The office of Kenneth Feinberg, who is overseeing the General Motors ignition-switch claims privately, has approved another two deaths caused by the faulty ignition switches found on Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and more. The number rises from 109 last week.
12 new injury claims have also been approved by Feinberg, bringing that running number to 220. 12 of the injury claims regard severe injuries, while 179 are for lesser injuries require hospitalization or outpatient treatment within 48 hours of an accident.
The fund’s deputy administrator, Camile Biros, said as of last week 229 compensation offers have been extended to date. 161 of those offers have been accepted, waving those parties’ rights to sue GM, and six have been rejected. The rest await a final decision.
GM has allotted $550 million for compensation, and each party has received no less than $1 million from the fund. In the meantime, the U.S. Justice Department is coming to a decision on whether to charge GM criminally for the delaying of the ignition-switch recall, according to The Detroit News.
This could mean a guilty plea from General Motors, and a suspected fine of up to $1.2 billion. The $1.2 billion sum would be in addition to the $35 million fine GM paid to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year.
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