A fund set up by General Motors to pay for deaths and injuries caused by its vehicles with faulty ignitions is accepting claims.

The five-month filing period that began Friday is part of the fallout from General Motors’ recall of 2.6 million small cars beginning in February.

That recall forced General Motors to acknowledge it knew about the defective switches for more than a decade and triggered a sweeping safety review that has resulted in a series of additional recalls.

Drivers, passengers and pedestrians killed or hurt by one of the defective GM vehicles can file a claim through Dec. 31.

GM has already absorbed a $400 million charge to cover the potential payments to be made by the fund, which has no cap. The Detroit-based company advised investors last month that it might have to set aside an additional $200 million to compensate the victims of its blunders.

About 40 claims had been filed by late Friday night, said Camille Biros, a spokesman for the fund’s administrator.

GM has traced 13 deaths to the defective switches, but some members of Congress investigating the problems peg the death toll at nearly 100 people.