BP vice president of resources Darryl Willis at a meeting of members of the Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force.

Darryl Willis, vice president of resources for BP, sought to assure Gov. Charlie Crist's Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force on Wednesday that his company is committed to improving its claims process.

That, in spite of a series of complaints from businesses waiting for money from BP -- perhaps the most anxious of which came from The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach. That business has been pursuing a claim for $42,500 for most of the month.

Since applying for a claim June 4 for May's economic losses from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the company has been hassled and shuffled through BP’s claims divisions. And now, 19 days later, Chief Financial Officer Keith Wilt is frustrated that he's still waiting for movement on the money.

Willis -- the face of BP in television commercials pledging the company will "make good" what it has done -- said he is convinced the process will get better. Help is on the way, in the form of the new, independently managed claims facility that will support the company's $20 billion national escrow account. The facility will offer a separate, streamlined process that should lead to smooth delivery of claims, he said.

Willis said attorney Kenneth Feinberg, whom President Barack Obama appointed to oversee the escrow fund, has been talking to him about the claims process, and he's been encouraged.

Nevertheless, members of the working group and business leaders told BP Willis that BP is taking too long to fill loss claims filed by large businesses.

Jeff Taggart, owner of Pensacola Beach Marina, said he has received two BP claim checks for $5,000 each, but it’s only a small portion of a claim filed for tens of thousands of dollars. “We need to put the large-loss section under somebody else,” he said.

BP has received almost 18,700 claims in Florida and paid out almost $17 million, but it has paid $123 million in claims throughout the Gulf. It initially gave priority to small businesses, capping initial claims checks at $5,000 each. It has now moved onto large-business checks, which it issues from a large-business claims office in Louisiana. But state business owners said it’s taking too long to satisfy their claims. So far, some have received only interim payments.