Legal situation for tuning measures on the motorcycle

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Legal situation for tuning measures on the motorcycle
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Legal situation for tuning measures on the motorcycle

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When it comes to tuning and insurance, many stories and sometimes adventurous ideas are rampant – insurance companies also use this in their favor. That is why PS asked the expert for traffic law, lawyer Ingo Becker (www.rechtsanwaltskanzlei-becker.de), to shed light on the subject of tuning in connection with insurers.

Becker Ingo

05/12/2014

There is insurance coverage?

First of all, a distinction must be made between the legally required liability insurance and the so-called property insurance, i.e. full and partially comprehensive insurance. Liability insurance only covers personal injury, property damage and financial loss that other people have suffered through the use of the motorcycle. In contrast, the partial and fully comprehensive insurance also covers damage to your own vehicle.  

With both types of insurance, in the event of tuning measures, it should first be noted that these are generally assessed as increasing the risk, with the result that such modifications must be reported to the insurance company. This is a so-called obligation, a breach of this can result in the insurer being exempt from providing benefits. This is regulated in §§ 23 ff. Insurance Contract Act (VVG).

However, two further conditions are necessary for the question of whether the insurer can refuse to pay in the event of a claim.

On the one hand, the policyholder must have intentionally or grossly negligently breached the obligation, in this case reporting the modifications. The insurance company is therefore still obliged to pay benefits if the motorcyclist was not aware of the tuning measures, for example because they had already been carried out by the previous owner and he did not notice this.

On the other hand, the tuning must also have been the cause of the occurrence and the extent of the damage. If the insured event had occurred independently of the tuning, the insurance still has to pay.

When it comes to the question of whether tuning measures were the cause of damage, the case law sometimes goes very far.
The OLG Koblenz, with its judgment of July 14, 2006 (Az .: 10 U 56/06), already assessed the various modification and tuning measures on a car as contributing to the accident and rejected the plaintiff’s claim for replacement of the vehicle damage as part of the comprehensive insurance away. The reason given by the court: The technical changes associated with the tuning would have had an impact on the driving behavior of the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident.

You can read more about motorcycle tuning from May 21st in the big tuning special of PS 6/2014.

To the website of the traffic law expert Ingo Becker

Liability Insurance

The above principles also apply to liability insurance. The tuning measure must therefore have been the cause of the insured event, i.e. the accident.

Regardless of this, the liability insurance reimburses the injured third party for all damage caused by the accident, regardless of whether the motorcycle was tuned. 

If the accident was caused by the tuning, the insurance company can, however, demand recourse from the person who caused the accident. However, this is limited to a maximum of 5,000 euros, as regulated in §§ 5 and 6 KfzPflVV.

To the website of the traffic law expert Ingo Becker

In general, it is advisable to only use tuning to the extent permitted. Sections 19 ff. StVZO regulate the conditions under which modifications and tuning measures are permitted on the motorcycle.

If modifications are made to the motorcycle contrary to the aforementioned regulations, the operating license may expire, which is a violation of §§ 19 paragraph 5, 69a StVZO, § 24 StVG, 214a. 2 Bkat and is punished with a fine of 90 euros and three points.

But even if a tuning measure was carried out in compliance with §§ 19 ff. StVZO, for example approved and registered by the TuV, this should still be reported to the insurance company. When it comes to the question of the reporting obligation, the decisive factor is whether the tuning leads to an increase in risk. This should always be the case with significant increases in performance.

With regard to the question of the operating permit, it is generally assumed for the significance of the increase in performance that no risk to other road users is created up to a performance increase of 10% and therefore the operating permit does not expire, unless the increase in performance does not lead to a deterioration in the exhaust gas and Associated with noise behavior.

However, these principles cannot simply be transferred to the insurance relationship. The changes to the motorcycle should always be reported to the insurance company in case of doubt.

It should also be remembered that if the risk increases, for example due to tuning, the insurance also has the right to increase the insurance premium and to terminate the insurance contract. 

To the website of the traffic law expert Ingo Becker

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