General Motors Ignition Switch Death Toll Increases to 90

Apr 28, 2015 08:40 AM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Three more death claims have been ruled eligible for compensation by General Motors' ignition switch fund, raising the total to 90 people.

The GM Ignition Switch Compensation Fund now has 997 remaining claims to look over out of 4,342 submitted since the Detroit automaker hired attorney Kenneth Feinberg to compensate victims last August.

Feinberg updated the total number of eligible death and injury cases on Monday in the GM Ignition Compensation Claims Resolution Facility's latest report.

The amount of eligible "Category One" injury claims remained at 11 this week while the number of "Category Two" claims jumped from 146 to 152. "Category One" claims cover those who suffered a life-changing injury as a result of the faulty switches, whereas "Category Two" claims are for injuries requiring hospitalization within 48 hours after an accident.

Earlier this year, GM said that it was aiming to finish compensating victims around September.

Since last week, 113 offers were accepted by victims or the families of victims affected by faulty switches. Five rejections have been received as well, according to the latest GM fund update.

Those who choose to take payouts offered by GM waive their right to sue the automaker.

The deadline to file a claim was extended from December to January 31. Feinberg's office said that more than half were deemed ineligible or "deficient."

Last year, General Motors recalled 30 million cars, 2.6 million of which contained faulty ignition switches.

GM knew about the ignition switch issue found mainly in Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other small cars for more than a decade but only recalled them last year.

Since then the company has updated its safety procedures and created a compensation fund to help victims of the switches.

GM is willing to pay up to $1 million for each death claim and has not set an official cap on the amount Feinberg can spend to provide compensation. 

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