All-risk insurance: Why never everything is insured

If an insurer offers “all-risk insurance”, intermediaries should carefully examine the terms and conditions of the contract. Because such policies can be “marketing cheese with huge holes” in the insurance coverage, warn Dr. Johannes Fiala and Peter Schramm in the guest article. Pepperminzia insurance promises the perfect protection for your home, all-inclusive, so that the […]

No global release from liability by rating / analyst agencies

Three people are affected by ratings or analyses – the person being assessed (e.g. an initiator) with the subject of the rating (e.g. the current account), the assessor (the rating agency) and the readers/users of the rating or analysis. A subset are rankings in which, as a rule, only one criterion is examined at a […]

“Experts” for statements influencing investments using the example of insurance ratings

A variety of insurance products that is difficult for consumers to understand encourages them to make a choice only after consulting a market observer. However, the involvement of experts in investment decisions raises the question of responsibility for their actions. What possibilities of recourse to liability have those seeking advice or otherwise turned to, what […]

Study: Legal advice for brokers

According to a survey by the market research institute You Gov, financial and insurance brokers see a growing importance of competent support in legal matters. According to the survey, almost one third of the brokers surveyed received legal advice from a law firm last year.   Increasing liability risk and stricter regulation of insurance sales […]

Permits for guardianship of minors, care and administration of the estate

Permits for guardianship of minors, care and administration of the estate Introduction A legal guardian can be appointed for an adult: Legal guardianship leads to legal guardianship, § 1902. The guardianship court may appoint a voluntary guardian (lay guardian) or a professional guardian. The appointment of a suitable volunteer supervisor is a priority. The volunteer […]

Bank liability for investor damage or investor contribution to the subprime crisis

When selling, advising or brokering certificates and derivatives, special information is required to avoid liability towards investors. Credit institutions sold “guarantee” certificates and similar constructs to bank customers, for example the Lehman Brothers Bank, as a safe investment: numerous liability traps await bank and savings bank advisors.   I. Consultant incompetence and conditions trap Certificates […]

Why the prohibition on commission payments is no longer applicable

Even if the ban on commissions continues to apply for the time being – there is something in the air: The Regional Court of Cologne had decided that the agent or insurance broker acts legally if he passes on his commission or brokerage fee to insured persons in whole or in part. In 2011, the […]

Prohibition to charge commission is dead – discount battle begins

“Until the day they rationalize me away, Or simply sort me out as non-programmable, When the big computer comes and monitors everything, Makes my preferences and quirks fully understandable, Even if I am already completely machine-readable” (Reinhard Mey)   The decision by politicians not to replace the current ban on commission payments with a new […]

Deposit insurance and guarantees at banks, government bonds and insurance companies worthless?

All guarantees, in whose security one lulls oneself, have no absolute value. After all, the decisive factors are the conditions and the legal framework for this, political legal certainty and the economic default risk of the guarantor.   Guarantee certificates Looking for “total return investments” where you end up getting 100% of your investment back […]

Guarantees and safeguards: Worthless in the end?

Why do guarantees and security systems have to prove worthless in the end?   All guarantees, in whose security one lulls oneself, have no absolute value. After all, the decisive factors are the conditions and the legal framework for this, political legal certainty and the economic default risk of the guarantor.   Guarantee certificates Looking […]