General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) Faces Claims For Over 100 Deaths

593

By Mark Michaels on August 27, 2014 Company

In regards to the faulty ignition switch in many of the vehicles produced by General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), the company had set up a program to offer compensation to the victims of crashes caused by the vehicle defect. As of Tuesday, August 26, 2014, the company has received claims for 107 deaths. This information was released by Amy Weiss, a spokesperson for Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer managing the compensation fund.

According to Weiss, the 107 death claims were part of 309 claims that have been filed so far. The program opened began accepting claims on August 1^st of 2014, and will stay open until the 31^st of December of 2014.

Before a claim is accepted, it must go through the process of first being evaluated by Feinberg and his team of workers to determine if the faulty ignition switch was actually responsible for causing serious physical injury or death. Once it passes that step, Feinberg will analyze the case and determine how much compensation to give to the victim.

The number of claims of deaths submitted already exceeds far above the 13 deaths that GM had previously attributed to its faulty ignition switches. The discovery of the faulty switch prompted the recall of 2.6 million General Motors automobiles earlier this year.

The lawyer representing many of the individuals and families who have submitted claims to GM is Jere Beasley. According to him, the rate for filing claims seemed slower than what he initially expected, mostly due to the fact that lawyers are waiting to see how much compensation will be provided for certain claims before submitting new ones. Additionally, waiting gives time to find evidence to decide whether or not certain accidents are eligible for compensation before submitting claims.

The process to determine the eligibility for the claims will take between 90 and 180 days after they are submitted, said Feinberg when he announced the program in June.

Feinberg also predicted that the highest volume of claims will be submitted within the first few months of the program, as well as its last.

Robert Hilliard, another lawyer who is representing hundreds of victims who are either filing claims with the program or are suing General Motors in court, stated that he expects the number of claims filed to grow at a steady pace.

The company has already set aside a fund of $400 million to cover the compensation awarded through the program. However, the total number of payouts does not have a limitation. Under the policies of GM’s compensation program, claims that are eligible for the deaths caused by the faulty ignition switches will most likely be awarded $1 million at least. This amount could increase, depending on factors such as whether the deceased victim had dependents such as children.

The people who submit claims with GM will not waive their right to sue GM in court until and unless they accept an offer from the program.

According to GM, the determination of eligibility and amount of compensation rests completely with Feinberg. Jim Cain, a spokesperson for the company, has stated that the program and process is continuing as an auxiliary level for GM.

Feinberg has much experience in overseeing compensation programs for victims of other high profile disasters, most notably the attacks of September 11^th and the BP oil spill in 2010.