In the first eight days of General Motors compensation program, they received 120 claims; Of these claims, more than half involved deaths allegedly linked to vehicles recalled due to a faulty ignition switch.
Overall, 65 of the claims were filed by families who say the victims were wrongfully killed in accidents involving cars that were subject to the recall back in February. Another dozen claims involved catastrophic injuries and the remaining were from people who were hospitalized.
In late June, GM announced that they created a compensation plan to pay claims related to defective ignition switches. The claims could be filed online beginning Aug. 1 and GM states they would not limit claim amounts and would include people who had previously settled a case with them.
In accordance with the compensation plan, claims for property damage would not be eligible neither would claims for emotional or psychological harm. Eligible claims would be processed and paid within three to six months, which means those filed claims in the past week will not know if and how much they will receive until Labor Day.
Previously, the company attributed at least 54 crashes and 13 deaths to the defective ignition switch. However, the number of claims filed in such a short amount of time raises questions about whether or not GM underestimated the number of deaths attributed to the defect.
The closing date to file a claim is Dec. 31, 2014; if an application is deemed eligible and the documentation is complete, the claimant will receive a payment within 90 days or 180 days, depending on how complicated the claim is.
News of these claims comes hot on the heels of more recalls by GM. On Aug. 8, the car manufacturer recalled more than 200,000 Saturn Vue crossover SUVs due to an ignition key cylinder problem. According to GM, the company is aware of two crashes and one injury linked to the problem.
To learn more about the GM recall, visit our timeline of events. If you or someone you love has been injured due to a defective GM vehicle, the West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys at Gordon & Partners can help you determine what your legal rights are.
Call our firm at 1 (855) 722-2552 or fill out the Free Case Evaluation to schedule a free legal consultation.