Registration, Insurance, and Values

… tips to help avoid problems with insurance companies.

(Suggestions and further contributions are welcome)

Tip 1:
Comprehensive insurance coverage for open-top cars

A tip from our club friend Frank Lindenberg (Attorney at Law)

Under insurance law, anyone who intentionally or through gross negligence creates a risk for the insured event to occur may lose their claim to comprehensive coverage (§ 254 BGB, contributory negligence).

This means that the insurance company does not have to reimburse theft damage if the policyholder has not taken all reasonable and feasible precautions to avert the damage (so-called breach of obligations).

So much for the “legalese.” In concrete terms, this means for us:

A convertible may be parked open. However, the side windows must be rolled up and the doors must be locked, as according to case law, this is one of the reasonable precautions to make it more difficult to steal the vehicle. Furthermore, no objects may be left lying around in the vehicle, and the glove compartment and trunk must be locked. Radios must be removed if the design allows for it (as is common today). If a central locking system is present, it must also be locked. It is not a problem if the central locking can be unlocked by pulling the interior handles, as this is due to the vehicle’s design.

Tip 2

Insurance companies usually only compensate for the current market value and not the actual value of classic cars. To clarify how your “own” insurance handles this, Jürgen Kreuer recommends that anyone who still has a standard vehicle insurance policy write to their insurance company as follows (simply copy and paste directly from here into your letter):

Re: Insurance Policy No. ………….. License Plate:……………

Dear Sir or Madam,

The above-mentioned vehicle is insured with you. The value according to the appraisal
(or simply the estimated value) is € ………

Due to uncertainty caused by various terms (replacement value, current market value, market value, reconstruction value), I request a binding statement as to whether you will recognize and compensate the value I mentioned above as binding in the event of a partial or full comprehensive claim, upon presentation of a valuation report.