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GM gets 57 more claims for faulty ignition switch compensation

A man walks past a row of General Motors vehicles in Detroit, Michigan April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

(Reuters) - General Motors Co received another 57 claims for compensation for ignition switch defects in its cars in the past week, bringing the total to 4,237, according to the administrator of the company's compensation programme.

Through Friday, GM had received 462 claims for death, 282 for catastrophic injuries and 3,493 for less-serious injuries requiring hospitalization, according to a report from lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, hired by GM to administer the programme.

The number of claims found to be eligible for compensation so far is 131, the report said.

Feinberg has so far determined that 52 deaths, eight severe injuries and 71 other injuries are eligible for compensation.

The report said 501 claims have been deemed ineligible, while 1,143 are under review. Another 1,016 lacked sufficient paperwork or evidence and 1,446 had no documentation at all.

The deadline for filing claims was Jan. 31, but any claims postmarked by that date are eligible for review.

GM has set aside an initial $400 million (263 million pounds) to cover its costs of compensation for claims on behalf of people injured or killed because of the faulty switches.

(Story refiled to correct name in paragraphs 2 and 4 to Feinberg from Weinberg)

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)