Is an insurer or broker liable if its analysis software calculates incorrectly and consequently makes incorrect recommendations to the customer?

From the series of newsletters of the DHBW (Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University) Heidenheim on the topic “Mediation Law in Practice”:

 

At this point, lawyer Dr. Johannes Fiala, https://www.fiala.de, lecturer for insurance law at the DHBW Heidenheim, will answer your questions. You can ask questions by sending an email to ott@dhbw-heidenheim.de.

 

In the case of insurance agents and salaried employees, the insurer is liable for incorrect advice – including incorrect calculations.
A typical case is where the insurer, with an incorrect mortality table in the background, provides the customer with an excessively high monthly private pension.
promised. Several judgments have already shown this. If an insurance broker uses software that produces inaccurate results,
he is responsible for it himself “as a fiduciary trustee.”

 

It is particularly problematic that some providers have their software decorated with “carnival decorations” (certificates, seals, etc.).
These are – in contrast to a genuine and adequately insured attestation of a publicly appointed and sworn expert
for actuarial mathematics or an auditor – are generally worthless. It also becomes problematic for the broker if the
software supplier “goes bankrupt”, and therefore no recourse is possible – or if the software supplier does not operate quality management,
or (which should be the rule) is not insured for damages.
A popular trick is also when an auditor issues an attestation for a certain software version, but just
this version was never delivered to any broker or financial house.
This type of customer deception can, of course, have criminal repercussions later on – but it helps the broker to
this then also no longer much.

 

by Dr. Johannes Fiala

(DHBW Newsletter 02/2010)

With friendly permission

From www.dhbw-heidenheim.de.

Our office in Munich

You will find our office at Fasolt-Strasse 7 in Munich, very close to Schloss Nymphenburg. Our team consists of highly motivated attorneys who are available for all the needs of our clients. In special cases, our law firm cooperates with selected experts to represent your interests in the best possible way.


About the author

Dr. Johannes Fiala Dr. Johannes Fiala
PhD, MBA, MM

Dr. Johannes Fiala has been working for more than 25 years as a lawyer and attorney with his own law firm in Munich. He is intensively involved in real estate, financial law, tax and insurance law. The numerous stages of his professional career enable him to provide his clients with comprehensive advice and to act as a lawyer in the event of disputes.
»More about Dr. Johannes Fiala

On these pages, Dr. Fiala provides information on current legal and economic topics as well as on current political changes that are of social and/or corporate relevance.

Arrange your personal appointment with us.

Make an appointment / call back service

You are already receiving legal advice and would like a second opinion? In this case please contact Dr. Fiala directly via the following link.

Obtain a second legal opinion

(The first phone call is a free get-to-know-you conversation; without consulting. You will learn what we can do for you & what we need from you in terms of information, documents for a qualified consultation.)