Although it has been more than seven years since the scandal first exploded, so many people are still unsure on how to go about claiming compensation for Dieselgate. Luckily, claim information experts ClaimExperts.co.uk are on hand to assist you with a detailed guide to everything you need to know about making diesel emissions claims.
Background to emissions claims
Before you think about making a claim, let us firstly explain what an emissions claim is and the background behind them.
The first emission claim began in 2015 when Volkswagen were found to have installed “defeat devices” into their vehicles. The software understood when the vehicle was being tested. When it was activated during testing, it lowered the emissions output. However, away from testing and out in the real-world, emissions were up to 40 times higher.
Essentially, the claim itself focused on the fact that you, the customer in question, had been lied to. Not only were you given faulty details regarding the emissions of the vehicle you bought, but the environment had also been significantly damaged due to manufacturer lies.
The Volkswagen Group eventually settled out-of-court with 91,000 claimants, paying a total of £193million. The claimants received an average payout of just over £2,100.
How much compensation can I receive for my claim?
Although many of the diesel emission claims are still being investigated and compensation amounts have not yet been set, we can look to the recent landmark settlement from Volkswagen to familiarise ourselves with possible ballpark figures. Additionally, Mercedes have recently agreed to pay $2.2billion (£1.68billion) in compensation and fines in USA, with each individual owner receiving thousands in compensation.
Five reasons why you should you bring a diesel claim for compensation
Perhaps you are wondering whether making a diesel claim is really that important. Well, here are plenty of reasons why it could be beneficial for both you and everyone around you.
Saving the environment: Volkswagen and many other manufacturers have been accused of lying about a dangerous pollutant in Nitrogen Oxide (NOx). It is responsible for acid rain, global warming, smog and, by extension, the deterioration of the ozone layer. It is therefore imperative more vehicle manufacturers do not follow suit by prioritising profits above people’s health and the planet.
Corporate accountability: Manufacturers have often tried to deny involvement in the scandal. It is vital to send a message that no company is above the law, and dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Financial reimbursement: Clients who have been affected may have suffered damages because of it. If they have a valid claim, they may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.
Saving your health: The environment is not the only thing that needs protection. Studies from the European Federation for Transport and Environment show that traffic pollution costs a whopping €60billion (£52.5billion) each year. NOx can also cause respiratory issues like asthma and bronchitis. In fact, it is also partly responsible for premature death. Air pollution is sadly estimated to cause up to 36,000 premature deaths in the UK each year. Plus, in 2016, the WHO estimated that 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.
Impact on crops: Vegetation is ultimately harmed by high levels of NOx. It can damage foilage, decrease growth or reduce crop yields.
What manufacturers are eligible for a diesel emissions claim?
Now that you know the reasons why it is important to make a claim, the following vehicle manufacturers have vehicles which are eligible for a diesel emissions claim: BMW, Chrysler, Citroen, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Vauxhall, and Volvo.
For specific guides to help with claims, be sure to follow this link: https://www.claimexperts.co.uk/diesel-emissions-claims/
1 thought on “Experts reveal everything you need to know about diesel emissions claims”
There is NO, repeat NO evidence for Sadiq Khan’s claim that road transport causes 4,000 premature deaths a year. Similar claims are equal nonsense. Let us look at the evidence.
Prior to 1993, pretty much all cars save those with catalysts, a very small number at the time, were running on leaded fuel. Tetrethyl lead was used as a catalyst to improve combustion, thus saving money on refining costs. It also acted as an exhaust valve seat cushion. Being a catalyst, it was not consumed in the combustion process and was was vented to the air. Lead is a heavy metal that once in the body, can never be removed.
From 1993, all new cars had to have fuel injection and a catalyst. Leaded fuel destroyed the catalyst so that had to go too. At a stroke, injected engines produced a much more efficient burn and the few nasties that were produced were dealt with by the catalyst and the result was CO2 and water. Enter the Euro 1 engine.
There were not that many small diesels in the UK back then so nobody was that worried about particulates. It is worth noting that the old Routemaster buses belched out great clouds of black smoke every time they pulled away from a stop, but being London Transport, this was fine. If your diesel repeated such emissions you would be in trouble. Welcome to the double standards of government, local or national.
Over the years, emissions, particularly particulates, were significantly reduced to the point that a current Euro 6 engine emits 99% less particulate matter and 98% less NOx.
We must now look at overall emissions. How many 1993 cars are still left on the roads? Very few and those that do are probably viewed as modern classics and not used as every day hacks. Come 1997, Euro 2 came along, followed by Euro 3 in 2001. Bear in mind that if a new car was not sold by 1st January of the appropriate year, it could not be sold at all. Therefore, long before the new regulations came into being, new cars already met the trougher standards. Euro 4 appeared in 2006 and Euro 5 in 2011. Euro 4 cars are now heading for the scrap heap in large numbers as they reach the end of their economic rather than operational lives.
Are you going to spend £500 changing the cambelt on a car worth £400? Probably not. So you will probably run it until something big breaks and then throw it away. By then, at 8,000 miles a year it will have done 136,000. At 10,000 miles a year, it will have covered 170,000 miles.
Therefore, the bulk of the cars on the road are likely to be very late Euro 4 engines and Euro 5 and onwards. In another few years, those remaining Euro 4 engines will have started failing MoT tests and be gone, leaving us with Euro 5 and 6 engines. Euro 6 engines appeared in Q3 of 2015.
What is important to bear in mind is that the difference in efficiency between the two later standards is very small indeed and while every little helps, it will make very little difference to the air.
London air has never been sweeter and cleaner. Just watch a few of the old TV classics such as the Sweeney, Minder and The Professionals and any panoramic shot of London is clearly murky, even taking into account the poorer quality cameras of the day. The same applies to pre Clean Air Act films, where the air was really filthy.
Let us now examine the 4,000 premature deaths. Quite how one can establish a premature death is a puzzle and indeed out of London’s 9 or so million inhabitants, just one person has died of asthma where air quality was judged to be a contributory factor. Nota bene. Contributory factor, not cause.
Never mind. Let us assume for a moment that this figure is accurate. Back in the early 90s, London’s population was around 6 million. The most modern engines are 98% cleaner, but then not all engines on the road are totally new, so let us assume that the entire road fleet in London is 75% cleaner than in 1990. Therefore, if this nonsense number held any water at all, we would have been seeing 300,000 excess deaths, namely those over and above the usual death rate. Even a government as incompetent as this one, which also applies to the opposition, would have noticed 5% of the London population dropping down dead every year. That death rate would have been considerably worse then the lifespan in the Middle Ages.
Of course, it never happened. The clean Air Act of 1956 came about after the terrible smog of 1953 which killed 10,000 over a 10 day period. For Khan’s numbers to make any sense, this level would have been the norm throughout the year with an extra 10,000 during the smog. It never happened.
As for the nonsense about stunting lungs and children, having them wandering about breathing lead was far, far worse. We just do not know when we are well off and when to be satisfied.