One major challenge in large-scale collective litigation or group actions is substantiating the individual claims of claimants. With the increase in the number of class/group actions in Europe has increasing requirements to demonstrate representativeness, requiring individual claims to be better substantiated. Given that these cases often involve tens or hundreds of thousands of claimants, this quickly becomes a significant challenge for the executing parties.

The workload of verifying claims increases exponentially due to the vast amount of data and documentation involved. An important reason for this is the inefficient and often manual systems used by executing parties for this purpose. The time required to facilitate these activities results in high operational costs that affect the feasibility of a case. Additionally, claimants need to gather the data and documentation and submit them to the executing parties. As the submission process runs through the same inefficient systems, it requires a lot of communication back and forth. This not only complicates the process but also increases the barrier for potential claimants to meet these requirements.

Daccs solutions are developed to facilitate and optimize these processes for all parties involved. By employing innovative methods, claimants can efficiently and user-friendly submit the necessary data and documentation. Through real-time feedback, claimants are instantly informed about the suitability of the submitted components. If they do not meet the admission criteria, claimants are automatically instructed on the next steps and pending actions. By doing this at the frontend of the process, we lower the participation barrier for eligible claimants and reduce the verification efforts for the executing parties. Read below to learn how our systems have addressed these challenges in the dieselgate case.

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Challenge

Efficiently substantiating and verifying dieselgate claims.

Solution

Implementation of the Daccs onboarding process.

Result

100% eligibility rate, increased conversion, and significant cost savings.

The dieselgate scandal is one of the largest and most well-known cases of corporate misconduct. Lawsuits have been filed worldwide against various automakers involved in manipulating emission software. Depending on the jurisdiction, different requirements are imposed for substantiating a claim. Key elements include proving vehicle ownership and the duration of ownership. The scandal came to light in 2015 and concerned vehicles manufactured between 2009 and 2019. Many affected individuals no longer possess their vehicles, as they may have been sold, returned, or destroyed. This makes it difficult to demonstrate that they actually owned one of the implicated vehicles and suffered damages as a result of the automaker's misconduct. Obtaining detailed information, proof of ownership, and duration of ownership can be a complex and time-consuming task.

Solution

The Emission Claim foundation has partnered with Daccs. In their Dutch cases, the Emission Claim Foundation is supported by the law firm Kennedy van der Laan, and the case is funded by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLC.

Daccs solutions are tailored to the specific circumstances and needs of our partners for each case. Based on these variables, the Daccs user experience (UX) team designs the solutions.

To address the scarcity of information, we created an integration with various databases that could provide the missing information directly based on the license plate. This information was presented to potential applicants as feedback for validation, allowing them to directly substantiate their claims. Once registered, claimants can use the Daccs onboard portal to view the vehicles they have added, make adjustments, changes, removals, or add additional vehicles. Based on the vehicle's purchase price, claimants were provided with an estimate of the potential compensation based on the foundation's claim. Claimants are kept informed of all developments in the case and automatically receive notifications when actions need to be taken.

Result

The implementation of frontend validation in the Daccs onboarding process has enabled claimants in the dieselgate case to easily submit well-substantiated and verified claims. Additionally, it provided the ability to distinguish between eligible and ineligible claimants early in the onboarding process. This has resulted in a 100% eligibility rate.

In addition to significantly improving the substantiation of individual claims, the application of the Daccs onboarding process has added value in many other areas. The cost per claimant in the bookbuilding campaign has decreased by 62% due to the direct value provided by the onboarding process. Additionally, our solutions eliminated the need for manual verification of registrations. Both factors have led to significant cost reductions for the initiator.

In summary, the introduction of frontend validation in the registration process has not only streamlined the process but also significantly improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the initiative. Through Daccs solutions, the Emission Claim foundation can focus on representing the interests of diesel vehicle owners in achieving compensation.

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