BP: Many settlement opt-out requests weren't valid

BP: Only half of requests to be excluded from spill settlement were valid

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Published On: Nov 26 2012 02:52:47 PM EST

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — BP and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys say only about half of the businesses and individuals who asked to be excluded from a proposed settlement over the company's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico submitted valid requests.

A court filing Monday says a maximum of 13,123 potential claimants submitted valid opt-out requests by a Nov. 1 deadline. A total of 25,866 asked to be excluded, but the architects of the deal said many failed to comply with the court's requirements for submitting requests.

More than 9,000 were deemed to be invalid because an attorney, not the actual claimant, signed the request.

BP estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve more than 100,000 claims by businesses and individuals who say the spill cost them money.

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