Frequently asked questions
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
If there has been an accident – don’t panic, notify your insurance company and also call an independent automobile expert. The car expert will prepare an expert report on the extent of damage to your car. Only an expert report can definitively prove the damage caused, because a pure estimate is not enough for this purpose. We always recommend you to book a damage assessment, after all you never know what will happen in the future.
With fictitious billing, you can decide for yourself if you want to repair your car or if you want to pay for the cost of repairs instead. Not only from a tax law perspective, there are some specifics to consider here.
Car repairs are expensive, and sometimes so expensive that the repair costs exceed the replacement value of the car by more than 30 percent. If this is the case, you can still insist on repairs in the event of an accident through no fault of your own. To do so, you must establish a special interest in your vehicle (an interest in integrity). If you have established an integrity interest, you can only sell your vehicle after a certain minimum ownership period.
If you are involved in an accident that was not your fault, you have the right to hire your own car expert. You also have this right if the other party has already ordered an expert opinion. The cost of your own automobile expert is borne by the other party’s insurance company. The only exception is if the value of the damage is less than 750 euros, in these cases an expert opinion will not normally be issued.
If you suffer damages in an accident through no fault of your own, the other party’s insurance company must settle for those damages. However, disputes arise time and time again. With a professional damage report from an independent automobile expert, you can prevent disputes and have a meaningful document on hand.
Even in the case of body damage, a professional appraisal can help you get justice in the event of a dispute. Depending on the agreement, experts can settle the cost of the car accident damage assessment directly with you or with your insurance company. If you want to make sure that your insurance covers the costs, we recommend that you get approval in advance, especially for minor damage, which is between 750 and 1500 euros, a minimum estimate is usually sufficient. Experience shows that a minimum estimate increases the likelihood that your insurance company will cover the cost of inviting an independent car expert.
We speak of minor damage if the amount of damage is less than 750 euros. In the case of minor damage, a cost estimate from a car repair shop is usually sufficient for the insurance company to reimburse the repair bill. However, even in the case of minor damage, there is a risk of unfair or partial reimbursement of costs as the cost estimate is irrelevant in court. Therefore, if you want to be safe even with minor scratches, and you also want to rule out more serious damage to your car, we recommend that you get a professional damage assessment from a car expert.
It depends:
If you are not at fault for the accident, the insurance company of the party responsible for the accident should pay for the expert’s costs. If you are partially at fault for the accident, your own insurance company will take care of ordering and paying for the expert. If you don’t agree with his decision, you can order another expert report, but whether or not your insurance company will pay for that report depends on the insurance rate you choose.
Often, the injured party does not get an expert opinion, but simply relies on the workshop’s cost estimate, which is chosen AND the insurance company settling the damage. However, this cost estimate is only for repair costs; things like replacement value, residual value, compensation for loss of use, and more are not covered here. Thus, the cost estimate has no evidentiary value in court and other institutions. Therefore, to prevent the risk of being left without a conclusive document in the event of a dispute, we recommend obtaining a professional expert opinion.
If your car has been so badly damaged that repair is either impossible or economically impractical, this is called technical or economic total loss. And in this case, you are entitled to full financial compensation for.
If the damaged vehicle needs to be replaced, the dealer will usually charge an additional fee on top of the net market value. When calculating the replacement value, the automobile expert primarily focuses on the local and daily market situation.
Even if you can fully repair your vehicle, in some cases you may be entitled to a cash amount in addition to reimbursement for repair costs. Commercial depreciation, often referred to simply as amortization, and takes into account the fact that you will get a lower price for a repaired car if you sell it later than if you had not damaged it in an accident.
If you want to sell your car after an accident, the residual value is important to you. It indicates the selling price you can still expect to receive. To calculate residual value, a car expert studies the current market and relevant case law.
While your car is in the workshop, you have the right to a replacement vehicle. If you do not want to exercise this right, you will receive what is known as loss of use. This is a certain amount of money, which depends mainly on the length of the repair and the class of the vehicle.