At this point, attorney-at-law Dr.
Johannes Fiala, https://www.fiala.de, your questions.
You can ask questions by sending an e-mail to
ott@dhbw-heidenheim.de.
In the case of a correspondence insurance policy, the policyholder concludes the insurance contract in a
other country without the insurer taking action in the policyholder’s country. A correspondence insurance
is concluded entirely without “intermediaries” between the customer and the foreign insurer.
For the conclusion of contracts, domestic and foreign intermediaries, brokers, but also
“Distribution Service Partners” already contribute; however, these only distribute promotional materials domestically. The
In any case, the contract shall be concluded directly by telephone, fax, email or letter.
Many clients of foreign (e.g. British) personal insurers believe that foreign insurance contract law is
and would be settled, for example, “according to British fairness”. This is a mistake, because with
As a rule, intermediaries in Germany are not entitled to choose a foreign insurance contract law.
in question.
This is different with correspondence insurance. Through this channel, the policyholder can “access
waive the protection of domestic law” and choose foreign law. Whether this always advantages
the customer must then check (have checked) himself.
It should be noted, by the way, that occasionally intergovernmental agreements or EU law allow for a choice of law.
limit (at least de facto) the legal effects outside insurance contract law
can, for example, when it comes to “bankruptcy protection”.
Link to this article
https://www.dhbw-heidenheim.de/uploads/media/nl-1302.pdf (Newsletter of 22.02.2013, page 2)
