VW lawsuit nonsense

[Simon]

I'm up in Yorkshire again seeing a client. Stopped at the services on the way up to get some brekkie.

In there was a poster ad for that Slater Gordon company that's doing the group action lawsuit against VW for the emissions nonsense, claiming to represent owners.

What struck me was the people they were trying to reach. It said "If you owned or leased a VW between x dates then contact us"

I think the lawsuit is vexatious enough - Here you must demonstrate your financial loses. Sure, the environment has been negatively affected by VW's actions, but has anyone here really lost any money?

And if you've leased a car you definitely haven't lost out. Your costs, by and large, are fixed.

It's just another cash grab by the same parasites who brought you 'have you been ill on holiday' and 'did you buy an endowment policy'.

People just love free money.

[Rich B]

“We aim to recover at least 50% of the vehicle cost” - um really?!!

Surely it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that the vws in question have kept roughly the same residual value as their equivalents?

[dinny_g]

"I'm suing for the "emotional distress" that the knowledge my actions have damaged the environment has caused"

Or somesuch I'm sure...

[Gavin]

Given US owners got a massive payout I can imagine a UK owner might feel a little peeved they were lied to but my Dad traded in his affected TDi Golf for...... the new TDi Golf so not sure how much damage it did to either their brand image or the residuals.

[Simon]

And look at this gem from 'claimagainstvw.com'

"Q. IF I BOUGHT MY VEHICLE ON FINANCE OR LEASE, THEN AM I STILL ELIGIBLE FOR COMPENSATION?
A. If you bought on finance or leased a qualified vehicle, then you are eligible. In fact, people who bought vehicles on finance or leased a vehicle have some of the strongest claims. It may be possible to get you back all of your finance/lease payments plus interest plus damages!"

Really? On what planet is someone who leased a derv Golf deserving of the full cost of their lease? Utter twaddle.

[dinny_g]

I'm no lawyer but surely they are only Eligible to claim for compensation ??

[scotta]

“We aim to recover at least 50% of the vehicle cost” - um really?!!

Surely it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that the vws in question have kept roughly the same residual value as their equivalents?

The value dropped a good bit on my Leon when this shit hit and i lost probably over a grand on the trade in value when i chopped it for the R.

Mine wasnt affected by the defeat device. Think it was the combination of the 150 engine and the DSG box. When i checked the chassis number on the site it said it was unaffected. However by scatter gun it did loose a bit of value.

That said proving the loss would be the difficult part and the fact that the chassis number shows as unaffected i doubt id get a bean.

[Rich B]

“We aim to recover at least 50% of the vehicle cost” - um really?!!

Surely it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that the vws in question have kept roughly the same residual value as their equivalents?

The value dropped a good bit on my Leon when this shit hit and i lost probably over a grand on the trade in value when i chopped it for the R.

Mine wasnt affected by the defeat device. Think it was the combination of the 150 engine and the DSG box. When i checked the chassis number on the site it said it was unaffected. However by scatter gun it did loose a bit of value.

That said proving the loss would be the difficult part and the fact that the chassis number shows as unaffected i doubt id get a bean.

presumably you used the same scattergun affect to negotiate on the Vw you bought in the deal!?

[scotta]

“We aim to recover at least 50% of the vehicle cost” - um really?!!

Surely it’s pretty easy to demonstrate that the vws in question have kept roughly the same residual value as their equivalents?

The value dropped a good bit on my Leon when this shit hit and i lost probably over a grand on the trade in value when i chopped it for the R.

Mine wasnt affected by the defeat device. Think it was the combination of the 150 engine and the DSG box. When i checked the chassis number on the site it said it was unaffected. However by scatter gun it did loose a bit of value.

That said proving the loss would be the difficult part and the fact that the chassis number shows as unaffected i doubt id get a bean.

presumably you used the same scattergun affect to negotiate on the Vw you bought in the deal!?

I got £3k more for it from vw that BMW were offering against an M135i.

[NotoriousREV]

What's interesting to me is how quickly VW set money aside for compensation in the US, but not the UK (not sure about the rest of the EU). I know the US is more litigious but still...

[GG.]

The US really is much more litigious on these kind of things and the quantum of compensation can be of a different order entirely (see our discussion on punitive damages in the Vernon Unsworth-Musk case!).

Class action lawsuits of this type are also a new invention in the UK (although if you're being pernickity 'group litigation' apparently existed in Medieval England from 1400-1700 but died out by the late 18C) - a law was introduced to permit it in 2015. So it may be that whichever risk management bod is setting aside amounts for compensation in the UK is simply working on the basis that there is still limited precedent for this in the UK, less chance of success and on recoveries generally being lower?

[Simon]

To go full circle, I'm astonished the claims this NWNF vultures are making. There is no punitive damages in the UK, right? So what losses can they really claim for? Certainly there's no way it would be half or all of a lease cost, for example.

[Jobbo]

Google the firm mentioned....

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/s ... 24.article

ETA: possibly not as obvious to someone not in the profession but it is not normal for a law firm to post £52m losses nor for one to be financed by a hedge fund.

[DeskJockey]

Google the firm mentioned....

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/s ... 24.article

ETA: possibly not as obvious to someone not in the profession but it is not normal for a law firm to post £52m losses nor for one to be financed by a hedge fund.

Before I left my old job we had a couple of customers switch to litigation finance. Can't decide if its a good or bad thing.

[JLv3.0]

Met someone last week who's just set up something similar here. One to watch for me.

[Simon]

Met someone last week who's just set up something similar here. One to watch for me.

Because you own a petrol Audi?

[JLv3.0]

Retard your anger, Sir - I was talking about litigation finance. Law firm fund the proceedings for a healthy chunk of any award.

[Simon]

Retard yourself!

Anger has subdued BTW. I'm just pissed at the chancing graspers that litter this isle.

[JLv3.0]

Totally agree. Parasites.

[drcarlos]

Retard yourself!

Anger has subdued BTW. I'm just pissed at the chancing graspers that litter this isle.

My dad lost about 2k off of the value of his fabia when he traded it in, purely on this. He didn’t want another vag group car after this and also the way Skoda behaved towards him during his ownership. Would you begrudge him his lost 2k?

Carl