GM Faulty-Switch Compensation Claims Rise

General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) has received 64 claims for compensation for ignition switch defects in its cars in the past week, bringing the total to 2,326, according to the official administering the compensation program.

As of Monday, GM had received a total of 251 claims for deaths, 156 for catastrophic injuries and 1,919 for less-serious injuries requiring hospitalization.

The company's compensation program has so far determined that 42 deaths, seven severe injuries and 51 other injuries were eligible for payment, the report from lawyer Kenneth Feinberg said. (http://bit.ly/1pQoKW7)

GM hired Feinberg, who ran high-profile victim compensation funds for the Sept. 11 attacks and Deepwater Horizon oil spill, to handle an out-of-court compensation program to pay claims on behalf of people injured or killed because of the faulty switch.

The report said 306 claims had been deemed ineligible, while 445 were under review. Another 568 lacked sufficient paperwork or evidence and 907 had no documentation at all, it said.

The company has set aside an initial $400 million to cover its the costs of compensation.