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In its meeting on March 22, 2024, the Bundesrat (Federal Council) has now approved the law implementing the EU Directive on motor vehicle liability insurance, meaning that the law will now enter into force as soon as it has been enacted.

The Federal Council wanted to implement the EU Directive, stipulating that self-propelled work machines and forklifts with a maximum design speed of 20 km/h must also be covered by motor vehicle insurance.

The law initially failed to gain a majority in the Federal Counicl. The reason was that it was not considered necessary to include these types of vehicles in the insurance obligation, as their use is covered by normal liability insurance and possible damage is sufficiently covered by this.

The Federal Government had therefore called for the Mediation Committee to be convened in accordance with Article 77 (2) of the Basic Law. This was followed by a compromise proposal by the Mediation Committee. The result was the waiver of the insurance obligation for the above mentioned work machines and forklifts. The Mediation Committee proposed to delete the new regulation and to retain the current exclusion of the motor vehicle insurance obligation for these vehicles.  

This previously included aspect should therefore be excluded and will therefore not become part of the law. The German Insurance Association (GDV) had also called for the creation of legal certainty in particular.

However, this is how the directive is now to be implemented. In particular, it contains regulations on harmonizing the claims history certificates of insured persons and specifications for the no-claims bonus policy of insurers. Furthermore, so-called insolvency funds are to be set up so that road accident victims are also covered in the event of the motor insurer's insolvency.

 

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