The compensation fund for victims of General Motors’ defective ignition switch will be open to a broad range of people and should finish its work by the end of the second quarter of next year, the US lawyer in charge of the fund told a news agency on Monday (30 June).
Kenneth Feinberg, in an interview with Reuters ahead of the announcement about how the fund would operate, said he had no idea how many people would file claims or whether the number of deaths linked to the faulty switch would rise from the 13 GM has identified.
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Claims on the fund can be filed for five months starting 1 August, he said.
Reuters noted that GM CEO Mary Barra said previoulsy the fund was intended to compensate “every single person who suffered serious physical injury or lost a loved one” as a result of the bad switch. She has also said Feinberg, who devised compensation funds for victims of high-profile disasters including the ‘9/11’ attacks in 2001, would determine who was paid and how much, and there would be no cap on the payout.
Details of the compensation program had begun to emerge during congressional testimony by Barra on 18 June and in subsequent interviews with plaintiffs’ lawyers.
However, Feinberg declined to speculate to Reuters how many claims would be filed or how many deaths may end up being linked to the faulty switch, something GM said he would ultimately determine.
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By GlobalData“I don’t know about 13 or 50 or whatever,” he told the news agency. “I will not speculate until people file a claim.”
During the hearing, US Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado suggested there could be as many as 100 deaths linked to the faulty switch.
Feinberg also declined to estimate how big the ultimate payout could be. Safety advocates had called on GM to create a fund of more than $1bn.
Feinberg identified several factors that would not prevent someone from filing a claim, including driver negligence. Other factors that would not prevent the filing of a claim also include whether an accident occurred before GM’s 2009 bankruptcy filing and whether people had previously settled claims with the automaker.
However, if someone accepts compensation, they would waive the right to sue GM.
While Feinberg expects to wrap up the fund by the end of June, it would remain open as long as needed to process claims.
The filing period, which ends on 31 December, provides “ample time to come up with the documentation to corroborate their claim,” Feinberg said.
