A quick visit to the GCCF claims office will better facilitate all your claims for compensation and damages resulting from the April 20 oil spill. The GCCF or Gulf Coast Claims Facility is administered by Kenneth Feinberg and serves as the neutral fund administrator that is responsible for all decisions regarding the processing of claims by the GCCF.

Use the GCCF Claims Office

If you happen to be an individual or own a business that has been affected by the nasty oil spill then you should, by now, have already filed a claim for Emergency Advance Payments to help get your life back on track. However, if you happen to be denied for the emergency Advance Payment then you may still file a claim for Interim or final payment at the nearest GCCF claims office near your area. You may also file a claim online or through post mail or fax.

How to find a GCCF Claims Office near you

It should be noted that the Deepwater oil spill is considered to be the largest accidental oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and have affected thousands of people and livelihoods in the Gulf of New Mexico. The spill managed to wreak havoc to marine and wildlife inhabitants thereby affecting the fishing and tourism industry in the Gulf. The affected area in the Louisiana shoreline alone grew by 320 miles as of late November 2010. The damage is considered extensive enough to be written and classified in the record books.

There is a dedicated GCCF claims office all around the affected states near the Gulf such as Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and parts of Galveston, Texas. These offices were established to properly handle all the claims for damages and compensation as a result of this tragedy. The GCCF was initially bombarded with thousands of claims that managed to affect the processing of payments. It has now been resolved by the use of a technique that classifies claims according to the industry that an individual or business caters to and has managed to speed up all claims for payment.

Visit the nearest GCCF claims office near you for a complete and thorough evaluation regarding claims for compensation, damages, and environmental consequences. Remember to bring supporting documents such as proof of employment and business documents that show the profit and gross revenue statements for the current fiscal year. This will enable the claims officer to efficiently file your claim according to the industry covered for faster distribution of payments.

As a result of the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and the resulting Gulf of Mexico oil spill, British Petroleum (BP) set aside $20 billion dollars to help those affected who may have suffered losses or damages.

BP decided to award the damage and loss claims in two main phases – an “emergency claim” phase, which ended November 23^rd, and a “final claim” phase, which will end in August 2013. There will also be “interim claims” that can be made quarterly before you make your final claim to help you get through any difficulties you may be facing before or while you are filing your final claim.

How to get started on you BP final claim

To get started with your BP interim or final settlements claims, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is whether you would like to proceed with an attorney or you would rather go it alone, known as litigating “pro se”. Obviously it is always better to consult an attorney for decisions as big as this one that could affect your future well being. You may believe that you cannot afford an attorney, but in cases such as these, attorneys know what you are going through and can agree to take your case on a “contingency.” A contingency is where the attorney agrees to take your settlement without any money up front. In exchange, he or she takes a certain percentage of your final claim settlement award. This is usually in the realm of 20-45% depending on how much work is involved in settling your claims.

Do you need an Attorney for you final claim

If you elect to go pro se, you will need to contact the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) to get started with your BP interim or final claims settlements. The easiest way to contact the GCCF is through their online website, http://www.gulfcoastclaimsfacility.com/. If you need help or are either uncomfortable with accessing the site online or do not have easy access to the internet, you can also call their help line toll-free at 1-800-916-4893 (or if you need TTY assistance for the deaf, you may contact them at 1-866-682-1758). The GCCF is also available by email at info@gccf-claims.com. If you prefer to submit or discuss your BP settlement claims in person, you may visit one of the GCCF centers located along the Gulf Coast in Alabama (Bayou La Batre, Dauphin Island, Foley, Gulf Shores, Mobile, and Orange Beach), Florida (Apalachicola, Clearwater, Crawfordville, Fort Walton Beach, Gulf Breeze, Key Largo, Key West, Marathon, Naples, Panama City Beach, Pensacola, Port St. Joe, and Santa Rosa Beach), Louisiana (Cut Off, Grand Isle, Gretna/Belle Chasse, Houma, Lafitte, Morgan City, New Iberia, New Orleans East, Point a la Hache, Slidell, Saint Bernard, and Venice), Mississippi (Bay Saint Louis, Biloxi, and Pascagoula), and Texas (Galveston).

As a final note, please keep in mind that before you begin the process of contacting someone to file your BP claim settlement, you should have all your paperwork in order. This will greatly expedite the process and reduce the risk of having your claim denied by the GCCF.

To file for a successful BP oil spill claim its important to remember a few things about the BP claim process. These things will help you when you provide documentation for you BP oil spill claim and it will also help you in filing a more successful BP oil spill claim.

Easy BP Oil Spill Claim

First remember this, the closer you where to the oil spill the better your chances are for a successful oil spill claim, so if you lost your job in Pensacola Florida working as a waiter in a tourist restaurant you BP claim for lost wages are just a formality and you will be 100% successful in receiving your BP claim check. You would just have to provide a W2 form showing you being employed up to the oil spill and maybe a letter where your boss fired you because of the business being slow or did not rehire you for the summer or something like that. Having 2 years of tax returns showing your income before this summer and now would also help.

Harder BP Oil Spill Claim

But what if you where affected by the oil spill but the restaurant you was a waiter in was in Key West and there they had no oil on the beach, but because of the oil floating around in the gulf of Mexico for month people canceled their vacation trips to Key West or did not go on a planned trip down there, making life hard for your boss and he had to fire you. Well this claim should still work as a successful oil spill claim but your proximity to the oil spill is where they will question your claim. If it was me I would just show again your work before and after the oil spill, that your restaurant was affected by the oil spill and that your personally lost your wages because of the oil spill. If your oil spill claim is denied for something like this I would contact an oil spill lawyer to help you get your claim though. Any work places in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana directly effected by tourism like restaurants, boat rentals, fishing trips, hotels, resorts, spas etc should all have a legitimate oil spill claim with BP.

Hardest BP oil spill claim

Now what if you where a restaurant in Kentucky that was serving Gulf Seafood to a local clientele, you had served Gulf seafood for 10 years and your clients came to love it, now this summer with fishing being banned in many places your gulf seafood business started to suffer and money where lost. Could the owner file an oil spill claim for lost revenues and could you if you where fired from this restaurant file and oil spill claim for lost wages ?

I think the BP claim fund will look at relationship to the gulf coast when looking at a claim like this and I think if you can prove that your have a direct relationship with something coming out of the gulf and your business/work was destroyed by BP’s oil spill I think you can successfully file an BP oil spill claim