9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Statistics
As part of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund program, Sheila Bimbaum, the special master appointed to administer the fund, releases an annual report of fund activities and statistics. The most recent report was released in November 2013. It provided claims and processing statistics, a breakdown of VCF staffing and procedures and a description of VCF’s efforts to improve its operations.
According to the special master’s report, the VCF received 54,897 completed claimant registrations before the October 3, 2013, deadline for those who received 9/11-related diagnoses before the date the fund was reopened.
- 39,578 of these were New York City first responders
- 504 were first responders to sites in Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pa.
- 5,451 were NYC residents
- 3,523 were cleanup workers
As of November 20, 2013, the VCF had received 2,475 complete eligibility packets and issued 2,536 eligibility decisions. More than 6,000 eligibility packets had to be returned because of missing signatures or incomplete forms. The VCF had also received a total of 871 compensation forms and issued compensation decisions in 112 cases. The first successful claimants began receiving payments in February 2013.
Filing a VCF claim requires complicated paperwork and substantial supporting evidence. More than two-thirds of submitted applications have been deemed incomplete. By working with a meticulous Zadroga Act attorney, you have a better chance of avoiding the oversights and mistakes that can lead to delays or denials of VCF claims.
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