I noted this class action being filed based on the success rate and compensation US VW owners are enjoying; £8000 according to BBC 1 this morning. On Saturday, I hopped onto their website and read the conditions one had to legally agree to. I thought hmm, thus resisted the urge for possible compensation of £3000 (as opposed to £8000). During discussions on the Beeb this morning, the financial section, VW broke the law in the USA but not Europe. The UK class action lawsuit is going to be based on moral honour, plus the financial backs of the people who sign up to a legal binding financial agreement! The financial guru said inasmuch as no European emissions law have been broken it is very doubtful that VW would pay out to UK owners due to hurt feelings. And that VW has increased sales. Read, before signing up!
From Slater Gordon 09/01/16 by email.
Proposed Group Action
We have got good news. We are now in a position to commence legal action against Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, Skoda Auto a.s., SEAT S.A. and Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited (jointly “VW”).
We’re alleging fraudulent behaviour (deceit) in respect of fitting your vehicles with the defeat device, cheating emissions tests and hoodwinking the UK authorities into allowing non-compliant vehicles to be sold to members of the public. We’re also seeking damages from any adverse effect of the ‘fix’ and in addition punitive damages. Punitive damages are damages intended to hold VW to account rather than just compensate vehicle owners and are only available in certain circumstances.
In order to bring the claim in the most cost effective manner for you all, we’ve teamed up with another law firm, Harcus Sinclair, to sue VW and leading barristers have been instructed who are experts in their field; so we’re confident you’ll have the best possible legal team fighting your case.
Finally we’ve applied to the court to ask that they make a Group Litigation Order so that this case can be managed as a Group Action.
How to become a claimant in the Group Action
Currently you’re not clients of Slater and Gordon or part of the Group Action. In order to become a client, and thereby officially part of the Group Action, you will need to register at
www.vwemissionsaction.com. This website also contains all the documents you’ll need to read before you can become a client and contains an FAQ section which will answer any questions you have.
You can join the Group Action even if you have sold the car; had the fix carried out; not had the fix carried out; own the car jointly or purchased via VW’s (and Audi / SEAT / Skoda’s) own financing service.
No win No Fee Arrangement
We’ve been very busy agreeing the terms of the funding for this claim and are pleased to confirm that we will run the claim on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. This is in conjunction with a Third Party Litigation Funder which importantly means you will only pay the funder if we win at trial or settle by negotiation. Just as importantly you will not pay the funder anything for our fees or those of our experts and barristers if we lose. We’ve also secured an indemnity from the funder for adverse costs so that you will not need to pay VW’s fees if the Group action loses.
In order to pay for this the funder will look for a deduction of around 30% from your compensation. This is to pay for (a) litigation funders investment; (b) our costs; (c) Harcus Sinclair’s costs; (d) counsels’ costs; (e) expert’s costs; (f) court fees. This means you will keep around 70% of your compensation.
Full details of the fee agreements you will need to review and agree can be found at
www.vwemissionsaction.com.
Why should you sue VW?
Although we think the compensation per vehicle will be modest, we’re keen to highlight not only the fraud you’ve suffered, but also the damage to the environment your vehicles have unlawfully caused. We’re also determined to hold accountable a multinational corporate giant who has seen fit to lie and cheat its way to greater profitability at your expense.
What are the details of the claim?
The full legal claim which we’re proposing can be found in a document called the Generic Particulars of Claim which can be accessed at
www.vwemissionsaction.com.
Committee
In order to keep costs low, we’ve set up a committee of five claimants who we’ll communicate with and take instructions from. The committee in turn will communicate with the claimant group as a whole. When you sign up you’ll be required to agree to the Joint Terms of Business of Slater and Gordon and Harcus Sinclair and to the Authority Document which will make the committee your agents to act on your behalf during the litigation. This is so that the claim can be managed as efficiently as possible and to reduce the cost of running the litigation. Full details and an in-depth explanation can be found at
www.vwemissionsaction.com.
Next Steps
If you want to join the action and become an official part of the litigation, please sign up at
www.vwemissionsaction.com as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please do not email or call Slater and Gordon directly. Instead, we’ve set up a dedicated website with FAQs to help with your queries at
www.vwemmissionsaction.com/faqs.
Once you’ve signed up and are a client, we’ll be in touch as to the next steps.
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