Venus Legal is investigating a potential group claim against BMW over an alleged ‘defeat device’ fitted on some of their cars in order to artificially reduce emissions to pass EU tests.

Monitoring shows that when the vehicles are driven on the road, they emit many times more levels of toxic Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) gases than under test conditions.

This is extremely damaging, as increased levels of NOx contribute to air pollution, which is reported to be the largest environmental risk to UK public health and is linked to as many as 64,000 early deaths a year.

Venus Legal believe that defeat devices are unlawful under UK law and they are planning on bringing legal claims for compensation on behalf of consumers who purchased those vehicles that were affected.

The claims are being investigated on behalf of people who leased or owned BMW diesel vehicles. 

If you bought or leased a diesel BMW vehicle, your vehicle may be affected and you may be able to apply to join the claim. Please click the ‘CHECK NOW’ button to see if you’re eligible.

Venus Legal are fighting for compensation on behalf of owners of BMW vehicles who we believe were deliberately misled over the environmental performance of their vehicles.

This concerns BMW’s use of alleged ‘defeat devices’ in some of their diesel cars, aimed at artificially reducing NOx emissions to levels which pass regulatory tests.

A number of tests have found that some BMW vehicles were producing NOx emissions that were higher than the permitted levels.  

Venus Legal believe that the ‘defeat devices’ used in the vehicles are unlawful under UK law and consequently, there are potentially hundreds of thousands of unlawfully polluting vehicles still on the roads in the UK.

Venus Legal believe that owners of the affected vehicles should be compensated because they were mis-sold these vehicles, which were advertised as being more environmentally friendly with lower NOx emissions.

Increased levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions are harmful to the environment and to the health of children and adults.

This case is in its early stages, but we expect it to follow the trajectory of the other emissions cases, including VW and Mercedes.

Venus Legal have secured funding from a litigation funder to ensure they have the resources available to instruct the best experts and barristers and to have a large enough legal team to ensure that our clients get the best service possible.

If you have owned or leased a diesel BMW vehicle since September 2009, it is possible that your vehicle may be affected. Please complete our online vehicle registration checker to confirm whether your vehicle may be affected.

Please click the ‘CHECK NOW’ button to see if you’re eligible.

Complete our form as fully as possible. We will need you to provide us with your vehicle registration number so that we can confirm whether your vehicle is affected.

There are a number of deadlines that may apply to each claim. These will vary depending on the type of claim you are eligible to bring.

Claims have strict time limits and you cannot make a claim once the relevant time limit has passed. Our partner law firm suggest completing our form as soon as possible.

You do not need to have any documents to start your claim with Venus Legal.

At some stage they will ask you to provide them with documents regarding the purchase of your vehicle, including, for example, the contract of sale or other proof of purchase, finance agreement and/or lease agreement. If you have these documents, please place them somewhere safe until we request them. Do not worry if you no longer have these documents, Venus Legal will be in touch with details about how to request them.

Venus Legal will be bringing these claims on a ‘No Win-No Fee’ basis. This means that they will deduct up to 40% (exclusive of VAT) of your damages if the claim is successful, but if the claim is lost you will not have to pay anything.

We provide two worked examples below to assist with understanding:

Awarded compensation: £10,000
After deductions, the minimum amount you will receive: £5200

Venus Legal success fee, the insurance premium and the funders’ fees will never be more than 40% of your damages, irrespective of the number of claimants within the group.

If you lose (that is, you get no money back from the Defendants), then you do not have to pay Venus Legal anything, as long as you abide by their funding agreement.

Venus Legal have arranged After The Event (ATE) insurance to protect you against the risk of losing and having to pay BMW’s legal cost

Yes, if the contract is in your name and the vehicle is affected, you are able to bring a claim.

Yes, if the contract is in your name and the vehicle is affected, you are able to bring a claim.

Provided you are able to confirm that your vehicle is affected, yes. You will need to check your vehicle registration number and we will ask you to provide us with your vehicle purchase documents.

Provided all the vehicles you want to claim for are affected, yes. We need you to complete a separate questionnaire for each of your vehicles.

No, it does not matter where you bought your BMW vehicle as long as it was bought in England or Wales. You are eligible to bring a claim against the manufacturer whether you bought your vehicle from a BMW showroom, from a private seller or from a third-party dealer, or if you bought the car for business purposes.

Yes, you will still be able to claim regardless of whether your vehicle was bought new or second hand.

At this early stage, it is impossible to give an accurate prediction of timescale. As with any legal claim, there are some things within Venus Legal control and some things outside their control. Much will depend on the Defendants’ response to the legal claim.

In Venus Legal experience, group claims of this type may take two to five years to progress through the Court, but it could take longer. As a client you will be provided with regular updates, particularly in relation to the timescale for next steps, which can be predicted more accurately than for the case as a whole.

The types of legal claims Venus Legal would recommend you bring will depend on your individual circumstances (such as when you bought your vehicle, whether you bought it from an authorised dealer, and whether it was paid for using finance). As such, it is impossible to say that all claims will be worth a certain amount.

For those clients who are eligible to bring a claim under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (“CPUT”) (those being people who bought their vehicle on or after 1 October 2014, via an approved dealer or using approved finance and for non-business use) are entitled to recover a discount on payments made, ranging from 25% to 100%. The compensation recoverable under other types of claim is more dependent on proving loss and a lower amount may be recoverable than under CPUT

This is the first time that these types of claims are being brought against BMW in the English courts. Venus Legal is one of the country’s leading law firms and bringing group actions on behalf of consumers is one of our key areas of speciality.

Venus Legal are joint-lead lawyers in a similar emissions litigation on behalf of Volkswagen owners and recently won the first round of the case against Volkswagen in the English High Court.

They are also acting on behalf of vehicle owners against Mercedes, Nissan, Renault, Vauxhall, Porsche, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover and other Volkswagen Group vehicles for similar allegations concerning ‘defeat devices’ that enable them to cheat emissions tests.