GM compensation expert extends claims deadline

DETROIT (AP) — The deadline for victims of crashes caused by faulty General Motors ignition switches has been extended for a month as the death toll rose to 33.

Kenneth Feinberg, who is administering GM's compensation fund, announced Sunday night that the deadline has been extended until Jan. 31, 2015. In a web posting today, Feinberg said he has determined that 33 death claims are eligible for compensation by the fund. That's up from 32 last week.

GM came under fire last week because the family of a Connecticut woman who died in a 2003 crash had not been notified that her crash had been linked to a faulty switch, even though GM knew for years. The family's lawyer and a U.S. senator called on GM to extend the deadline beyond Dec. 31.

Feinberg said in a statement that the extension is being done out of an abundance of caution, even though many efforts have been made to reach owners of 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other small cars that have been recalled due to the defective switches. He said notices about the compensation fund have been sent to nearly 4.5 million current and prior owners of the cars.