What to do at the scene, who is liable, what you can claim – and why the at-fault insurer also pays your lawyer. Including the mistake that turns a claim into a criminal case under § 142 StGB.

Car Accident Lawyer in Germany: What to Do and What You Can Claim

📅 Last updated 10 August 2026 • ✏ Henrik Momberger, Attorney at Law (Rechtsanwalt) • ⏱ Reading time: 9 min

At the scene: six steps, in this order

1. Secure the scene. Hazard lights, high-visibility vest, warning triangle at the legally required distance. On a motorway, get behind the crash barrier.
2. Help anyone injured and call 112. Failing to render assistance is a criminal offence under § 323c StGB.
3. Do not leave. Even a minor scrape in a car park requires you to wait a reasonable time and, if nobody appears, to notify the police without delay. A note under the windscreen wiper is not sufficient under § 142 StGB.
4. Photograph before moving anything – final positions, all damage on both vehicles, licence plates, the road surface, traffic signs and the wider scene. If the vehicles obstruct traffic you must clear the road, so photograph first.
5. Exchange details: name, address, vehicle registration, insurer and policy number, driving licence. Take photographs of the documents rather than writing them down.
6. Say nothing about fault. You are obliged to give your identity and your involvement. You are not obliged to explain how it happened, and you should not.

Who is liable, and on what basis

German road traffic liability rests on two pillars. § 7 Abs. 1 StVG makes the keeper of the vehicle strictly liable for damage arising from the operation of the vehicle – no fault required. The only escape is force majeure under § 7 Abs. 2 StVG, which ordinary driving error does not satisfy. § 18 StVG adds the driver's presumed fault liability. Alongside them sits general tort liability under § 823 BGB.

Where two vehicles collide, both operating risks meet, and liability is apportioned under § 17 Abs. 1, 2 StVG according to the extent to which each side caused the damage. This is why German accident settlements so often end in quotas – 100/0, 75/25, 50/50 – rather than an all-or-nothing outcome. Contributory negligence on your part, for example not wearing a seatbelt, is dealt with under § 254 BGB.

Against this stands one of the most practically valuable rules in German insurance law: § 115 Abs. 1 VVG gives the injured party a direct claim against the liability insurer. You negotiate and, if necessary, litigate against the insurer itself.

What you can claim

Head of loss	What it covers
Repair cost	Actual invoice, or the assessed cost claimed notionally under § 249 Abs. 2 Satz 1 BGB (VAT excluded if not incurred)
Total loss	Replacement value less residual value, where repair is uneconomic
Diminished value	The lower resale price of a vehicle with an accident history – frequently overlooked and often four figures
Replacement vehicle	Hire car for the duration of repair, or a daily allowance for loss of use if you do not hire
Expert's fee	Your own independent assessor, above the small-damage threshold
Towing, recovery, storage	Reasonable and necessary costs
Incidental expenses	Flat-rate sum for telephone, postage and travel, awarded by most courts without proof
Personal injury	Treatment costs, loss of earnings, care, and pain and suffering under § 253 Abs. 2 BGB
Legal fees	Recoverable from the at-fault insurer as part of the loss (§ 249 BGB)

Where insurers reduce claims – and how to answer

German liability insurers rarely reject a claim outright. They reduce it, item by item, usually on the basis of an internal “audit report”. The recurring targets:

• Referral to a cheaper garage. Permissible only if the insurer proves equivalent quality, ready accessibility and reasonableness – the test laid down by the Federal Court of Justice on 20 October 2009 (VI ZR 53/09). A referral is generally unreasonable for vehicles under three years old or with a complete brand-garage service history.
• Transport and parts surcharges. The cost of moving the vehicle to a paint shop and the customary mark-up on manufacturer parts are routinely deleted. Both are recoverable where they are customary in the region and stated in the expert's report.
• Loss-of-use period. Cut back to a theoretical repair duration that ignores parts availability.
• Diminished value. Simply not paid unless claimed.
• Expert's fee. Reduced to the insurer's own fee schedule.

Individually these deductions look trivial; in a normal file they add up to a four-figure sum. Since the at-fault insurer pays your legal costs anyway, there is little reason to accept them.

Foreign vehicles, foreign insurers, cross-border cases

If you live in one EU or EEA state and the accident happened in another – the typical case for anyone injured in Germany while resident abroad – you can pursue the claim through the insurer's claims representative in your own country of residence under Article 20 of Directive 2009/103/EC. That applies whether the vehicle at fault was German or foreign. The substantive law applied to the claim is, however, normally that of the place of the accident under the Rome II Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 864/2007) – so a German accident is assessed under German law even if the correspondence happens in your language and your country.

Conversely, if you were driving a foreign-registered vehicle in Germany, your Green Card or your registration-plate cover satisfies the German compulsory insurance requirement; the German Green Card bureau handles claims against you.

What happens if you are the one accused

An accident in Germany can produce three parallel proceedings: the civil claim, a regulatory offence case under the OWiG, and, in serious cases, a criminal investigation. They are separate, and what you say in one is available in the others. If you receive a letter headed Anhörungsbogen (hearing form) or Vorladung (summons), you are entitled to remain silent as to the facts (§ 55 Abs. 1 OWiG and § 46 Abs. 1 OWiG in conjunction with § 136 Abs. 1 StPO). Take advice before responding – see Criminal Defense Lawyer in Germany.

