Chronicle of a BP Claim

Who knows when this Oil Spill nightmare will end, certainly not until BP finally caps the blowout well. As with any disaster there is as much misinformation as information, how much oil is leaking, where is the oil heading, how long will it take the Gulf to recover if ever, who is primarily responsible BP, the drill owner, Haliburton, who knows.  I think everyone is focusing on BP, probably because they have the deepest pockets.

Of course I am worried about all of these issues, but I am most worried about how it will affect me, my business and my rental home owners. There is no question we will survive this, but how painful will that survival be. Will our business run out of cash during the off season? How are my Owners, whose houses I rent on their behalf, pay their mortgages without rental income over the summer? Heck, how will we pay our mortgages and fixed operating expenses?

We are fortunate in that we were 80% booked for the summer by the time of the spill, and only had three cancellations since then. One cancellation was a wedding and they decided to change their entire venue,  a second were guests from France with in-laws in Texas, and the third was someone who was worried about getting laid off and used the Oil Spill as an excuse to get a refund on their reservation. The most negative affect has been from the worried calls we received from guests with reservations. Because we have a tremendous number of repeat renters, early on we implemented a 100% Money Back Guarantee if the beaches were closed because of the oil. We have not had a cancellation since the policy went into effect and only a few worried calls from those that were not aware of the money back policy.

We have actually had a few new reservations since the oil spill but we're still well below last year's actual and this year's budgeted goals. Typically we're sold out from Memorial Day through the middle of August - not so this year. Initially I thought I would do what I typically did when we had open dates, discount our rates, but then I thought what happens if the oil does hit our beaches and I need to give 100% money back to reserved guests. I am going to need some help!

Two weeks ago I received word that BP had opened Claims offices in our area, one in Ft Walton Beach and another in Santa Rosa Beach. Since it is obvious that sooner or later I am going to need help, this past Thursday I started the process of filing a claim. I posted the comment on Facebook and got some interesting comments, such as I was wasting my time, that BP would make it so cumbersome and require so much documentation that I would give up. That's when I got the idea to document my claims experience on my Blog, Good or Bad experience.

On Thursday May 27th I went to the Santa Rosa BP Claims office (5008 US Highway 98 West). It's a store front with temporary signs indicating it was a BP Claims office. It was the first time I saw a BP logo on anything other than a BP gas station. Seemed odd. When I walked in the front door I was met by a large open area with desks lining both sides and the rear of the room. Everyone seemed to be looking at me. Behind the rear desks in the back I could see one way glass, obviously the supervisor's office, he was probably looking at me as well. Immediately to the right as I walked in was an uniformed Sheriff's Deputy sitting at a desk. He asked me to sign in. He had me enter my name, address, name of my business and my claim number. I told him I didn't have a claim number so he had me enter Requesting Information.

I was the only "customer" in the room so it seemed like the employees were competing for my attention. John Alston shuttled me over to his desk, he may have been some sort of a Lead. He asked me how he could help and I told him I was just interested in information for now, and wanted to know what the process would be. John said the first step would be to file for a claim number, and he asked me to describe my business and what I thought my claim would be. I told him I was in the Vacation Rental business and that my wife and I owned five houses and we managed 16 other houses for other owners. He said I would need to file an individual claim, with a separate claim number for each of the houses my wife and I owned and another claim number collectively for all the houses we managed for a total of six claim numbers. He then gave me the 800 Claims Number and assisted me as I went through the process of getting claim numbers. With my Claim Numbers in hand, John walked me over to a claims processor Gaylord Smith and briefly described my claim to Gaylord.

Gaylord Smith gave me an overview of the claims process and basically said he would need documentation to verify what my 2009 rental income was and then compare that to my 2010 rental income, and I would be reimbursed for the difference if 2010 was less than 2009. I also had to provide my 2008 & 2009 tax returns, and provide county tax records that reflected the addresses of my property and showed my ownership. I provided him with all of the requested information on Tuesday June 1, so now we'll see how long it takes, see if I get the royal run around or what. I can say that I have been impressed with the BP Claims process so far, but the proof is in the pudding. Show me the money, as Jerry McGuire would say. I'll keep you posted.


Rick Scali Rick Scali is the Owner of Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals in Destin Florida. Whether you are a family looking for a squeaky clean Destin Rental Home with a Private Pool or a couple looking for a romantic getaway in a Destin Beachhouse, Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals will exceed your expectations. Easy Street Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals has the largest selection of quality pet friendly homes in Destin, Florida and throughout the Emerald Coast. Call us toll-free today at 877.432.7978 or email us at info@easystreet-rentals.com - we would love to welcome you, your family AND Fido to join us at the beach.