Insurance for the account of others

Insurance for the account of others is to be understood as insurance held for the benefit of a third party, where the policyholder concludes the insurance policy in his/her own name, but in the interest of a third party (See Articles 74 to 80 of the Insurance Policy Act (VersVG – Versicherungsvertragsgesetz) about insurance for the account of others). The bearer of the third party interest is the insured person. The bearer is either explicitly named, or the insured person is determined without being named as a result of the circumstances that a third party risk is insured. Only the policyholder can demand that an insurance policy is provided (see Article 75 of the Insurance Policy Act (VersVG – Versicherungsvertragsgesetz)). The insured person may only exert his/her rights without the consent of the policyholder and assert these rights to the claim before a court, if he/she has the insurance policy. In the event that he/she does not possess the insurance policy, he/she may only contact the policyholder.

In practice it often proves difficult to determine whether one’s own interest or the interest of another party is insured. Examples of insurance for the account of others include passenger accident insurance, cloakroom insurances where guests or visitors are the beneficiaries, motor insurance held by lessees where the lessor is the beneficiary, and accident insurance for tourists held by municipalities.