Related pages

• Personal Injury Lawyer in Germany
• Criminal Defense Lawyer in Germany
• Medical Malpractice in Germany

Frequently asked questions

What must I do at the scene of an accident in Germany?

Secure the scene, switch on hazard lights, put out the warning triangle and give first aid – failing to assist is a criminal offence under § 323c StGB. Then do not leave. Leaving the scene of an accident before the necessary details have been established is a criminal offence under § 142 StGB, punishable by a fine or up to three years' imprisonment, and it regularly costs the driving licence. Exchange names, addresses, vehicle registrations and insurance details. Photograph the final positions, the damage, the road and any skid marks before the vehicles are moved.

Should I call the police?

The police do not attend every minor collision in Germany, and in a straightforward damage-only case they may decline. Insist on police attendance where there are injuries, where fault is disputed, where the other driver appears intoxicated, where a foreign or rental vehicle is involved, or where the other party refuses to give details. If the other party has left the scene, report it immediately – that is a hit and run under § 142 StGB and the police file becomes the key evidence in your claim.

Who pays for the damage?

In Germany every motor vehicle must carry compulsory third-party liability insurance. If the accident was not your fault, you claim against the other party's liability insurer directly under § 115 Abs. 1 VVG – you do not need to sue the driver. The keeper of the vehicle is strictly liable under § 7 Abs. 1 StVG, which means you generally do not have to prove that anyone drove badly. Where both vehicles contributed, liability is apportioned under § 17 StVG, and a shared quota such as 70/30 is common.

Does the other side pay my lawyer?

Yes, if the accident was not your fault. Reasonable legal costs form part of the recoverable loss under § 249 BGB and are paid by the at-fault party's liability insurer. This is the single most important thing for international drivers to understand: instructing a German lawyer after an accident you did not cause normally costs you nothing. Where fault is shared, the insurer pays your costs in proportion to its liability quota.

What can I claim after a car accident?

The repair cost or, if repair is uneconomic, the replacement value less salvage; the diminished market value of a repaired vehicle (“merkantiler Minderwert”); a replacement vehicle or a daily allowance for loss of use; the cost of an independent expert report; towing and storage; a flat-rate sum for incidental expenses; and, if you were hurt, medical costs, loss of earnings and pain and suffering under § 253 Abs. 2 BGB. Note that Germany allows notional settlement: you may claim the assessed repair cost under § 249 Abs. 2 Satz 1 BGB without actually repairing, although VAT is then not recoverable (§ 249 Abs. 2 Satz 2 BGB).

Can I choose my own expert and my own garage?

Yes. If the accident was not your fault, you are entitled to instruct an independent expert of your own choosing and to have the vehicle repaired at a brand-affiliated garage; the reasonable cost is part of your loss. Insurers frequently push claimants towards their own network garages and their own assessors. You are not obliged to accept. A referral to a cheaper independent garage is only binding if the insurer proves that the repair there is of equivalent quality and that the garage is readily accessible and acceptable – the standard set by the Federal Court of Justice in its judgment of 20 October 2009 (VI ZR 53/09).

What if the other driver was uninsured, unidentified or fled?

Germany has a guarantee fund administered by Verkehrsopferhilfe e. V. Under § 12 Abs. 1 PflVG it steps in where the responsible vehicle cannot be identified, where there was no compulsory liability insurance, or where the damage was caused intentionally and unlawfully without cover. Note that unauthorised use of a vehicle is not a ground: there the insurer remains liable to the injured third party (§ 7 Abs. 3 StVG, § 117 VVG). Cover for property damage in hit-and-run cases is restricted; personal injury is the principal focus. Report the incident to the police immediately – without a police file such a claim will normally fail.

I was driving a rental car. Does that change anything?

It changes who is entitled to what. The rental company is the owner and claims the vehicle damage; you remain personally liable towards the rental company under the rental contract, subject to whatever excess or waiver you agreed. Your own claims for injury, lost holiday or travel time and out-of-pocket costs are unaffected. Notify the rental company immediately and do not sign any acknowledgement of fault – in Germany, admitting fault at the scene has no binding legal effect on liability, but it makes your position considerably harder to defend.

How long do I have to bring my claim?

Three years under § 195 BGB, running from the end of the calendar year in which you learned of the loss and of the liable party (§ 199 Abs. 1 BGB). Negotiations with the insurer suspend the period under § 203 BGB. Do not let the file sleep: after a change of insurer contact or a lengthy medical treatment abroad, limitation problems arise more often than any other procedural obstacle.

Do I have to come to Germany to pursue the claim?

No. We handle the correspondence with the insurer, obtain the police file, instruct a German expert and, if necessary, litigate on your behalf under a power of attorney. Your presence is required only where a court directs that you be examined personally.

This page provides general information on German law as of the date shown above and does not constitute legal advice for an individual case. German statutes and case law may change. Momberger Rechtsanwälte is a German law firm admitted to the Rechtsanwaltskammer Düsseldorf; we advise on German law only.