(Bloomberg) — General Motors Co. will spend whatever it takes to compensate victims of accidents in Cobalts, Ions and other cars with faulty ignition switches, said Ken Feinberg, the lawyer hired to make the payments.
Feinberg will take claims from Aug. 1 through Dec. 31, giving customers time to prepare their documentation, he said in a phone interview. GM will pay anyone who proves they were injured in a crash tied to the faulty switches in one of 2.59 million recalled cars, even if they were drunk or texting on their phone at the time of the accident, he said.
“This program is designed to help claimants,” he said today during a press conference in Washington to announce details of the plan. “This program is not designed to punish General Motors. If people want punitive damages, if they want to use litigation to go after General Motors, then voluntarily they should not submit a claim to me.”
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