VW has already paid out £26bn in fines and civil settlements
Volkswagen announced six years ago that 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, including almost 1.2 million in the UK, were implicated in Dieselgate, prompting court cases around the world.
The scandal has seen VW pay out more than £26 billion in fines, recall costs and civil settlements, and led to criminal charges by German prosecutors against current and former senior employees.
Compensation worth around £7.5bn has been paid in the US where the claims first emerged.
Regulators discovered certain vehicles were fitted with a software that would ensure their diesel engines performed differently when they sensed the car was being tested in a lab, allegedly allowing VW to claim the cars had better green credentials than was actually the case.
While the company has paid out to owners in the US and elsewhere, it has insisted there is “no legal basis” for similar payouts in Britain.
As the impasse continues, Judge Lord Ericht granted permission in April at the Court of Session in Edinburgh for Scots claims against VW to proceed.
In a ruling relating to around 90,000 owners suing VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda in England and Wales, Mr Justice Waksman in the High Court in London found last year that software had been installed to cheat emissions tests and was a “defeat device”.
This meant that the vehicles were emitting up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen dioxide. He said he was “far from alone in this conclusion”, referring to decisions reached in other jurisdictions. In August, Volkswagen lost an appeal over that ruling.