The compensation payments by the Volkswagen Group to around 55. 000 Individual diesel plaintiffs were settled in almost half of all cases at the turn of the year. As the dpa learned from the company, in the separate proceedings outside of the large sample comparison, “a total of 25. 000 “Agreements concluded. In these cases, the payout has already ended or is currently in progress.

Not yet conclusively settled are thus about 30. 000 Complain. However, there is already good 15. 000 Comparison offers that the customers now have. Volkswagen had promised plaintiffs one-off payments with their own processes, which should be calculated individually. Those who accept the money can keep their car. The alternative is to wait for the judgment in your own proceedings, in which the judges are allowed to orientate themselves on the interpretation of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).

Then the purchase price could possibly minus a usage contribution. The customers then have to return the car. In contrast to the model declaratory action brought under the direction of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv), there is no uniform table for individual plaintiffs, due to the variety of possible constellations, from which predefined sums for each car model and age result. It’s about individual regulations. It also depends on the period of use and age.

In the sample comparison, lawyers from vzbv and Volkswagen had, after some back and forth, for the participating customers between 1350 and 6257 Euros agreed. Almost all claims considered justified – 245. 000 Cases – are now settled by comparison, it said from the group. They paid more than 696 million euros. In “a few cases” individual tests were still running.

The sample procedure concerned the EA diesel engine 189. To the newer drive EA 288, which according to Volkswagen does not have an inadmissible defeat device, there are also lawsuits. Here, courts would have decided 99 percent in favor of the manufacturer, how round 1200 judgments showed. For example 5000 lawsuits are pending, settlements are not offered.

With the “Dieselgate” engine EA 189 were independent of the model lawsuit of the vzbv several other car owners who saw themselves cheated by Volkswagen because of falsified emissions, even brought to court, often in expectation of higher compensation. After thousands of proceedings before local, regional and higher regional courts, the first such case was in May 2020 for hearing at the BGH got. The highest civil judges decided to a large extent in favor of the plaintiff, but also set guard rails for similar cases. In July, further BGH rulings followed on fundamental issues such as the time of purchase or tort interest.

The question of the statute of limitations on claims for damages was particularly controversial until recently. In mid-December, the BGH indicated on the basis of an example case: Diesel customers who first 2019 or 2020 filed a lawsuit against VW, in most cases they will probably get nothing. Because in the autumn to go to court. Whoever verifiably knew at the time that his car was also affected would have had to complain by the end 2018 at the latest.

The statute of limitations is three years. According to the case law of the BGH, there is only an exception if the legal situation at the time initially appeared so uncertain and dubious that it was unreasonable to bring a lawsuit. The Karlsruhe judges did not see such a situation with the Volkswagen diesels.

Chronology of the exhaust gas scandal (74 Pictures) mid-September 2015: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accuses the Volkswagen Group of producing diesel cars of the years of construction 2009 to 2015 with software that Trick the tests for US environmental regulations. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) came to similar findings. Both authorities send complaints to VW. (Pictured: EPA headquarters in Washington DC)

(Image: EPA

) According to company information, recently around 9000 Procedures open in which first 2019 or 2020 was sued. However, Volkswagen does not assume that all of these lawsuits will be off the table with the December ruling. Lawyer Martina van Wijngaarden said: “In many cases, the question of whether there is knowledge or grossly negligent ignorance is disputed.” 2021 there should be further negotiations.

According to Volkswagen, there were also about two dozen times on that plaintiffs for their part apparently manipulated purchase times in order to fall under the rules of the pattern comparison: One goes “consistently against people who have tried, for example, by falsifying registration certificates to steal money”. The company will report such fraudulent intentions to the responsible public prosecutor’s offices, saying that it is a matter of backdated or fictitious purchase contracts. The competition headquarters warned the comparison portal Check 15 due to misleading advertising: As a broker for motor vehicle insurance, the company gives vehicle owners the feeling that they can always successfully sue because of the diesel scandal. There are advertising statements like “up to 000. 000 Euro damages “,” without cost risk “or” very good prospects of success “. It is not about denying justified claims by injured parties, but practice shows that tens of thousands of lawsuits, some of which were written in the form of text modules, have been submitted to German courts.

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