In 2020, we launched the My Diesel Claim campaign to hold vehicle manufacturers accountable for their role in the Dieselgate scandal and to make sure that drivers receive suitable compensation for their losses.
One of the questions that we are most frequently asked about is why the case is so important to us and why we are so eager to get people to sign up. Our answer is simple: accountability.
We think the real question that needs to be asked is: Why is it important to hold vehicle manufacturers accountable for diesel emissions fraud?
False information on monetary savings
The high levels of emissions pollution emitted from some diesel vehicles has been associated with many health concerns and environmental harm. So, it was seen as a positive move when Chancellor Gordon Brown introduced a new system of car tax to protect the environment in 2001.
The sliding scale for car tax, which Chancellor Bown implemented, made it cheaper for cars with lower emissions of carbon dioxide to be on the roads in a bid to slow down or change the course of global warming.
As diesel tends to be cleaner than fuel, more monetary savings were promised for drivers with diesel vehicles. In reality, these cars emitted great quantities of pollutants harmful to health, such as nitrogen oxides and particulates.
Drivers were encouraged to buy these diesel vehicles, as they were believed to be more environmentally friendly. For example, some diesel vehicles were advertised as the ‘cleanest ever’, but we now know these statements were misleading.
Low emissions zones were introduced in the UK in 2008, seven years after the implementation of the sliding scale car tax.
Despite being led to believe that they were driving environmentally friendly cars and vans, diesel vehicle owners began being penalised for their vehicles’ high level of emissions production.
Not only have drivers been deceived into buying vehicles that are polluting the environment more than ever before, but now they are paying for it too.
Manufacturers still benefitting
As you may be aware, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to charges of diesel emissions fraud in 2016 in the USA and has already paid more than $25 billion in fines, penalties, and compensation to settle litigation.
However, US bonds were issued by the company at lower interest rates than would have been possible had the company disclosed how polluting its vehicles were. It appears that VW’s investors have lost out because of the manufacturer’s fraud, with the regulator estimating this might be to the tune of ‘hundreds of millions of dollars.’
Regardless of VW paying their consumer compensation for Diesel Emissions Fraud, the benefits to them as a business could outweigh the costs; do we really want the culture of lying to consumers to be a standard business operation?
We want to make sure this doesn’t happen with the UK litigation, and we are more determined than ever to ensure manufacturers are held to account and do not continue to get away with deceiving loyal customers.
Environmental and health impact
We believe that protecting the environment should always be more important than maximising profits for large corporations. We do not want companies to be able to disregard their environmental impact.
The more manufacturers are found to be liable to pay damages, the greater the incentive will be for the industry to uphold air pollution regulatory standards in accordance with the law.
Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, with between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year attributed to long-term exposure. The Dieselgate scandal is proving that car manufacturers are directly contributing to air pollution as affected diesel vehicles release excess toxic diesel emissions into the atmosphere.
Most recently, in a ground-breaking court decision, seven-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s death was concluded to be caused by air pollution. She was the first person in the UK, and possibly even the world, to have air pollution listed as her cause of death.
Join the action today
We feel passionately that the manufacturers involved in the Dieselgate scandal should be held accountable, and we need your help to do it.
If you owned a diesel vehicle between 2009 and 2020, it’s very likely you can join the action. Visit MyDieselClaim.com to check your eligibility and start your claim today.
If you have any questions, please contact us or head to mydieselclaim.com/help.
