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Exhaust pipes from a Volkswagen: Average value in dispute of 26,000 euros per diesel case
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Julian Stratenschulte / dpa
Legal protection insurers have so far paid out around 1.4 billion euros for the legal disputes surrounding the diesel scandal.
That was "the most expensive damage in the history of German legal protection insurance," said Jörg Asmussen, head of the German Insurance Association (GDV).
The money was paid for legal, court or expert costs, among other things.
According to the association, the average value in dispute was just under 26,000 euros per case.
From the uncovering of the scandal in 2015 to the end of May, a total of 407,000 car owners filed lawsuits or out-of-court claims against car manufacturers via their legal expenses insurance.
"The total amount in dispute for all diesel legal protection cases processed by the legal protection insurers has now risen to 10.5 billion euros," Asmussen continued.
The GDV did not say which car manufacturers were sued, but a large part of the claims are likely to have been directed against the Volkswagen Group.
There were also lawsuits against Daimler, among others.
The insurers demand lower attorney fees for such mass cases.
The reason is that some law firms represented hundreds or even thousands of car owners in the diesel scandal, the GDV spoke of "industrial legal services".
The total cost of the affair had already exceeded the threshold of 30 billion euros at Volkswagen alone in 2019.
Sol/AFP/dpa
