According to a Bloomberg report, General Motors Co has tapped a well-experienced claims administrator to handle compensation for claims linked to the defective ignition switches of its small cars. Attorney Ken Feinberg, who has ran payment programs for September 11 terrorist attacks, the 2010 BP Plc oil spill, and the "The One Fund, Boston," will be accepting claims on the US automaker's behalf beginning August 1.
Feinberg reportedly was hired earlier by GM to provide counsel on how it could help customers of the cars affected by the ignition defect recall. However, the new appointment has broaden Feinberg's role in GM's attempt to manage the effects of the scandal. GM said Feinberg will spend the next few weeks exploring terms and conditions for a payment program for claimants.
In a statement today, Feinberg provided a preview of his progress with the compensation program, saying, "I have already drafted some preliminary compensation ideas and plan to share them in confidence over the next few weeks with lawyers, public interest groups, GM and others interested in the compensation program."
The Detroit-based automaker is expected to tackle the biggest challenge since its 2009 reorganization. GM has since recalled 2.59 million cars after confirming that there has been problems with the ignition of some of its small cars, and that there are 13 deaths linked to the defects. The recall spurred over a hundred lawsuits to probes by regulators on why the automaker had waited over a decade to announce a recall. Nonetheless, the firm, now under the new leadership in the person of GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, said that it is intending to address the claims, and that its compensation plan would be covering an estimated 1.6 million cars made between the years 2003 and 2007 and another million of 2008 to 2011 models.
