Deepwater Horizon claims need documentation, officials say

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The agency in charge of distributing reimbursement claims to businesses impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico says it's changing the way it evaluates claims.

Kenneth Feinberg, who is running the $20 billion compensation fund for the BP oil spill, says one of the biggest problems is documentation. Feinberg says more than a third of the roughly 104,000 applicants need to do more to back up their claims.

In Pensacola, Fla., some local businesses felt the impact. Keith Overton, chief operating officer of the Tradewinds Resort, says BP first denied the resort's claim for more than $1 million in losses, but now has done an about-face.

“Originally we were getting cancellations so it was pretty easy to determine that early on, but as time went by people stopped calling,” Overton said. “He apologized to me twice and said ‘I was wrong, we should have listened to you sooner and we're going to make it right now.’”

Feinberg says claim problems are slowing the process of getting the money out.