Ford
Ford Motor Company South Africa has paid over R2.5 million in compensation to 53 consumers whose Kuga vehicles caught fire and were damaged.
This was part of a settlement agreement entered into between the National Consumer Commission and the company and made an order by the National Consumer Tribunal in March this year.
The NCC said Ford had agreed to pay each consumer R50 000.00 as compensation if their vehicle was distributed between 2014 and 2017 and that it was one of the 56 Kuga’s that caught fire which originated in the engine compartment and damaged the vehicle.
A second option was for the consumers to prove damages in court at their own expense.
The NCC said a total of 76 affected consumers were engaged during the mediation period and 53 claims were subsequently resolved with 47 people taking the first option and three others electing option two.
Three more consumers’ claims were rejected as “they could not prove that their loss fell within the parameters of the settlement agreement.
Acting Commissioner at the NCC, Thezi Mabuza, expressed her appreciation to the affected consumers for their cooperation and their patience during this process.
Earlier this year an inquest into the death of Kuga owner Reshall Jimmy in the Wilderness in 2015 found that, based on the evidence before him, the cause of the fire that engulfed his vehicle was an electrical fault in the area between the dashboard and windscreen.
Judge Henney said there was no evidence that this was caused by a fault inherent in the manufacturing or functioning of this vehicle.
