Traffic law
LEGAL AREA
TRAFFIC LAW
Car accidents are the classic case in traffic law. Especially when it happens through no fault of your own, personal injury or high property damage is not uncommon. Here it makes sense to instruct the best lawyer, as the opposing insurance company does not necessarily have to act in your interests as the injured party.
What claims do I have after a car accident?
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Compensation for repair costs
As the injured party, you can demand compensation for the repair costs from the party responsible for the accident. However, you are not obliged to actually repair the damage. However, the fictitious costs of the damage may be lower than the actual repair costs.
Replacement value
If your vehicle has been severely damaged or a repair is pointless or impossible, you can demand the replacement value of your vehicle instead of compensation for the repair costs. The residual value of your accident vehicle must be taken into account.
Reduction in value
Your vehicle usually suffers a reduction in value as a result of the accident. You can claim this financial loss (so-called mercantile depreciation) from the party responsible for the accident.
Expert costs
It is usually not possible for laypersons to determine the amount of the damage. The costs of the surveyor must therefore be reimbursed by the party responsible, unless the car accident only resulted in minor damage. Have it clarified in advance whether the expert's costs are reimbursable.
Rental car costs
If you are dependent on your car, you can claim rental car costs for the duration of the repair or replacement. In this case, your rental car may be equivalent to your accident vehicle.
Loss of use
Alternatively, you can claim the value of the loss of use.
Medical treatment costs
If you have suffered an injury, the party responsible for the accident must reimburse the costs of medical treatment.
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Insurance company cuts positions
The opposing insurance companies are sometimes very creative in reducing the items estimated in the expert opinion. The majority of these reductions are not legally tenable.
"Value added tax" on depreciation
A large insurer is particularly happy to reduce the "VAT" on the reduction in value determined by an expert. It does this in particular if the injured claimant is entitled to deduct input tax. With a reference to the fact that the claimant can claim VAT and that no damage has been incurred in this respect, a flat rate of 19% is deducted from each item - including the reduction in value.
This is inadmissible! According to § 1 para. 1 UStG, deliveries and other services are subject to VAT, but the reduction in value is the result of an exchange of forces and not an exchange of services and is therefore VAT-neutral.
Contradictory ControlExpert "expert opinion"
According to its parent company Allianz Group, ControlExpert GmbH is an "international market leader in the field of AI-supported claims processing in the automotive sector". Some insurers run the injured party's expert report through the ControlExpert software, often with the result that many items are reduced as unnecessary or too expensive. In particular, RRP surcharges, hourly rates and small spare parts are removed.
According to the Regional Court of Cologne, however, the party obliged to pay compensation bears the so-called workshop risk, i.e. it is also liable if the workshop charges the injured party for unnecessary work, charges excessive prices or working hours or even charges for work that has not been carried out at all (Regional Court of Cologne, judgment of 19.11.2021 - 4 O 262/19).
However, ControlExpert does not usually inspect the accident vehicle itself. Nor does it provide a cost calculation from an alternative workshop. There is also no guarantee that a repair based on ControlExpert's "expert opinion" would be complete and conclusive. According to Hagen District Court, only a binding offer from a garage to professionally repair the damage identified in the expert opinion constitutes a reasonable alternative option to which the injured party would have to be referred in order not to breach his duty to mitigate damages (Hagen District Court, judgment of 24.05.2006 - 16 C 371/05).