General Insurance Conditions

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Ordinance on the Application of General Insurance Conditions of November 29, 1940 (German Reich)

General Insurance Conditions (abbreviated: AVB ) are insurance the insurance policies underlying conditions that the insurer (the user) the policyholder at the contract provides.

General

The general insurance conditions are general terms and conditions . These are clauses pre-formulated by the insurer that apply to all types of insurance and do not have to be repeated in the respective insurance contract. The AVB are of considerable importance because they describe in particular the insured event that obliges the insurer to pay and why the policyholder sought insurance cover . Among other things, the damage event (e.g. in liability insurance ), the legal violation (e.g. lawyer and notary liability insurance ), the planning error (e.g. architect's liability insurance ), the placing on the market of a product (e.g. Product liability insurance ), the initial determination of the damage (e.g. environmental liability insurance ) or the notification of damage. The AVB also includes insurance tariffs , unless these are individually negotiated.

history

The first AVB appeared in northern Italy in the 15th century as insurance policies for marine insurance contracts . In Germany, the “Comparison of Assecurators in Hamburg” of December 29, 1677 represented the first general marine insurance conditions. In 1874, fire insurance for the first time formulated conditions at association level, which were revised in 1886. The AVB thus existed earlier than statutory norms, of which the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) of May 1908 took up provisions of the AVB.

Legal issues

The use of general terms and conditions is regulated in § § 305 ff. BGB . The restrictions to the AVB can be found in § 305c , § 307 , § 308 and § 309 BGB.

Inclusion

When general insurance conditions become part of the insurance contract, it depends primarily on whether the recipient is a consumer according to § 13 BGB or an entrepreneur according to § 14 BGB.

  • Towards consumers : According to Section 305 (2) of the German Civil Code (BGB), terms and conditions only become part of the contract between the contracting parties if the user expressly indicates this when concluding the contract or, if this information is only possible under disproportionate difficulties, by means of a clearly visible notice at the place of conclusion of the contract ( Section 305 para. 2 no. 1 BGB) and provides the other contracting party with the opportunity to take note of the content of the general terms and conditions in a reasonable manner, which also takes into account a physical disability recognizable for the user ( § 305 para. 2 no. 2 BGB ). The third prerequisite is that the other party agrees to the terms and conditions.
  • However, in accordance with Section 310 of the German Civil Code , this does not apply to terms and conditions between two entrepreneurs ( Section 14 BGB) . All that is required here is legal involvement, i.e. the usual requirements for the conclusion of contracts apply. Any even tacit agreement of will is sufficient for effective inclusion.
Individual legal regulations
Content control

General terms and conditions are subject to judicial content control according to §§ 307–309 BGB. When checking the content, it should be noted that the law has set an unsuitable sequence of Sections 307–309 BGB. Since a check must be carried out from the specific to the general, the 3-part content check must always begin with Section 309 of the German Civil Code. Clause prohibitions are listed here which are ineffective in any case, ie "without evaluation options". If, for example, offsetting is  excluded in the terms and conditions (§ § 387 ff. BGB), this clause is ineffective. After that, § 308 BGB must be checked. A number of clause prohibitions are listed here which are only ineffective with a certain degree of consideration, ie “with evaluation options”. When it is “inappropriate” is determined by the circumstances of the individual case. In everyday business, for example, a period in the terms and conditions for accepting an offer of longer than 14 days is usually unreasonably long.

If the catalog in § 308 BGB and § 309 BGB does not result in ineffectiveness , § 305c BGB and § 307 BGB must always be observed. As a so-called general standard , Section 307 of the German Civil Code (BGB) stipulates that provisions in general terms and conditions are ineffective if they unreasonably disadvantage the contractual partner of the user contrary to the requirements of good faith . Such a disadvantage can result from the fact that a provision is not clear and understandable (violation of the transparency principle ). In case of doubt, an unreasonable disadvantage is also to be assumed if a provision with essential basic ideas of the legal regulation, from which the deviation is made, cannot be agreed or if it restricts essential rights or obligations arising from the nature of the contract in such a way that the Achievement of the contractual purpose is at risk.

meaning

Mass business in insurance is inconceivable without the AVB . The Insurance Contract Act (VVG) is based on the existence of the AVB (e.g. in Section 164 (1) VVG). The AVB are drawn up and updated by the General Association of the German Insurance Industry eV (GDV) and the Association of Private Health Insurance eV (PK) for all association members. The autonomy of an association gives it the power to legislate, so that these associations are allowed to draft GCI for all association members. In contrast to other general terms and conditions in other branches of the economy , which mostly only contain side agreements and restrict consumer-friendly dispositive law , many insurance contracts are inconceivable without the general terms and conditions because there are no legal norms outside the general terms and conditions that define the extent of liability of the insurer.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steffen Diringer, Principles of the Interpretation of General Insurance Conditions , 2015, p. 6
  2. ↑ BT-Drs. 16/3945 of December 20, 2006, draft law for the reform of insurance contract law , p. 85
  3. ^ BGH, judgment of May 13, 1992, Az .: IV ZR 213/91 = BGH VersR 1992, 950 , 951
  4. ↑ Meinrad Dreher, Insurance as a legal product , 1991, p. 13
  5. ^ Hermann Langenbeck, Notes on the Hamburg Ship and Sea Law 1727 , 1740, p. 425
  6. ↑ Peter Koch, History of the Insurance Industry in Germany , 2012, p. 169
  7. ↑ Steffen Diringer, Principles of the Interpretation of General Insurance Conditions , 2015, p. 25
  8. ↑ Martin Stadler, Understandable design of general insurance conditions using the example of the AKB , 2009, p. 11
  9. ↑ Steffen Diringer, Principles of the Interpretation of General Insurance Conditions , 2015, p. 40