Financial experts explain: Tenants must inform building insurers about liability

Financial experts explain: Tenants must inform building insurers about liability

According to a report by www.merkur.de, tenants who accidentally damage the property must inform the owner's building insurer about their liability insurance. This results from a recent ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe, in which a municipality was sentenced to provide its landlord's building insurer with information about its liability insurance.

This decision has far-reaching consequences for tenants and for the insurance industry as a whole. The specific case involved a fire in a refugee accommodation that was rented by the municipality and insured through the landlord. It is now clearly established that the owner's building insurer may not approach the tenant directly in the event of material damage caused by negligence, but can only demand compensation from the tenant's liability insurance.

This special legal relationship between the building insurer and the tenant means that the insurer can request information about the tenant's liability insurance. However, insurers can prosecute tenants directly if they caused the damage intentionally or through gross negligence.

Overall, this could lead to higher demand for liability insurance for tenants, as they will now be held more responsible and insurers could increasingly approach them to demand compensation. At the same time, this could lead to landlords increasingly insisting that their tenants take out liability insurance to protect themselves. This could have a long-term impact on insurance premiums and market conditions in the insurance industry.

Overall, the Federal Court of Justice's decision will change the dynamics between landlords, tenants and insurers and is likely to have an impact on the insurance landscape.