Friday 19th November 2021
“Most expensive damaging event”
Emissions scandal costs insurers billions
The costs of legal expenses insurers in the diesel affair amount to around 1.21 billion euros. This makes it the most costly claim of all. Several 100,000 customers have already turned to their insurers – and the trend is increasing.
Legal protection insurers pay dearly for claims for damages by car owners due to manipulated diesel emissions. “The expenses of legal expenses insurers for lawyer, court and expert costs have increased to 1.21 billion euros,” said the general manager of the German Insurance Association (GDV), Jörg Asmussen. The diesel scandal is “the most expensive damage event in legal protection insurance at all”. However, many proceedings have not yet been finalized. It is therefore unclear what part of the bill the legal expenses insurers have to pay and what the car manufacturers.
According to GDV, around 380,000 policyholders have now taken advantage of their legal protection insurance in a dispute with car manufacturers due to allegedly manipulated emissions. That was 25,000 more cases than in May. “The total value in dispute of all diesel legal protection cases handled by legal protection insurers has risen to 9.8 billion euros,” said Asmussen. “The average value in dispute per diesel case is now around 26,000 euros.” At the beginning of the diesel scandal six years ago, it was 22,500 euros. “This shows that increasingly higher-priced vehicles and premium manufacturers are coming into focus,” said Asmussen.