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Victims Of BP Oil Spill Decide Whether To Sue Or Take Lump Sum Payments

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BP oil spill fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg in Washington. (AP)
BP oil spill fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg in Washington. (AP)

The deadline for emergency short-term claims from the Gulf Coast oil disaster has come and gone and claims czar Kenneth Feinberg's Gulf Coast Claims Facility has paid out close to $2 billion from a $20 billion fund.  Now residents and businesses along the Gulf Coast will have to decide whether to accept lump sum payments to cover their damages, in exchange for giving up their right to sue BP and other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Feinberg says if residents aren't sure what they want to do, they can choose to take quarterly payments for damages without giving up the right to sue.  USA Today's Rick Jervis joins us to explain.

This segment aired on November 24, 2010.

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