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How do I GET COMPENSATION FOR MY CAR THAT BURNT TO THE GROUND AFTER IT WAS SHUT OFF AND SITTING IN MY DRIVE ?My car burnt Feb. 08 I had it about 1 year. I am still paying for it . I only had liability insurance on it -thats all I could afford. In march of 08 I receivrd a recall from GM that this type car could burst into flames. When I called them they said since the car was junked they could do nothing about it. Then I found out there are a lot of other people in the same boat. I am out a car, extensive cd collection that took me years to accumilate, a car seat,garage door opener, and several other things that were in my car-- all gone. My son traded a custom truck he had built to get me a car that day. He took a loss on the truck-. Attorney answers (2)
Reputation Level 9
Answered about 3 years ago.
Car / Auto Accident Lawyer in San Diego, CA.
You may be able to get compensation from GM for your loss in one of three ways. First, you may be able to use Illinois' Lemon Law to get the car replaced, bought back, or obtain other damages resulting from the fire. Check with your local Lemon Law attorney to see if your case would meet the standard established in the statute.
Your second option, if your case does not fall under Illinois' Lemon Law statute, is to see if any lawfirm is working on a class-action lawsuit against GM for the defect that caused your car to catch fire. Try a Google search and maybe a class action is underway that you can join. Third, you may be able to bring a small claims court action against GM. It won't be cost effective for you to hire a lawyer if the first two options do not pan out. However, you can file a small claims court action where you can act as your own attorney. Provided that you have good evidence that the recall defect caused the fire, the judge may order GM to pay you for your loss. The downside is that you are limited in your damages. In California, the damages cap used to be $5,000. It is now $7,500.
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Generally GM would be liable but their bankruptcy filing may have thrown a wrench in the mix. You need to talk to a local Consumer Law attorney who deals with this kind of case. Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to an attorney near you, or you can go to this web site page (http://ohiolemonlaw.com/locate-a-local-attorney...) for a nation-wide listing of consumer lawyers and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). Also, for every legal right you have, you only have a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or you automatically lose (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to an attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please check the box below.
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