GM Won’t Extend Deadline for Ignition-Switch Claims

General Motors Co. has rejected a request from two U.S. senators to extend its program to compensate victims of its faulty ignition switches beyond the current Jan. 31 deadline.

GM says it wants to offer "just and timely" compensation by ending the already-extended program. GM set up a fund for victims that began taking applications nearly six months ago. Injured parties have the option of accepting GM's offer or suing separately, but not both.

The senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward Markley (D-Mass.) say pending investigations and court rulings leave would-be GM claimants without enough information about their legal rights to make an informed decision.

The senators point out that the U.S. Dept. of Justice has not completed its criminal investigation into whether GM broke laws in delaying by 10 years its recall of the flawed switches. And a federal bankruptcy judge in New York City is pondering whether "new" GM is shielded from liabilities incurred by "old" GM before its 2009 bankruptcy.