More than £10BILLION could be due to Brits affected by Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal – but you have just under 50 days to claim

MILLIONS of Brits could be entitled to a piece of £10.2billion should they lodge a claim, and win, against the Volkswagen Group following the Dieselgate scandal.

Owners of new and second-hand VW, Audi, Seat or Skoda cars fitted with a cheat device have until October 26 to register with lawyers suing the German manufacturer.

2

One such firm, , exclusively provided Sun Motors with details of the billions English and Welsh regions are yet to claim.

The £10.2billion figure has been derived by Your Lawyers on the basis of a projected £8,500 worth of compensation per affected vehicle if VW is found to be at fault.

Although it's estimated that 1.2 million VW cars were affected in the UK, the total number of potential claims is over two million.

This is because both current and former car owners can take legal action.

2

According to the law firm - which is working on the case alongside Slater & Gordon and Leigh Day - VW has committed fraud if it can be proven that the cheat devices enabled the manufacturer to sell cars that did not meet emissions test standards and if VW lied about the results.

Under the EU law, a Fraudulent Misrepresentation claimant needs to if they've lost any finances and by how much.

In this case, Your Lawyers claim the loss involves a higher fuel consumption than advertised; higher pollution than advertised; lower value of the car when it comes to being sold; and the costs and expenses of taking the vehicle to have the cheat device removed or fixed.

The carmaker can also be sued under the UK's Unfair Trading Regulations act if found guilty of the above.

However, VW argues that their cars' value has not been depreciated by Dieselgate, specifically.

It also denies any wrongdoing or liability in the EU, despite admitting to deception in US courts in January 2017 and paying around £20billion in fines, compensation and related costs.

It should be noted, though, that the US vehicles and software - as well as the technical measures and regulations - in question are different to those of the UK.

Instead, the carmaker has offered software updates or trade-ins in Britain.

Aman Johal, Director of Your Lawyers, said: “The group action against Volkswagen is now live and I urge owners and former owners of affected vehicles to sign up.

"Volkswagen must be held to account for its reprehensible actions and we need as many people to join the action as possible in order increase the pressure upon Volkswagen to do the morally right thing and compensate owners and former owners.

"As a lawyer who has put my life and soul into fighting Volkswagen ever since news of the scandal first broke, I pledge that I and my firm will fight for as long as is required to achieve justice for English and Welsh consumers.”

VW said in a statement: “Our consistent position has been that the instigation of UK legal proceedings was unfounded, and we will robustly defend any such litigation.

"There is no legal basis for customer claims in connection with the diesel matter. We do not believe that the relevant software is a prohibited defeat device.

“Our UK customers have not suffered any loss or damage as a result of the NOx issue. The vehicles are safe and roadworthy, and perform as advertised.

"The required approvals are available and have not been withdrawn. Implementation of the voluntary service campaign is ongoing.

The residual value of the vehicles has been not affected as a result of the diesel issue.

“We have implemented the technical measures in over 860,000 vehicles in the UK and in approximately 6.4 million vehicles across Europe, with the overwhelming majority of customers in question fully satisfied.”