Detroit, Michigan – Though it has rejected more than 90% of compensation claims, the special fund that General Motors set up to compensate victims who were killed or injured because of faulty ignition switches expects to pay out $595 million.
Fund officials say of the 4,343 claims submitted, only 399 had valid claims for compensation. They add that officials sent out more than 5 million notices to current and former owners of the Chevy Cobalt and other vehicles that had faulty switches.
Facility managers did not conduct rigorous scientific or technical determinations or engineering analyses as to whether an ignition-switch defect manifested itself in a particular accident or whether a particular death or injury was caused by an ignition-switch defect. They also did not consider legal defenses that might otherwise be available to GM in litigation, such as contributory negligence, statutes of limitations, or the bankruptcy shield.
Final program statistics – Claims filed:
| Death | 473 |
| Category 1 injury | 280 |
| Category 2 injury | 3,590 |
Source: GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility