Transport insurance

With the transport insurance is insurance cover for goods in transit (cargo insurance § 130 1 para. SGA ) and transportation ( comprehensive insurance , § 130 2 SGA.) Offered to the dangers in the transport and storage of goods in terms.

General

Depending on the type of interests of those involved in the transport , depending on the type of goods and means of transport , the general or special transport hazards and other risks, and analogous to the different liability bases and restrictions of the modes of transport , adequate insurance is required. The insurance market offers a wide range of products, which makes hardly any transport risk appear uninsurable (question of cost).

Classic transport insurance distinguishes between “protection criteria” such as the route of transport , insured interest and duration of insurance .

Transport insurer and general insurance conditions

Transport insurers are risk carriers from the risk community of transport and freight traffic . They summarize the risk of transport and convert it into calculable costs for the policyholder (transport insurance ). Transport insurance is one of the oldest types of insurance (marine insurance).

The current general insurance conditions for transport insurance are the DTV Güterversicherungsbedingungen 2000 in the version of 2011 (short: DTV Güter 2011) and for goods insurance (transport insurance in the narrower sense) and DTV-ADS.2009 for comprehensive insurance (insurance of the means of transport). For the general insurance conditions in the transport liability insurance ( § 100 VVG) in the transport sector , the DTV-VHV are predominantly used. The current version is the DTV-VHV 2003/2011. Applies in principle to the use of all general insurance conditions to the Terms and Conditions (GTC basically regulated in § § 305 et seq. BGB ) allow limited freedom for the user. You are e.g. B. ineffective ( § 307 BGB) if they disadvantage the policyholder inappropriately or are not clear and understandable.

While the insurance conditions for inland transport (land transport and inland waterway transport ) are subject to the provisions of the Insurance Contract Act (Sections 130 ff. VVG), marine insurance is excluded from this ( Section 209 VVG). The General German Maritime Insurance Conditions (ADS) were previously subject to the provisions of the Commercial Code (HGB), but were removed in the course of the reform of the Insurance Contract Act without being included in the new VVG. The reason for this special position of the ADS was the fear that a statutory superstructure would be at the expense of the German transport industry, which is characterized by a high level of internationality. However, the BGB applies on a subsidiary basis to all areas of transport law.

Liability and Coverage

Cargo insurance

Goods insurance (transport insurance in the narrower sense) generally covers damage for which a carrier is liable. The carrier is liable for damage caused by loss and damage to the transported goods from acceptance to delivery or the exceeding of the delivery period ( § 425 HGB) to the limit of the inevitable event ( § 426 HGB). He is not liable for the special reasons for exclusion regulated in § 427 HGB (e.g. insufficient packaging by the sender and damage caused by the natural nature of the goods, in particular breakage, rust, internal spoilage, drying out, normal shrinkage).

The goods insurance covers the damage in accordance with the conditions of the insurance contract. In doing so, it regularly excludes dangers from cover that have arisen from war, nuclear energy and labor unrest. Another prerequisite is that it must have been a hazard (uncertainty and unpredictability required) that caused the damage. In deviation from the provisions of the VVG, even simple negligence on the part of the policyholder (in this case the carrier) leads to the insurer being exempt from providing benefits. Claims from the insurance contract, in contrast to the provisions of the German Civil Code (BGB), according to Section 41 ADS, expire after five years.

The provisions of the VVG also have some special features for transport insurance : In contrast to the provisions of Section 19 (2) VVG, according to Section 131 (1) VVG, the insurer cannot withdraw from the insurance contract if the pre-contractual notification obligation is violated (with retroactive cancellation), but only terminate the contract and refuse performance within one month of becoming aware of the breach of the pre-contractual notification requirement. Section 132 VVG changes the general prohibition of Section 23 VVG for the policyholder not to be allowed to increase risk after submitting his declaration for the transport insurance . However, the policyholder is obliged to notify the insurer of the increase in risk immediately (Section 132 (1), sentence 2 VVG) if he does not want to risk the insurance benefit in the event of an insured event (Section 132 (2) VVG). DTV-Güter enables the insurer to increase the premium accordingly in the event of an increase in risk.

