Mercedes-Benz emissions FAQs

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

The KBA (the German road vehicle authority) found that Mercedes had used software to alter diesel emissions. It ordered Mercedes to recall those vehicles that were affected.

We 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.

We now represent clients in relation to more than 40,000 vehicles and have started issuing proceedings against Mercedes.

We have secured funding from commercial providers to ensure we 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.

Only people who bought, hire-purchased or leased an affected vehicle are able to bring a claim. Not every Mercedes vehicle is affected. If you think your vehicle is affected, or if you think you may be but are not sure, please complete our online form and a member of our team will contact you.

If you bought or leased a diesel Mercedes-Benz vehicle which was manufactured between 2009 and 2018, you can apply to join the claim. Please complete our online vehicle registration checker below, to confirm if your vehicle has been affected.

This claim only relates to diesel vehicles.

You may have already received a recall letter confirming that your vehicle is affected. You can also complete our online vehicle registration checker, to confirm if your vehicle has been affected.

Complete our form as fully as possible and provide us with the requested information and documents in due course. It is important that you keep copies of relevant documents. We will need you to provide us with your vehicle registration number so that we confirm if your vehicle is affected.

The VIN is a 17-digit number starting with a 3-letter code. For example, for Mercedes-Benz cars these letters could be WDB or WDC, or for Mercedes-Benz Vans they could be WDB or WDF. You should be able to find the VIN at various locations on your car. Frequently you can find your VIN number in one of the following locations: on the driver's side door jam (sometimes on the passenger's side), under the windshield on the driver's side, near the firewall of the vehicle or on the steering column.

We will be bringing these claims on a 'No Win-No Fee' basis. This means that we’ll deduct up to 31% (inclusive of VAT) of your damages if the claim is successful, but if the claim is lost you will not have to pay anything. Our success fee, the insurance premium and the funders’ fees will never be more than 31% of your damages, irrespective of the number of claimants within the group.

For more information, please see our conditional fee agreement explainer video below:

Yes. Affected vehicles which were leased or purchased from Motability are eligible to join the claims. 

There are a number of possible legal claims a vehicle owner could pursue in relation to their Mercedes-Benz vehicle. It may be that, as a result of how you leased your vehicle, we only advise you to pursue some types of legal claim, and not others. If you have your Motability documents, please keep these somewhere safe until we request a copy.

If we find on investigation that a vehicle isn’t affected, or for some other reason isn’t eligible to join the claim, we would contact you to inform you, and then cancel our legal agreement with you. You would not need to pay us any money for the work we had done in these circumstances.

You may have other sources of funding your claim other than the funding package we are offering. For example:

• Legal expenses insurance. Many home insurance products include legal expenses insurance either automatically or as anoptional add-on. You should contact your insurers to check.
• If you are a member of a trade union, you should check whether the union will fund you.
• If you have such an alternative source of funding, then it may be cheaper for you to use it than the funding package we areoffering. We are not offering to act via such legal expenses insurance/union funding, so if you wish to use it you may need to instruct another firm.

Yes, provided we confirm your 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.

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

Provided we 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.

Unfortunately, Leigh Day are only able to act on behalf people or businesses domiciled in the UK. Our ability to act for you also depends on where you bought your vehicle – see below.

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

We have determined that the interests of people who acquired their vehicle in Scotland or Northern Ireland are better served by bringing their claims through the Scottish or Norther Irish courts. You are likely to be better off using a Scottish or Norther Irish law firm that has expertise in this area.

You can contact the Law Society of Scotland or Northern Ireland who may be able to help to find a suitable lawyer. Time limits apply to claiming but we are unable to advise you on the time limits applicable in Scotland.

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

You must let us know if the answer to this question is “yes” at the outset, or becomes “yes”, throughout the duration of your claim. This is because it could affect us being able to conduct your claim and have an impact on your award of compensation. If you are declared bankrupt, some or all of your compensation may go to your Trustee in Bankruptcy.

Leigh Day is one of the country's leading law firms, and we are not a claims management company. Bringing group actions on behalf of consumers is one of Leigh Day's key areas of specialty and we have been involved in some of the largest group actions in the UK. We have extensive experience in this regard and can also build on our experience in The VW NOx Emissions Group Litigation.