Diesel Car Claim FAQ

The emissions scandal has grown over the last few years with Volkswagen being the first major car manufacturer to be uncovered. It all started in the US when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered that Volkswagen had programmed their turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to produce different emissions results during laboratory emissions testing.

This resulted in reducing the emission of harmful Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) in order to meet US standards during testing, but not during normal everyday use. In May 2022, Volkswagen admitted to fitting millions of vehicles with a “cheat device” after the EPA had discovered the fraud and agreed an out of court settlement. Those VW owners who claimed have already began to receive their compensation. Naturally, this started an investigation into other manufacturers to see if they too were cheating emissions tests.

It appears that manufactures such as Mercedes, BMW and Fiat have all been accused of similarly manipulating diesel emissions with many other car manufacturers rumoured to follow. At the time, VW incurred $33 billion in regulatory fines, compensation payments and buyback schemes.

In simple terms, cheat devices can tell the difference between the vehicle being run on a dyno (which is how regulators generally do their testing) and actually being driven on a road. When it senses that the car is in a real-life situation, the device chooses performance and fuel economy over emissions. The actual method of detecting whether or not the car is being tested may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but the principal remains the same. In some cases the difference in emissions in real-life usage has been reported as high as 40 times the level reported during testing.

Excessive NOx emissions can cause breathing problems, headaches, eye irritation, loss of appetite and corroded teeth. Long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause chronic lung disease. Companies bend the truth in an effort to make more profit. Their focus was squarely on making money, be damned the impact on the environment. Moreover, if they are not challenged, they will inevitably become bolder over time with their deceptions. Companies have to realise that there are consequences to deceiving people. And let’s not forget, it’s just simply wrong. These companies make enough money (Mercedes-Benz Group made profits in excess of 29 billion Euros in 2021). They don’t have to lie about things like this.

The short answer is no, not for this particular type of compensation. This is part of what is called a Class Action Lawsuit or Group Litigation. That means that all the claimants are eventually pooled together to form one legal action rather than millions of consumers issuing their own individual proceedings. In order to claim compensation for Diesel if your car was one of those affected, you need to join the group.

Yes, you claim compensation for your diesel Mercedes, provided you have a qualifying model. When you go through the claims process, we will check the specific model, year and engine of your vehicle to see if it qualifies.

Mercedes is facing multiple lawsuits as a result of the diesel emissions scandal. It faces claims from investors for the losses they suffered from the drop in the company’s share price as a result of the news about impending diesel claims, from consumers in Germany arguing that their rights as individuals to be protected from the consequences of climate change were being infringed upon by Mercedes-Benz's impact on the planet and finally, of course, the multiple cases against Mercedes for diesel emissions. Mercedes have already agreed to pay £1.7 billion to settle diesel emissions claims in the US which is a positive step in the right direction for UK consumers looking for compensation for their diesel emission claims.

Mercedes is a high profile, luxury make of car and as such the financial effect upon Mercedes is likely higher than it was for VW and higher than it’s likely to be for manufacturers such as Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot and others. It is estimated that claims for Mercedes vehicles could be worth as much as £10,000 per vehicle.

To start your claim just enter your registration in the claim form. It’s very simple and straight forward and takes only a couple of minutes. Using our online form, we can tell you very quickly whether or not you are eligible for an emissions compensation claim. To complete your application you will need to upload proof of ID, but you can either upload it when you complete the form or do it later on.

So far, the only manufacturer to have actually paid compensation for Diesel Emissions is VW. We anticipate the other manufacturers caught in similar ‘cheat device’ scandals will also pay out in the future and we are collecting those potential claims now. We have no way of knowing exactly how long your claim will take to settle because each manufacturer will fight their individual corners in trying to defend their actions differently, just as VW did . The consumers who made claims against VW waited approximately 4 years to receive their payments. Any company or website making claims about exactly when you can expect compensation to be paid for your Mercedes diesel claim or for a diesel claim on other car manufacturer is not being truthful. Just like VW, these are Class Action Lawsuits and they take time. Expect to wait a couple/few years. You can expect updates during that time, but please be patient. There are not many worthwhile updates to provide once you’ve joined the claim and your paperwork has been completed. It is a bit of a waiting game on your part.

Make and models

Model	Model	Model
A Class	G Class	ML
B Class	GL	R Class
C Class	GLA	S Class
CLA	GLC	Sprinter
CLK	GLE	V Class
CLS	GLK	Viano
E Class	GLS	Vito

At this point, it’s simply too early for us to give you a real estimate of the compensation you are likely to receive. The industry as a whole estimates claims to be worth up to £10,000, but there are a number of factors that can affect the value of your claim including What year the car was manufactured, the model of your car, how long you owned the vehicle and if you have sold it, how much you received

Yes. You don’t have to still own the car to make a claim provided the car was made between 2008-2019 and is an eligible model.

Yes. It doesn’t matter whether you purchased the car new or second hand you’re still entitled to make a claim for the period that you owned it.

Yes. You can make a claim for each vehicle affected by the diesel emissions scandal. Simply enter the registration on our claim form and we’ll check if you’re eligible.

Yes, you can claim for a leased vehicle provided it was leased by you in your name. If your vehicle was leased by your company then it would be the company that can make the claim. If you took advantage of your company car allowance scheme to purchase or lease your own car then that car would be in your name and so it is you who can make the claim.

If the vehicle was provided to you by your company, then it is likely that the vehicle is in the company’s name and therefore it would be the company that would be eligible to make a diesel claim. However, if you took advantage of your company car allowance scheme to purchase or lease your own vehicle then that vehicle would be in your name and in which case it would be you who would be eligible to make the diesel claim.

No. Only diesel Mercedes cars are affected.