Compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg announced Monday that General Motors will be paying victims of crashes associated with defective ignition switches anywhere from a few thousand to millions of dollars.
Mary Barra, CEO of GM, said during a hearing earlier this month that the automaker will not have any control over the monetary awards Feinberg will give away, according to KXAN.com. She added that the payments will not have any caps.
The company admitted that it knew about the issue with the switches for over a decade, but it wasn't until this year that it started to recall the vehicles.
"He will have complete independence," Barra said under questioning. "General Motors wants to reach with this compensation program everyone who lost a loved one due to this issue, or who suffered serious physical injury."
Defective ignition switches in the Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Ion and other cars have been linked to 13 deaths, but lawmakers say there could be hundreds of injury and death claims, The Vindicator reported.
Feinberg said GM has not put any limits on the total amount he can pay to those injured, or relatives of people who were killed. He did not estimate how much the plan would cost for the automaker, stating he doesn't know how many claims of injury and death he will receive.
"GM has basically said whatever it costs to pay any eligible claims under the protocol they will pay it. There is no ceiling," he said during a news conference on Monday.
There will be three categories for compensation: deaths, catastrophic injuries and less-serious injuries, USA Today reported. For death claims, the victim's age and income before the incident is considered, and Feinberg will add $1 million to the original amount for pain and suffering.
Victims of catastrophic injuries include those who have become quadriplegic, permanently brain damaged and double amputees as a result of the crashes. These victims also include those who now need continuous care, or are burned over their whole bodies. Victims claiming smaller injuries will be paid depending on how long they were hospitalized, and will have to have gotten verified treatment from a doctor or hospital within 48 hours of the accident.
Feinberg also handled the funding for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which was designed to protect airlines in financial trouble from thousands of possible lawsuits, KXAN.com reported. $7 billion was funded to the 2,977 victims of the attacks, and only 80 lawsuits were filed. 2,880 families filed death claims from the attacks, with the average award being $2.1 million.
Victims associated with the ignition switches will have to agree to not sue GM if they wish to get a payment.
The fund will start accepting claims on Aug. 1st, and the application period will end on Dec. 31st at 11:59 p.m., USA Today reported. Feinberg said the payments will most likely be finish by the middle of next year, adding that his goal is to pay valid victims within 90 days and those with complicated cases in 180 days.
