Does gross negligence protection make sense for car insurance?

1. What does gross negligence mean in car insurance?

Did you cause damage because you drove carelessly? The car insurance industry refers to this as gross negligence. In this case, the insurance company can seek recovery of the damages from you.

Gross negligence in road traffic: examples

• Crossing a solid white line or failing to stop at a stop sign

• Using a mobile phone at the wheel

• Running a red light at an intersection

• Driving too fast

• Drink-driving

• Taking of illegal substances or misuse/abuse of prescription drugs

Pitfalls also lurk when it comes to wilful damage by third parties. Although this is covered by the partial casco insurance . Did your car get damaged because you parked it next to a demonstration? In this case, the insurance company may refuse to cover the damage.

2. What is gross negligence protection in car insurance?

Some car insurance companies offer additional cover for gross negligence at an additional cost. This means that the insurance company covers the damage, even if you have acted grossly negligently.

Others do not offer explicit protection against gross negligence. However, they make a decision on a case-by-case basis. The yardstick is often the decision as to whether the accident results in your licence being suspended or revoked.

Exceptions to gross negligence protection

However, even with gross negligence protection, insurance coverage does not apply to every act of gross negligence. Car insurance reserves the right to make the following exceptions:

• Drink-driving

• Drug or medication misuse or abuse

• Massive speeding

Accidents due to microsleep can also lead to reductions in coverage. In principle, the following applies: if the person driving is unfit to drive at the time of the accident, gross negligence protection does not apply

3. Waiver of recovery in case of gross negligence: what does that mean?

Have you caused an accident due to gross negligence? The insurance company can then recover damages from you. This means that you must repay part of the damage to the insurance company. With the additional gross negligence protection cover, the insurance company waives this option.