DETROIT, MI – The number of approved death compensation claims related to a recall of a faulty General Motors ignition switch has risen to 97, compared to a total of 90 one week earlier.
The claims were approved by a fund set up by GM to compensate victims of a defective part in mid-to-late-2000s model cars that has led to a massive recall and a federal investigation.
The number of approved claims stood at just 19 in mid-September and had grown steadily to 36 at the beginning of December and then to 42 in January. They hit 57 in February, reached 77 last month, and stood at 90 at the end of last week.
The victim compensation fund is being overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, a Washington, D.C. attorney who oversaw similar compensation facilities for disasters such as the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The GM ignition switch claims facility released its latest report Friday.
The deadline to file claims was Jan. 31. New claims cannot be submitted, but the facility is still accepting the electronic filing of supporting documents for existing claims. MORE