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The result of this settlement was that approximately 262,000 consumers
were offered a one-off payment between €1,350 and €6,257, depending on
the model and age of the vehicle. Consumers had until 30 April 2020 to
choose whether to accept this offer or to go for a possibly higher
compensation awaiting the Federal Supreme Court's decision expected in
May 2020. Unfortunately, no agreement could be reached with VW on those
consumers who were not residents in Germany at the time of purchase. This
affected about 20,000 individuals. VW was not willing to compromise on this
point. Due to the relatively small number and the fact that it was uncertain
which law would apply in these cases, vzbv decided to relent lest the
settlement fail on account of this issue.
The settlement result received overwhelming support from the affected
customers. In total, more than 240,000 consumers accepted the one-off
payment. This corresponds to an acceptance rate of more than 90 percent,
and Volkswagen had to pay a total of about 750 million euros in
compensations.
It was important to vzbv from the beginning of the negotiations that the
settlement be executed in a secure and transparent manner. To this end, an
auditor was commissioned who checked both the calculation basis for the
individual settlement amounts and performed random checks on the
settlement process. The auditor confirmed to vzbv that the calculations were
plausible and that consumers actually received the sum agreed upon in the
random samples checked.
A proper execution of the settlement was also ensured by the fact that VW
and vzbv agreed on the establishment of an independent ombudsman.
Former Federal Minister Brigitte Zypries, former President of the Federal
Court of Justice and former insurance ombudsman
and former Federal Data Protection Commissioner
were
appointed as ombudspersons. Consumers could turn to the ombudsperson's
office in particular when disputes arose with VW as to whether the
settlement requirements were met. The ombudsman's office ruled on over
1,250 complaints. About half of these were decided in favour of the
consumers.
The numerous registrations in the action against VW show that consumers
are eager to sue companies jointly in certain cases. With the new EU
Directive on collective redress, not only binding decisions in favour of
deceived consumers but also direct payments to consumers and other forms
of redress will be possible in the future.