The fund, run by Kenneth Feinberg to evaluate claims tied to the defect and offer cash settlements, said today it approved 27 payouts as of Oct. 10 for cases of death. At least 151 other fatality claims are under review.
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said in July it was setting aside $400 million to $600 million to pay victims, and would abide by whatever determinations Feinberg makes. Feinberg has declined to speculate how much GM could pay out.
There have been 1,371 claims made to the program, including 1,193 for non-fatal injuries. Twenty-five of those injury claims so far have been ruled valid.
The first claims were accepted Aug. 1, and Feinberg plans to take applications through the end of the year. The more clear-cut claims will be processed within 90 days, he said. It will take 180 days to work through more complicated cases.
An internal investigation this year showed that GM for at least a decade failed to promptly resolve mounting complaints from consumers, dealers and others about abnormal crashes in the Chevy Cobalt and Saturn Ion and later replaced the faulty ignition switch without alerting the public or changing the part number as required.
The defective switches could be inadvertently shut off when jarred, cutting power to the engine and deactivating air bags.
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