It’s hard to believe: In Germany, which is considered to be rule-mad, there are motor vehicles on the local roads for which there is currently no compulsory insurance. This is when they move slower than 20 kilometers per hour. This could be the landscaper’s ride-on lawnmower – more poetically: riding mower – or the old tractor with which the young person gains his first driving experience on the forest path. The forklift truck from the drinks retailer around the corner has also not been insured so far.
A problem? No, says the General Association of Insurers (GDV). The slow work machines are usually insured through the owners’ general liability insurance. So about the private liability of the citizen or the business liability of the entrepreneur or farmer. The federal government wants to change that and extend compulsory insurance to vehicles traveling at speeds between six and 20 kilometers per hour.
In the future, liability insurance would be mandatory. As before, this should be possible with coverage through a general liability policy, which in many cases would have to have higher insured amounts, or through motor vehicle liability coverage. Anyone who does not insure the vehicle will face sanctions. From the end of December 2023.
The fact that the insurers’ industry association is against it says something about the importance of the new regulation. The GDV simply considers them unnecessary. “The current solution is clear, practical, cost-effective and completely sufficient,” says Managing Director Jörg Asmussen in a statement. “We are not aware of a claim in which the general liability insurance coverage was not sufficient,” says Asmussen.
The association warns that several hundred thousand contracts would have to be adjusted
The association fears increasing costs for owners of self-propelled machines and forklifts as a result of the planned regulation. In the future, the insured amounts would have to be increased to the level applicable to motor vehicle insurance. The amount prescribed here is 7.5 million euros for personal injury, 1.5 million euros for property damage and 50,000 euros for financial loss. The association warns that several hundred thousand contracts would have to be adjusted accordingly.
The background to the draft law is an EU directive on motor vehicle liability insurance and compulsory insurance, which must largely be implemented by December 23, 2023. One focus of the directive is to standardize compensation for traffic victims in the event of the insolvency of a car insurer.
At the end of September, the Bundestag referred the bill to the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee without discussion. It was not yet clear last Wednesday when the specialist politicians there would deal with the project. At the suggestion of the Federal Council, the federal government had previously announced that it would consider postponing the penalties for non-insurance that had already been planned for the end of December.
The good news: The new insurance requirement should only apply if vehicles are used on publicly accessible land, according to the GDV. Anyone who moves the riding mower in a fenced-in garden at home does not have to worry about a higher bill from the insurer.