Volkswagen Timing Chain Settlement Postponed by Court
Why did the court change the hearing date for final approval of the Volkswagen Timing Chain Class Action Settlement?
Volkswagen’s Timing Chain Settlement final class action approval hearing has been postponed until December 12, 2018, by the federal Court overseeing the settlement. According to an Order signed on October 31, the class action claims administrator “was unable to provide notice to registered owners and lessees of class vehicles in the State of New Hampshire (‘New Hampshire class members’) because the required data was not provided by the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles until on or about October 16, 2018.” This was after the deadline of October 12 for consumers to exclude themselves from the class action (called “opting out”) or to object to the terms of the class action settlement.
What are the new deadlines for owners of vehicles registered in New Hampshire who own a Volkswagen or Audi with the defective timing chain tensioner?
The Court ordered that the deadline be extended for owners of vehicles registered in New Hampshire to exclude themselves from the class action (called “opting out”) or to object to the terms of the class action settlement. The new deadline is 30 days from the date the Class Action Claims Administrator sends out the Supplemental New Hampshire Class Action Notice. Therefore, according to the Claims Administrator, all exclusion or opt-out requests and all objections to the settlement must be postmarked by December 3, 2018. However, you may wish to file such requests well in advance of that deadline, especially if you want your objections to be thoroughly considered by the Court.
The exclusion and objection dates have already passed for owners of vehicles registered in other states.
If I own a defective vehicle registered in New Hampshire and want to exclude myself from the Volkswagen Timing Chain Class Action settlement, what should I do?
In order to exclude yourself from the settlement, you must notify the Class Action Claims Administrator by U.S. mail with a copy to the lawyers. We have a sample class action opt-out form available here. We strongly recommend sending the form by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least to the Class Action Claims Administrator, so that you have proof that you did in fact request exclusion from the settlement.
What are the benefits of the class action settlement?
We have previously posted an analysis of some of the pertinent details of the class action settlement here. If you are the owner of an affected vehicle registered in New Hampshire and are unsure whether you would be better off opting out of the class action settlement and pursuing an individual claim, you may wish to consult a lawyer.
To consult a lawyer at Webster Book LLP, please fill out the form below and we will have an attorney contact you or call us at 888-987-9991 to set up an appointment.