GM setting criteria for victim settlement fund

DETROIT – The leader of General Motors’ ignition-switch victim settlement fund plans to determine criteria this month and start accepting claims Aug. 1.

Kenneth Feinberg, who also led the 9/11 victim fund and the BP oil spill disaster fund, plans to accept claims for a limited amount of time, his spokeswoman confirmed in an email.

GM has given Feinberg the discretion to determine eligibility criteria and the size of settlements. Analysts have said the settlements could reach into the billions.

“I will be spending the next few weeks seeking advice and input from all interested parties as to the terms and conditions of such a program,” Feinberg said in a statement. “I have already drafted some preliminary compensation ideas and plan to share them in confidence over the next few weeks with lawyers, public interest groups, GM and others interested in the compensation program.”

General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra told reporters Tuesday that the company will report an estimated total for settlements by the time it reports second-quarter earnings July 24.

One of the lingering questions is whether Feinberg will offer settlements to victims who were sitting in the back seat of vehicles involved in accidents blamed on the ignition-switch defect.

GM has linked at least 13 deaths to the defect; the exact figure is likely higher.