You may be aware that Volkswagen have seemingly changed their position a few times in terms of whether they will offer compensation for victims of the emission defeat device scandal (aka “Dieselgate”).
They have suggested that they will pay victims in the USA yet they have decided to take a very different stance here in the UK by denying liability for claims and saying they will not be paying any compensation to victims; despite the fact they have admitted what’s happened!
In light of their denial of liability, will VW customers get compensation?
The simple answer is that we remain confident that victims WILL receive compensation.
We have thousands of victims formally signed up to a No Win, No Fee agreement because we are confident that we will be able to win the claims we have initiated. Our team of lawyers and our barristers (which include Queen’s Counsel) are confident that we will be able to win our action.
We don’t see how VW have any leg to stand on in terms of a viable defence.
So why have VW denied liability?
It’s actually quite a standard thing to do.
In previous group action claims we have helped people with the Defendants have typically disputed responsibility at the start. It should be within VW’s interests to keep things efficient and pay out for what they have done, but they have opted so far for the typical stance of trying to defend the cases.
So how do we fight them?
We have issued proceedings in the High Court of Justice and we will be pressing ahead with our action to fight for the rights of people who have been affected by the scandal.
As a reminder of what the Managing Director of Volkswagen Group UK, Paul Willis, said:
“To pay compensation there has to be a loss, and at this stage I see no reason for there to be a loss. Our engineers tell us there will be no difference in fuel consumption or driveability.”
The statement that there will be “no difference” is very unlikely in our view because independent reports have already addressed the impact the recall will have. From the reports we have obtained, it is our clear understanding that there is simply no way that the recall fix will not affect engine performance and fuel consumption; factors which are inextricably linked to NOx emissions.
What happens now?
For those affected by the scandal we are happy to repeat again that we remain confident we will be able to win claims.
If you have not already signed up to our No Win, No Fee action then please contact us as soon as possible if you want to claim now that we are at the court proceedings stage.
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