Compulsory Insurance Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on compulsory insurance for motor vehicle owners |
| Short title: | Compulsory Insurance Act |
| Abbreviation: | PflVG (not official) |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Road traffic law , insurance law |
| References : | 925-1 |
| Original version from: | November 7, 1939 ( RGBl. I p. 2223) |
| Entry into force on: | July 1, 1940 |
| Last revision from: | April 5, 1965 ( BGBl. I p. 213 ) |
| Entry into force of the new version on: |
October 1, 1965 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 1 VO from 31 January 2017 ( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 139, 147 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
June 11, 2016 (Art. 2 of January 31, 2017) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The German compulsory insurance law (PflVG, unofficial abbreviation), in the long title "Law on compulsory insurance for motor vehicle owners ", regulates the obligation to sign a contract on motor vehicle liability insurance for owners of motor vehicles or trailers that are used on public roads, paths and squares (should). Originally the law was promulgated as the "Law on the Introduction of Compulsory Insurance for Motor Vehicle Owners" (Law of 7 November 1939, RGBl. I p. 2223).
Regulations
The law only applies to vehicles or trailers that are regularly located in Germany ( Section 1 PflVG). For foreign motor vehicles, a law on liability insurance for foreign motor vehicles and motor vehicle trailers has been passed.
The compulsory insurance law obliges every motor vehicle owner to conclude a contract with a domestic insurance provider ( Section 5 PflVG) of their choice and obliges them to accept corresponding contract applications (double contracting obligation ). In the event of rejection, the contractual relationship comes about through the fiction of acceptance ( Section 5 (3) and (4) PflVG). This also applies if the vehicle in question does not have an operating permit. The aim of the associated restriction of private autonomy is to protect road users in the event of accidents from the lack of liquidity of those who caused the accident.
§ 2
(1) § 1 does not apply to
the Federal Republic of Germany,
2. the countries
3. the municipalities with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants,
4. the municipal associations as well as special purpose associations to which only corporations under public law belong,
5. Legal persons who receive cover from a liability compensation exempted from insurance supervision in accordance with Section 3 Paragraph 1 Number 4 of the Insurance Supervision Act,
6. Holder of
a) motor vehicles, the maximum speed of which, as determined by their design, does not exceed six kilometers per hour,
b) self-propelled machines and forklifts within the meaning of Section 3 Paragraph 2 Clause 1 No. 1 Letter a of the Vehicle Registration Ordinance, the maximum speed of which does not exceed 20 kilometers per hour, if they are not subject to the regulations on the registration process,
c) trailers that are not subject to the regulations governing the approval process.
. According to § 2 PflVG, however, numerous public-law regional authorities (federal government, states and larger municipalities as well as municipal special-purpose associations) as well as owners of trailers and motor vehicles that do not reach a certain maximum speed are exempt from the insurance obligation. Legal persons can apply for an exemption from compulsory insurance if they receive cover from liability compensation ( Section 3 (1) No. 4 of the Insurance Supervision Act ).
With the new Insurance Contract Act , which has been in force since 2008 , a number of special regulations under insurance contract law , which were previously contained in the Compulsory Insurance Act, have been incorporated into the Insurance Contract Act itself (where they also apply to other types of compulsory insurance, for example certain professionals: Sections 113 to 124 VVG) . Also regulated in § 3 and § 3a PflVG are certain privileges for those involved in the accident.
The minimum amounts insured are set out in the Annex to § 4 PflVG and can be adjusted by ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Justice in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Federal Ministry of Economics.
In order to be able to counteract the obvious risk of non-regulated financial loss and personal injury caused by uninsured vehicles, the legislator has inserted a criminal provision in Section 6 of the PflVG that makes the use of a motor vehicle or trailer without insurance protection a criminal offense within the meaning of the law on public transport. The compulsory insurance law is thus part of ancillary criminal law . Since the insurance cover is no longer available, for example, when light motorcycles are “hairdressed”, the scope is not limited (16,181 indictments in West Germany alone in 2003).
Section 7 PflVG contains an authorization regulation for the Federal Ministry of Transport to make use of a statutory ordinance on the more detailed structuring of motor vehicle liability insurance in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry of Economics. The most important regulation according to this regulation is the mandatory motor vehicle insurance regulation.
According to §§ 8 and 8a PflVG, the insurance companies have to pass on information to the injured party. According to § 9 PflVG, community statistics are kept about the regulated damage at the Federal Insurance Supervisory Office, to which the insurance companies have to deliver the data ( § 10 PflVG).
Compensation payments in the event of accidents in which the damaging party (i.e. his motor vehicle) cannot be identified, liability insurance did not exist, no longer existed, was inadequate, or not covered, or the insurance company has become insolvent, can be claimed against the compensation fund for damage from motor vehicle accidents be made ( §§ 12 to 14 PflVG). However, the fund only pays subsidiarily if there are no other alternative options available. At the same time as the compensation facility for victims of accidents with causers without liability insurance cover, a compensation facility for damage from accidents abroad will be set up against which domestic victims may assert their claims in the event of accidents abroad. The tasks and powers of the compensation office are carried out by Verkehrsopferhilfe e. V. Hamburg noticed.
In the event of the insolvency of an insurance company for motor vehicle liability insurance, a company taking over the insurance portfolio can change the contracts taken over to its own conditions in accordance with Section 15 of the PflVG simply by providing information. While victims of traffic accidents can always count on full compensation after the insolvency of an insurer, in many cases accident drivers face personal liability and unlimited recourse. Traffic victim assistance initially refers accident victims to their own insurance policies such as fully comprehensive insurance for claims for damages, continued wage payments by the employer for loss of earnings and to social insurance providers such as the responsible statutory health or accident insurance for reimbursement of treatment costs. If they provide services, they can take recourse to the person who caused the accident. If an accident victim has made claims against the person who caused the damage instead of applying for compensation from the victim assistance service, the victim can only contact traffic victim assistance once he has compensated the victim. The traffic victim assistance will only replace the accident driver what the victim cannot get from their own insurance, the employer or social security agencies. In this way, the compulsory insurance law leads to the absurd result of the settlement of accident damage caused by the customer of an insolvent insurer that the worse off the accident victim, the better off the person who caused the accident.
Beginning and end of the insurance contract
The period of notice for motor vehicle insurance is one month. The contract begins at the latest, also retroactively, with the payment of the first insurance premium. The cover letter ( cover card ) prior to vehicle registration depends on the later, timely payment.
Special right of termination
There are the following reasons that allow an extraordinary termination by the customer:
- Contribution increase (e.g. change of type or regional class; not, however, when moving)
- New vehicle owner (sale, etc.) (Note: the contract otherwise continues to exist)
- Claim submitted for settlement.
Retirement insurance
The insurance cover remains active when the vehicle is taken out of service or with seasonal license plates. If you are re-registered, the insurance will apply again in full and it is not possible to change your insurance.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Judgments of the Lübeck district and regional court on compulsory insurance, mandatory contracting and acceptance fiction in the absence of an operating license (PDF, 351 kB)
- ↑ Stiftung Warentest on the legal situation in the event of insurance bankruptcy