Section 133 VVG releases the insurer from its obligation to provide benefits if the policyholder uses a different means of transport than agreed or reloads the goods although direct transport has been agreed. If no specific means of transport has been agreed, the insurer is exempt from payment in accordance with Section 134 VVG if the policyholder intentionally or grossly negligently uses an unsuitable means of transport and this becomes the cause of the insured event or the scope of the obligation to provide benefits.

Transport liability insurance

A carrier is not only liable for damage caused by him (general principle of fault in German law on damages), but also, regardless of fault, for the particular operational risk that his means of transport pose. § 7a GüKG requires the carrier to take out special liability insurance for transports within Germany. Even in cases in which the carrier is not required to take out compulsory liability insurance, but he does take out such insurance, the provisions of § § 100 ff. VVG apply. According to Section 1 (1) GüKG, freight transport is understood to mean the “business-like or paid transport of goods with vehicles that, including trailers, have a gross vehicle weight higher than 3.5 t”. Section 2 GüKG regulates exceptions to this.

In the event of an insured event, vehicle liability insurance covers third-party claims for damages and has to ward off unfounded liability claims (and thus also grant the policyholder legal protection ).

Transport insurance policy

The transport insurance policy is an insurance policy ("policy") that appears as a legal term in commercial law . Compared to other insurance policies, it is special because, as the accompanying paper , it represents a born order paper of Section 363 (2) HGB if it contains the order clause . Then it is by endorsement transferable , so that the original policyholder ( seller / exporter ) them in advance to the shipping forwarder , this it the main run of the main freight forwarder and that they in the wake of the deconsolidator can transmit.

The respective authorized holder of the transport insurance policy is entitled, in the event of transport damage to the freight, to have the damage reimbursed by the insurer up to the amount of the insured sum by presenting it to the insurer . The transport insurance policy is not a traditional paper , but ownership of the cargo is transferred to the buyer / importer in accordance with sales contract law, regardless of who is the owner of the transport insurance policy.

literature

Literature on transport insurance in the catalog of the German National Library
Manfred Lange, Markus O. Robold: Property insurance for private and commercial customers - technical and management competence for the insurance industry. Product management. therein: Goods insurance according to DTV-Güter 2000. 2nd edition. Insurance industry, Karlsruhe 2014, ISBN 978-3-89952-735-3 .
Bernhard Hector: ADSp and the forwarding and transport insurance. Extended commentary, current insurance solutions, new market overview, practical tips. 2nd Edition. Deutscher Verkehrs-Verlag, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-87154-288-1 .
Eugen von Liebig : The transport insurance. 2 parts. Part 1: The marine insurance. Guttentag, Berlin 1914 (De Gruyter, ISBN 978-3112017319 ).
Kai Umbach: The cross-border business in marine and transport insurance from the end of the 19th century to the 1990s: an international branch of industry on the way to “globalized” conditions? Diss., Marburg 2008, full text

Further journal articles on individual transport areas and insurance

Karl-Heinz Thume: Insurance of Transport - Introduction , transpr 2006, 1 [magazine "Transportrecht"] ( online )

Henning C. Ehlers: Transport insurance - Goods insurance - Insurance of political dangers transpr 2006, 7 ( online )

Peter Reiff : The meaning and importance of compulsory liability insurance, transpr 2006, 15 ( online )

Henning C. Ehlers: Effects of the reform of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) on transport insurance law , transpr 2007, 5 ( online )

Klaus Heuer: The liability of the freight forwarder and the warehouse keeper as a »major risk« i. See § 187 VVG , transpr 2007, 55

Sarah Krins: Liability and Insurance in Contract Logistics: An Overview , transpr 2007, 269

Sven Oliver Schneider: The effects of the new VVG regulation on marine insurance law , transpr. 2007, 300

Joel Goetz, Sven Gerhard: An overview of the general conditions for comprehensive insurance for water sports vehicles 2008 , transpr 2009, 15

Elmar Schleif: The marine insurance in the VVG reform , transpr 2009, 18

Erwin Abele: Transport liability insurance and ongoing insurance according to § 210 VVG , transpr 2009, 60

Thomas Nintemann: The secondary interest cargo loss insurance . All risks , transpr 2009, 70

Note

In the case of older literature, the changes associated with the reform of the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG) that came into force on January 1, 2008 must be observed.

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