building insurance

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This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany and Switzerland . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

The building insurance is insurance for the protection of the insurance contract referred to solid buildings , outbuildings and garages . It is a property insurance . In principle, only buildings intended for residential use and not used for commercial purposes are insured. In the case of mixed use, we recommend the expressly additionally agreed inclusion of commercially or freelance rooms.

Legal basis and subject of insurance

The most important sources of law for building insurance law are §§ 88 ff of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) and the general insurance conditions agreed between the insurer and the policyholder, which are abbreviated in the residential building insurance area "VGB" and add the year of their first use: There are those VGB 62, VGB 88, VGB 88 - 1995 version, VGB 88 new version, VGB 2008, VGB 2010, VGB version January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2013. If claims from a building insurance contract are to be checked, it is necessary to use the respective basis to know laid VGB. This is not necessarily the VGB valid at the time the contract was concluded, as more current VGB could have been agreed later. In addition to the VGB, individual clauses may have been agreed that extend or shorten the insurance coverage.

In principle, only buildings and building components that are firmly connected to the ground are insured. Separate buildings such as B. Garden huts therefore require a corresponding special enclosure. Accessories (cleaning agents, heating material for the building) may also be insured. Caravans and tents are not insured because they are not firmly attached to the ground. Fitted kitchens that have been individually designed and installed for the building are part of the building. Built-in series kitchens, which can also be separated from the building without any significant loss of value, are not part of the building and are therefore generally not covered by the building insurance. The VGB 2010 (A § 5 No. 3) excludes the following items from insurance cover: photovoltaic systems, items built in by the tenant (these can be regularly insured by the tenant's household insurance) and electronically stored data and programs.

Insured risks

The insurance contract obliges the insurer to cover damage and consequential damage caused by an insured event. The following risks can be insured alone or in combination: fire , tap water , storm and hail . In addition, further to natural hazards are insured. In addition, for example, overvoltage damage to building components can be insured (e.g. heating system, bell system). Banks often require building fire insurance to secure loans for loan -financed buildings. Since the cessation of mandatory and / or monopoly rights on July 1, 1994 (implementation of the European Community guidelines of June 18, 1992), building insurers can be freely chosen for all risks throughout Germany.

The building insurance is dynamized by means of the sliding new value factor, i.e. adjusted to the value development of the building. Basically, the policyholder himself is responsible for a sufficient sum insured to avoid underinsurance . A sufficient sum insured is assumed, however, if this is derived from certain procedures, e.g. determination by building experts or the more usual determination based on the building value in Mark 1914.

In the event of a total loss for an existing new value insurance , the policyholder is initially entitled to payment of the current value of the building. The difference to the insured new value will be reimbursed as soon as the reconstruction of the destroyed building can be proven. In addition, the costs of damage prevention and damage reduction (already imposed on the insurer by § 83 VVG), clean-up and demolition costs (A § 7 No. 1 a VGB 2010) and loss of rent (A § 9 VGB 2010) are usually included .

In Baden-Württemberg, the Badische and Württembergische Gebäudeversicherung were (state) institutions under public law until the monopoly of building insurance ceased to exist on July 1, 1994. To date, the proportion of insured buildings in Baden-Württemberg is more than 90 percent, much higher than in the other German federal states.

Building insurance was also compulsory in the GDR .

Buildings insurance in Switzerland

In Switzerland , building insurance is compulsory in most cantons and administration is carried out by the cantonal building insurers . In the so-called GUSTAVO cantons , building insurance can be taken out with private insurance companies.

Only in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden (with the exception of the Oberegg district ), Geneva , Valais and Ticino is building insurance not compulsory. Political attempts to abolish the cantonal building insurance monopolies have all failed due to the at least not bad long experience.

criteria

Important for assessing the risks of a building and thus for the amount of the insurance premium are:

  • the type class
  • Type of roofing
  • The exact location: There are risk zones for tap water, storm and elementary insurance that are relevant to contributions. So there are B. the tap water zone shows how high the risk of damage from water damage is, depending on the water hardness . The exact location can also play a role in the valuation (regionally different building price indices).
  • the use
  • equipment

See also

literature

  • Horst Dietz, Sven Fischer, Christian Gierschek: Residential building insurance - Comment , Verlag Versicherungswirtschaft, 2015, ISBN 978-3-86298-342-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definition: tap water zone. In: Versicherungsmagazin online , accessed on December 27, 2016