The Diesel Emissions Group Litigation now has over 1.5 million claimants, and is expected to reach £3.5 billion in compensation, but could collectively reach a possible £6 billion.
Over the past few weeks, the High Court and all firms involved in the Diesel Emissions Group Litigation, including JLG, embarked on a costs budgeting exercise. This costs budgeting exercise caps the amount of legal fees both the Claimants and Defendants can recover in the event of success, and allows clients to maximise value for money of their lawyers. The Claimants’ legal costs budget has been capped at £52 million, and the Defendants’ legal costs budget has been capped at £114 million. These legal fees represent 0.9% and 1.9%, respectively, of the possible compensation of £6 billion. In fact, these percentages will only decrease as the number of clients and possible compensation increases!
For every pound of JLG’s legal fees recovered is an extra pound in JLG clients’ pockets. Across all of JLG’s clients, this is not a significant amount, but could range from £2 to £35 in extra compensation.
Claims against BMW, Mini, Hyundai, Kia, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Vauxhall or Volvo will take a backseat for a short time whilst the claims against Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and Nissan are more likely to conclude sooner as they are being dealt with by the Court first as the lead actions.
The claims are on track and continue to progress!
Currently, the Court and all parties are preparing for the first trial in October 2024, which is now only 12 weeks away! This trial will see whether the German Motor Regulator’s decisions are compatible and binding in English Courts.
In addition to trial preparation, dialogue between all parties continues. Evidence is shortly expected to start being received for the October 2025, which can then be analysed, and further progress the litigation over a year ahead of the October 2025 trial.
In Mercedes, BMW and Ford, JLG are no longer accepting new clients as Court deadlines allowing us to accept new clients have passed; this is a very significant step towards progressing these cases. JLG continues to accept clients for diesel emissions claims against Jaguar, Land Rover, Renault, Nissan, Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall, Hyundai, Kia, and Volvo, but the Court deadline allowing JLG to accept instructions for claims against these manufacturers is fast approaching.
*Figures advised within this article are subject to change