Compulsory insurance against elementary damage: A dispute erades!

Compulsory insurance against elementary damage: A dispute erades!

Ahrtal, Deutschland - The discussion about possible compulsory insurance against elementary damage in Germany has intensified in recent months. Experts and politicians are disagreed with the need and the associated costs of this measure. A decisive event was the severe flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in July 2021, in which around 9,000 houses were destroyed. This catastrophe has focused on the topics of insurance and security, especially with regard to elementary damage insurance.

In the summer of 2024, an obligation to compulsory insurance was discussed again. In the case of coalition negotiations, an agreement in the working group "inside, law, migration, integration" could be achieved. A regulation is planned that stipulates that residential building insurance in new business may only be offered with an elementary damage coverage. Existing contracts should also be expanded to include this important protection. At the moment, the elementary damage insurance remains voluntary, which has led to a worrying state: According to the Bavarian Country Chamber, 99% of real estate has residential building insurance, but less than 50% are insured against elementary damage.

costs and protection

The overall association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) reports that around 54% of homeowners in Germany are secured against elementary damage. However, the cost of possible compulsory insurance is unclear and could lead to higher premiums for homeowners and tenants. According to Finanztip, the annual costs for elementary damage insurance for a single -family house (150 m²) could be between 350 and 1300 euros, depending on the location and risk.

Special attention is also given to the situation of addresses at risk of flood: there are over 320,000 of them in Germany, with regions such as Saxony (3.5%), Thuringia (2.7%) and Rhineland-Palatinate (2%). However, the elementary damage insurance covers numerous natural hazards, such as floods and earthquakes, however, damage caused by intent and groundwater. Insured costs can include new construction costs, repair costs, expert costs and hotel costs.

political and expert discussion

Anja Käfer-Rohrbach from the GDV speaks against compulsory insurance and instead pleads for more prevention. Tobias Just from the University of Regensburg, on the other hand, supports the introduction of compulsory insurance to ensure a fairer risk distribution. In the discussion about possible solutions, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann proposed a unique obligation to offer that is considered better than general compulsory insurance. Jörg Asmussen, General Manager of the GDV, supports this proposal and explains that the obligation to offer remains in a correct insurance logic, especially when it comes to risk -based calculation of the premiums.

The details of this unique obligation to offer are considered crucial for implementation. This includes the three key elements: more prevention and climate compensation adjustment, voluntary insurance coverage as well as a risk division between private insurers and the state in extreme natural disasters. However, Asmussen criticizes that too little has happened in relation to prevention and climate compensation and the aspect of the risk division is often neglected.

The debate about the future regulation remains exciting and is intensively pursued by both political and technical pages. A decisive goal remains to ensure the best possible protection for property owners and tenants, while at the same time the financial burden is within the framework.

Further information on the ongoing discussions can be found at Infranken href = "https://www.gdv.de/gdv/medien/Medieninformations/elementarschaeden-iebtswandlandt-bessers-als-alleinige--179372"> GDV .