VW High Court case begins Monday
The High Court battle between Volkswagen Group and UK customers begins on Monday, when legal firm Harcus Sinclair will represent 20,000 motorists affected by the emissions scandal.
It’s been reported that a further 100,000 have registered an interest to join the class action, with an estimated two million customers in the UK in line for a payout – almost double the initial estimate.
The option is open to any customer who has or had a car fitted with a defeat device, going back as far as 2009.
With average payout expected to be about £3,000, VW could be facing a compensation bill of £6n.
Damon Parker, head of litigation at Harcus Sinclair, ‘We have paved the way for consumers who trusted but were let down by VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda to seek redress through our courts.
‘It is only right that UK car owners affected by the scandal have the opportunity to seek compensation. We have secured funding so that those affected can bring this claim against VW at no cost to themselves.
‘The group action aims to ensure that, if VW is found to have misled consumers about the environmental damage caused by their cars, they are penalised accordingly so as to discourage this sort of behaviour from happening again.’
Harcus Sinclair has set up a website, www.vwemissionsaction.com, for anyone interested in joining the lawsuit.
The application for the group litigation order will be heard in the High Court on January 30.
Meanwhile, VW has agreed to pay its US franchised dealers an average of $1.85m each, adding up to a total of $1.2bn.
In addition, Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt is leaving the group a year after joining to improve governance following the emissions scandal.
VW said she was leaving due to differences in the ‘understanding of responsibilities and future operating structures within the function she leads.’
