no liability waiver as part of the agreement.

Immie

 

[Care4all]

Well, that identifies part of the problem....getting your news and talking points form MSNBC.....and just because its Scarborough Country makes no difference...

don't you think you should try to find out if this is true or not instead of this knee jerk reaction of bashing the media before you know the facts alpha?

He's a troll.

Like Superman and Kryptonite, trolls are destroyed by facts.

actually, i have known Alpha as a poster... for about 6 years....

 

[Care4all]

As far as I know, the BP escrow claims process does not require anyone to relinquish the right to file future claims against BP

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

I do not know if things have changed in the last week or so, but, if I am not mistaken when the fund was set up and President Obama announced it, he stated that accepting funds from the relief fund would not prevent anyone from seeking further claims in the future nor would they waive their right to sue.

I don't know for sure that things did not later change, but I have not heard that to have been the case.

Immie

well, i just pray everyone reads the fine print and is aware upfront of all the nitty gritty.

 

[Immanuel]

i heard on msnbc this morning, that it would or does include this disclaimer....just caught the end of it on scarborough country...

besides the fact, that THIS IS how all or most all of these funds work...

I do not know if things have changed in the last week or so, but, if I am not mistaken when the fund was set up and President Obama announced it, he stated that accepting funds from the relief fund would not prevent anyone from seeking further claims in the future nor would they waive their right to sue.

I don't know for sure that things did not later change, but I have not heard that to have been the case.

Immie

well, i just pray everyone reads the fine print and is aware upfront of all the nitty gritty.

Absolutely!

It is too early in the process to be signing away one's rights here.

Immie

 

[Care4all]

ok, i found an article a few days old that seems to both agree with what i heard on msnbc and disagree with it??????

see what you guys can make of it???

Claims Fund Offers Shield From Suits - WSJ.com

 

[Immanuel]

ok, i found an article a few days old that seems to both agree with what i heard on msnbc and disagree with it??????

see what you guys can make of it???

Claims Fund Offers Shield From Suits - WSJ.com

Some of the plaintiffs may now end up dropping their suits—or never file suit in the first place—and tap the fund, which would save them from paying big attorneys fees. "They're going to have to think about this," said Richard Nagareda, a law professor at Vanderbilt University. "The fund promises a much faster payout."

If claimants do start dropping suits, BP may be spared potentially astronomic punitive-damage awards before juries in Gulf states who may be hostile to it.

Even plaintiffs' attorneys who make a living pursuing mass torts such as the BP spill—and who had been expecting multimillion dollar payouts in fees—may urge clients to pursue claims through the fund rather than endure years of litigation, legal experts said.

Louisiana plaintiffs' attorney Daniel Becnel said he was advising his dozens of clients to turn to the escrow fund once it's up and running. "That'll be much quicker, and you'll get a bigger chunk of money," he said.

What I make of this is that, it is not that there are waivers being required, but rather that most people will find it more advantageous to use the escrow fund and get their settlement in that manner quickly and then, feeling justly compensated they will not pursue legal measures (that will be lengthy, aggravating and expensive) to get additional payments. They will look at it like it just is not worth the hassle. BP is banking on that fact and hoping that reasonableness will prevail rather than having to fork out God knows how much more in legal fees just to settle future claims.

Immie

 

[jillian]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

Given that the distribution of the funds have to be approved by a court after, and given the amazing job done on distribution with respect to 9/11 victims, I'd take the settlement. It could be 10 years before the cases get before a judge and by then, if BP declares bankruptcy, they're screwed.

 

[Immanuel]

After 911 our government set up a fund for the survivors of people killed in the attacks that day to draw from.

there was a stipulation that said if you agreed to this money, then you agreed to not sue for more money.

This is a NORMAL type procedure for these type of funds, you are relinquishing your right to sue for more in damages.

More than likely, the funds for the gulf coast oil spill victims, will have the same concession....so those being harmed by this, better be certain they are getting the whole shebang of their losses upfront....because they will have to agree, not to sue for more damages down the road.

Given that the distribution of the funds have to be approved by a court after, and given the amazing job done on distribution with respect to 9/11 victims, I'd take the settlement. It could be 10 years before the cases get before a judge and by then, if BP declares bankruptcy, they're screwed.

I think the article, or maybe it was one that I read, stated that the Exxon Valdez (1989) claims took twenty years to be settled and that many of the claimants had died before their claims were settled. That makes a case for going with the fund rather than taking legal measures.

Immie