Passenger accident insurance for cars: is it worth it?

Supplement to vehicle insurance

Passenger accident insurance: is it worth it?

Anyone who drives a car needs car insurance. Passenger accident insurance is a possible supplement to protect all passengers. But is it absolutely necessary?

If an accident occurs with multiple passengers in the vehicle, motor vehicle liability insurance will cover damage to the passengers. However, passenger accident insurance is often offered as an additional option. You can read why they exist and what the consumer advice center says about them in the guide.

Passenger accident insurance applies if a motor vehicle accident is caused by a third party who cannot be identified. For example, when people throw stones at the car while driving under a motorway bridge, injuring the car’s occupants. Or if pedestrians or cyclists cause the accident but cannot be identified afterwards or do not have liability insurance.

The same applies if the accident is caused by an “unavoidable event”, such as an animal suddenly jumping onto the road. In such cases, traffic victim assistance would not pay because the accident was not caused by a vehicle.

Passenger accident insurance can also be useful abroad: Foreign liability insurance, for example for rental cars, often provides less than in Germany; Occupant protection can make up the difference.

In principle, passenger accident insurance covers transport and treatment costs, pays benefits in the event of death or disability and compensation for pain and suffering.

The Lower Saxony Consumer Center considers passenger accident insurance to be “superfluous in most cases”. She justifies this by saying that in the event of an accident that is your own fault, all passengers are already protected by the vehicle owner’s liability. If instead it is an accident caused by someone else, the liability insurance of the person responsible must cover the costs.

The only difference is that the driver will not receive any benefits in the event of an accident if it was their fault. If he is injured, the health insurance company will cover the subsequent costs of the treatment. Passenger accident insurance, on the other hand, only applies in extreme cases (mentioned above).

It should also be noted that passenger accident insurance usually does not pay indefinitely, but rather you set an insured sum in advance (generally or specifically per passenger). This can be six figures, but is often far less than the several million euros that motor vehicle liability insurance usually covers.

Since passenger accident insurance only provides limited benefits and a large part is covered by motor vehicle liability, other policies are more worthwhile, according to consumer advice centers. If you want to protect yourself against financial damage after an accident, you have the option of private accident insurance and/or occupational disability insurance (BU).

Passenger accident insurance is often considered unnecessary by consumer advocates because it only takes effect in rare, extreme cases and the benefits are otherwise covered by other insurance policies. You should consider individually whether it is an option for you: According to the insurance broker Dr. Small makes car insurance 50 to 120 euros more expensive per year.