Your vehicle is not roadworthy after the accident? You are entitled to that if you act correctly.

Your expert has determined that your vehicle is not roadworthy is?

But what if the insurance company takes a long time to settle the claim - and you can't use your vehicle during that time?

Basically, for the time you are not allowed to drive the vehicle on the road due to the unsafe driving condition, you have a right to Compensation for loss of use or the Reimbursement for the use of a rental car to.
(Tip at this point: If you can use another vehicle, a ride-sharing service or public transport for the downtime, we strongly advise you not to use a rental car. The rental car costs could be disputed under certain circumstances - and in the case of compensation for loss of use, the insurance company is obligated to pay you compensation in money, which means: You still get money in your wallet.).

In the past, the case law on the Topic Compensation for loss of use/rental car costs in the event that the vehicle is not roadworthy is quite inconsistent. Some court decisions even went so far as to require the injured party to pre-finance the repair of the damage or the procurement of a replacement vehicle by taking out a loan.

You wonder where this comes from? The basis for this is the so-called duty to mitigate damages, which in § 254 para. 2 BGB is regulated. Accordingly, a The injured party is obliged to compensatewhich is to be reimbursed by the damaging party, as low as possible. However, if an injured party now has financial means to pay for a repair himself first (if necessary by means of a loan) and waives this, could be responsible for the big Loss of use damage a breach of this duty to mitigate damages may be considered.

But we can reassure you: The Federal Court of Justice has recently clarified the situation in favor of victims of traffic accidents:

"In principle, it is the responsibility of the injuring party to finance the repair of the damage. The injured party is entitled to immediate compensation and is entitled under certain circumstances, but in principle not obliged, to first repair the damage from his own funds or even to take out a loan to repair the damage. [...] The existence of such an obligation can only be considered if the injured party can exceptionally be accused of waiting with the damage repair as a breach of good faith in the individual case." (BGH, judgment of February 18, 2020, file no. VI ZR 115/19, there para. 17).

This means for you: You are not obligated to pay for anything out of your own pocket. to be prefinanced or a Borrow. In principle, you may wait for the insurance company to pay - for the time in which you cannot use your vehicle due to the traffic unsafety, you are entitled to compensation from the insurance company (either loss of use or reimbursement of incurred rental car costs).

The only exception is if you are in a good financial position and you and your lifestyle would not be further affected by the advance funding
(simple example: the repair of the vehicle costs 2.000,00 €, but you have 10.000,00 € on the account for free disposal).

It is also possible that you would not be able to pre-finance the entire repair, but that the vehicle would be roadworthy again after a so-called emergency repair and that this emergency repair is economically reasonable for you.

(Simple example: your vehicle is unsafe to drive due to a "worn" exterior mirror in addition to the other damage. The total repair costs 5.000,00 €, the emergency repair of the outside mirror costs 800,00 €. You have 4.000,00 € on the account for free disposal.).

But: Unfortunately, insurance companies sometimes rely on older case law that comes to different conclusions here and do not pay this "large" compensation for loss of use out of court. In these cases, the claims must be enforced in court (for which a legal protection insurance is recommended).