Kenneth Feinberg, administrator fo GM's victims compensation fund, approved another round of benefits for victims.
General Motors initially claimed that 13 people were killed as a result of the faulty ignition switches that forced the recall of nearly 2.6 million vehicles last year: that number is now at least 97 people.
Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the $600 million victims compensation fund established by GM, released the latest results of his team’s efforts to process claims filed by victims and their families.
The number of deaths has been slowly rising since the automaker established the fund and Feinberg and his team began sifting through the claims. In total, 474 claims were submitted for death benefits, and 97 were deemed eligible, 212 ineligible and 105 were “deficient,” which means it didn’t have enough documentation to be processed.
There are still 45 death benefit claims to be processed, according to the claims resolution website. Those awarded death benefits receive a minimum $1.5 million.
Separately, there have been 3,868 injury claims filed in two categories and 179 have been approved; however, there are 624 claims yet to be processed.
The problem with the switches is sometimes they slipped from the “on” to the “accessory” position causing a loss of power to the vehicles’ steering and airbags resulting in a loss of control of the vehicle that caused accidents where the airbags didn’t deploy.
After a lengthy investigation it was determined that some GM engineers knew about the problem as early as 2003. The automaker finally began recalling the cars after pressure from federal regulators and the public mounted.
However, the company is also dealing with a series of lawsuits related to the switches as well. The company recently scored a major victory in its effort to shield itself from those lawsuits linked to the switches it used in older vehicles.
(Court upholds GM’s bankruptcy shield from death claims. For more, Click Here.)
A federal judge has ruled the “new GM” is not liable for death and injury claims for crashes that occurred prior to the automaker’s emergence from bankruptcy in July 2009 – even in the event of misconduct by the “old GM.” But ruling from the federal bench in New York, Judge Robert Gerber did say owners could seek damages if they prove vehicles equipped with those switches have lost value since GM exited Chapter 11.
(Click Here for details about GM execs being deposed for ignition switch lawsuits.)
The automaker hailed the news, which, it said, “doesn’t establish any liability against GM.” It also noted that the burden will be on plaintiffs to prove any new claims for losses.
(To see more about GM engaging in a cover up of the ignition switch problem, Click Here.)
By various estimates, GM could be spared anywhere from $7 billion to $10 billion in potential legal liabilities from those whose death or injury might have been linked to one of the vehicles equipped with a faulty ignition switch.