Locals blast Feinberg payouts

He promised more but gave less, and three weeks into Kenneth Feinberg’s BP claims takeover, he revisited the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center on Monday to hear local frustration about the allocation of the $20 billion claims fund.

“It is true that the emergency payments in all too many cases have not yet gone out and I bear responsibility for that,” Feinberg said amidst outbursts from residents, many of whom dubbed him the newest “paid liar.”

Michael Pinzone, a business owner from Pensacola, drove over four hours to meet with Feinberg in Houma, since he has yet to receive a payment from Feinberg’s Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF).

“When Obama came to Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier, he said [he] would not allow businesses on the Gulf to go out of business, that they would be compensated for what’s happening,” Pinzone said. “It’s been three weeks, and this time of year I have 14 employees working. But at this point I’m down to five employees – counting my dad, who is 74 having to pull double shifts because we have not received any financial help.”

Pinzone brought his book full of bank payments and financial statements for his business, along with the keys to his operation and presented them to Feinberg.

“If I can’t get paid by the end of the month, I brought everything. You can run it, or your clients can run my business,” he said.

Many people who have received emergency payment checks from Feinberg are also displeased, explaining the money isn’t enough to pay the bills until they get their lump sum check, which has taken longer than expected.

“We have to take care of everybody we love,” said Moses Charles, who received an emergency payment significantly less than what he had asked for. “You can go home and do whatever you like to do whenever you like to do it, but we still have to go home and figure out how we are going to pay our bills.”

Feinberg agreed.

“The only thing that counts at the end of the day is the money going out the door,” he said. However, the claims czar does give GCCF credit for the work done so far.

“I think overall we’ve been much more generous than BP. BP in four months only processed a handful of claims and we’ve already paid over 2,000 business claims,” Feinberg said. “We can do better, but any comparison with BP, I think we come out way ahead.”

During a press conference following the meeting, Feinberg said approximately 15,000 claims have been paid, and 12,000 claims are awaiting evaluation and for checks to be cut. He also said he has received approximately 500 moratorium claims, which he has no jurisdiction over, and 1,000 claims that appear to be fraudulent. The GCCF continues to process 1,000 claims a day on a 24-hour basis.

“I think part of the problem is expectation, I had initially had hoped and had stated that we would get these claims out within 48 hours after the claim was documented,” Feinberg said Monday. “I think we’ve fallen short on that and that’s my problem, and I’ve got to deal with that.

“The problem isn’t the resources,” he added. “We’ve got the people. It isn’t like if I hire 10 more people or a thousand more people the process will go faster. These claims are complex.”

Regardless of how complex the claims are, many south Louisianans continue to struggle, and need their compensation check immediately.

Kenny Fabacher, a Grand Isle resident who is both blind and in a wheelchair, depends on his oyster business as his only source of income. He filed a claim with Feinberg and has yet to hear a response.

“Today I have no money left [from BP]. My automobile insurance is going to be cancelled this week and my cars are going to be picked up by next week. How do I get back and forth to the hospital?” he asked.

Fabacher goes to the hospital for dialysis treatments, and could die if he goes five days without it.

A claims evaluator took Fabacher’s claim information so Feinberg could personally look over his claim to help expedite his payment.

But Fabacher told Feinberg it was impossible to personally go through the amount of claims that need attention, especially claims with over 1,000 pages of documentation.

“If you have to send 2000 pages to people in your office, I can see why the checks are not getting out because there’s no way,” Fabacher said. “I can’t see how many people are in this room, but I’m the 16th guy that came to the microphone and everybody’s claim you’re going to check personally? It’s not humanly possible.”

Charles said he’s waiting on Feinberg to hit the home run he promised.

Feinberg said he intends to do so, and will continue working to get claims processed.

“If you think I’m a liar, I’m not,” he said. “In three weeks we’ve paid out $150 million, and the people who are satisfied with their claims aren’t here today to express their gratitude. But I understand the frustration. These are people that want answers and they are entitled to the answers.”

Metairie resident Rebecca Easter displays her frustration with the BP claims process. About 600 people packed the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Monday to vent their concerns and seek responses from the claims czar. JENNA FARMER