Wallpapers
U.S. says 90% of clunker claims have been approved
22Sep
The U.S. Transportation Department says it has paid or approved $2.6 billion in cash-for-clunkers transactions, or 90 percent of the $2.9 billion submitted, as accelerated payments to dealers continue.
A total of 534,598 claims for $2.3 billion were paid as of Sept. 18, said a posting today on the federal cars.gov Web site. An additional 76,775 submissions for $322.3 million have been approved but not paid yet.
A claim approval is the next-to-last step before the Treasury Department wires payment to the dealer’s bank.
The latest figures show that Transportation may have to pay 146,828 claims for $615.1 million if it is to meet Secretary Ray LaHood’s Sept. 30 deadline for payment of all properly filed submissions.
Many of these unpaid claims include those that were rejected and resubmitted. Claims that were rejected before the Aug. 25 filing deadline can be re-entered at any time.
“There’s no question that DoT is pushing the ‘pay’ button significantly more as of late,” said Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association spokesman. “They’re likely to come very close to meeting the Sept. 30 deadline.”
LaHood’s spokeswomen did not immediately respond to a request for comment today.
A total of 681,426 deals for $2.9 billion were entered between July 27 and Aug. 25.