The AP (1/11, Kunzelman) reports, “Businesses and individuals who claim BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cost them money have been paid more than $1 billion through the company's class-action settlement with a team of private plaintiffs' attorneys, court-supervised claims administrator Patrick Juneau said.” The story notes that BP “estimates it will pay roughly $7.8 billion to resolve more than 100,000 claims through the settlement, which received U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier's final approval last month.” However, the settlement is not capped, and “Juneau said his staffers have handled more than 223,000 calls about the settlement and received more than 97,000 claims.”