The death toll for the ignition switch defects in the vehicles of General Motors has increased, with 42 death claims found to be eligible for payment.
The new figure is already more than triple the initial estimate of General Motors on fatalities related to its faulty ignition switches, which were only 13 deaths.
The total number of eligible death claims was posted in a weekly update being sent out by Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer that General Motors tapped to head the compensation fund for the incidents.
The weekly update also reveals that Feinberg has deemed 7 claims as eligible under category one and 51 claims as eligible under category two.
Claims falling under category one include victims that suffered physical injuries connected to the defective ignition switches that have resulted in paraplegia, quadriplegia, permanent brain damage, double amputation or pervasive burns.
Claims falling under category two include victims that suffered physical injuries that required hospitalization or outpatient medical treatment within 48 hours from an accident that was caused by the defective ignition switches.
General Motors gave Feinberg the sole discretion in determining which claims are eligible or ineligible for payment for the compensation fund that General Motors established for victims of its defective ignition switches. As such, Feinberg's weekly updates serve somewhat as a public record for the fatalities and injuries that have resulted from the vehicle maker's faults.
General Motors had admitted that the issues on the defective ignition switches were already known in certain parts within the company for over a decade before the company decided to issue a recall order for 2.6 million affected vehicles earlier in the year. The move may have been too late though, as there have already been thousands of incidents related to the issue.
General Motors said that it received 64 additional claims for compensation involving the defects in the ignition switches of its cars last week, taking the total number of received claims to 2,326. Of these claims, 251 were for fatalities, 156 were for category one claims, and 1,919 were for category two claims.
Of the 251 claims filed for deaths, in addition to the aforementioned 42 claims found eligible, 46 were found ineligible and 83 claims were found deficient, or were lacking information for Feinberg to make a definite decision. A total of 34 death claims are still under review, but there are 46 death claims submitted that did not include proper documentation.
Out of all the reviewed and processed claims submitted over all claims categories, 100 have been found eligible, 306 have been found ineligible and 568 have been found to be deficient.
