Accident claim to the other driver's motor liability insurer (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The first claim after a road accident someone else caused, sent straight to their German motor liability insurer: the date, time and place, the other vehicle's plate, your vehicle, what happened, the damage, the police and witnesses, the amount quantified so far and your IBAN, with a request to confirm liability in principle. Under § 115 of the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG) you have a direct claim against the insurer, and you must notify it in text form within two weeks (§ 119 VVG) — a letter or an e-mail will do. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Injured party
- Injured party's address
- Insurer
- Motor insurer's address (street or PO box, then postcode and town, each on its own line)
- City
- Date
- Date of the incident
- At-fault vehicle's registration plate
- At-fault driver's policy number (if known)
- Time of the event
- Place of the event
- Driver at fault
- Injured party's vehicle (make, model, plate)
- Police report (station, case number)
- Witnesses (names and phone numbers)
- Description of the event
- Description of the damage
- Damage quantified so far, in euros (otherwise: to follow)
- Deadline for a response
- IBAN
- Attachments
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How soon must a German accident be reported to the other driver's insurer?
- Within two weeks of learning of the accident, in text form — a letter, fax or e-mail is enough (§ 119(1) VVG). Sending in time is what counts. The insurer must then make a reasoned offer within three months, or give reasons why it will not pay; otherwise it owes interest (§ 3a of the German Compulsory Insurance Act, PflVG).
- How do I find out who insures the other vehicle after an accident in Germany?
- Through the Zentralruf der Autoversicherer, the motor insurers' central call service: given the other vehicle's plate, it tells you its motor liability insurer. The European Accident Statement, the details exchanged at the scene and the police file reference, if the police recorded the accident, also help.
- Who pays in Germany if the driver at fault fled or was uninsured?
- Then the claim goes not to an insurer but to Verkehrsopferhilfe e.V., the German road-victims' fund (§ 12 PflVG), and this letter does not fit. For a vehicle that was never identified, it pays for damage to property only on narrow conditions and only above €500. After a hit-and-run, always report it to the police.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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