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#1646338
Steve

yes you are bound by the settlement the lawyers achieve.
But if an out of court settlement is made, then there is no precedent for a solo claim.
Its a civil claim so doesn't generate and fine for the Govt.
Well the lawyers wouldn't be doing it for fun would they! They get part paid regardless though as there is a third party financing it through an LFA.

We have just signed up, today is the deadline.

I do have 14 days to terminate though. I'm tempted to write to VW UK head office and give them the option to offer a direct settlement within 7 days.

I really do dislike dealing with lawyers!
cockney steve liked this
#1646436
I joined the equivalent action here in Belgium for the following reasons:

1. The US extracted an eye watering amount from a European company, but neither the much loved supra-national European representatives nor the various nation representatives have done much more than playing an expenses paid game of “buck passing”. Seems to me there is more interest in protecting VW and it’s shareholders (revealing to look up if you don’t know who they are), than protecting buyers from deceit and protecting the wider environment.

2. There was a clear intent to deceive. I bought my VW powered diesel as a direct result of the published emissions results of the car, and the tax band it therefore fell into. I would have bought a cheaper but “dirtier” Ford otherwise.

3. The resale value of my car took a direct hit as a result.

Sure, nobody likes lining the pockets of ambulance chasers, but TBH I’d gladly join some pan-European “class action” group and pay a couple of hundred euros to go after not just VW, but the other manufacturers who had years to get their act together, and also to go after the agencies who were at worst sleeping at the wheel, and from what I can gather actually quite complicit in the whole affair.

Yes, I understand that “finessing” tests was the norm; e.g fully charging the coils in an alternator before rolling the car by hand into the test centre, all kinds of little tricks to eke out the last advantageous 10th of a whatever.

Having engine management software deliberately dedicated to detecting the test scenarios - and adapting the emissions parameters unsustainably to gain competitive advantage is..urm..to my little simple mind “fraud”.

If I sold you lot an engine management system for your Lycosaurs that had promised to reduce your fuel consumption and emissions to below that of just about any other ICE vendor - and you bought it (hook, line and sinker) - then you found out I’d blagged the whole thing, would you roll over and accept it? 

Well - that’s what European politicians and regulators are expecting of the millions who bought VW and similar; but not their US counterparts. Sure, it could mean the bankruptcy of VAG. Tough. 
European companies and govts could do with a fair bit more “tough love” hard economics IMHO.

Sooty25, Flyin'Dutch' liked this
User avatar
By Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1733413
I had applied to join the class action but withdrew when I discovered that there was a risk of VW reclaiming their costs if the action failed. Slater & Gordon are not insured to cover this and would pass the claim on to the individual claimants (that gem was buried in the small print).
#1912588
Not sure whether I should be ashamed or not for signing up for this ambulance chasing venture, but I did & have just received an email from Slater & Gordon saying the claim has now been settled and I should expect to receive a cheque for £x,xxx*** shortly - and that is after they have taken their (unspecified) share.

***EDITED TO ADD: Just read the T&Cs in the email and apparently I must not disclose the settlement amount. That said, it may, or may not be, slightly less then the figure shown in para 2 of this article ...

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/manufa ... -claimants
#1912635
193million to the 91,000 claimants is, according to Casio, £2,120. At least with building society carpetbagging the recipient actually had crystallised value, but good luck to everyone who pocketed something for themselves instead of the EU pocketing a fine for the Strasbourg wine and cheese cellar.
#1912641
We did re-register with another firm of solicitors after our S&G fiasco. Ours isn't in this first round of settlements but I guess VW will struggle to not settle ours as well now.
#1912736
Colonel Panic wrote:Not sure whether I should be ashamed or not for signing up for this ambulance chasing venture, but I did & have just received an email from Slater & Gordon saying the claim has now been settled and I should expect to receive a cheque for £x,xxx*** shortly - and that is after they have taken their (unspecified) share.

***EDITED TO ADD: Just read the T&Cs in the email and apparently I must not disclose the settlement amount. That said, it may, or may not be, slightly less then the figure shown in para 2 of this article ...

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/manufa ... -claimants


That’s interesting. We also received an email from S&G and are getting a fraction of that amount.

I wonder what dictates the figures.
#1912750
RichJordan wrote:
That’s interesting. We also received an email from S&G and are getting a fraction of that amount.

I wonder what dictates the figures.


Possibly the value and timing of the original purchase.

Fox or Phaeton?
Flyin'Dutch' liked this