Düsseldorf: Rheinbahn driver fights for insurance money

Düsseldorf –

Michael Hormans (58) can still remember June 23, 2017 very clearly. It was the day when the Düsseldorf Rheinbahn driver basically lost his job and the fight against his insurance began. The trigger: a serious tram accident.

• Serious accident with the Rheinbahn in Düsseldorf
• Driver collides with ambulance
• Several years of paperwork after a serious accident

“It was around 8:20 pm, six minutes before closing time. I was on the way back to the depot when it suddenly crashed, ”reports Hormans. At that moment the U73 collided with an ambulance.

The impact at 47 kilometers an hour recorded in the tachograph was brutal: “I slipped out of my seat under the dashboard. It folded me like a jackknife. “

In the accident, the 58-year-old breaks a vertebra (C6). He therefore spends a total of ten weeks in two rehabilitation stays. There are also other long-term psychological consequences, including tinnitus with up to 95 decibels and post-traumatic stress disorders.

Düsseldorf: Over three years of paperwork after the Rheinbahn accident

For more than three years, a paper war has been raging about the financial compensation for Michael Hormans from the “Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft” (VBG), with which all Rheinbahn drivers are legally insured in the event of an accident at work, which he has documented in half a dozen files.

But why all the fuss? Hormans doesn’t know: “The VBG argues flatly that the injuries were not caused by the accident. However, my health insurance company has certified that I had no previous damage. “

Düsseldorf: Over 100 visits to the practice after an accident with the Rheinbahn

And not only that: After meanwhile more than 150 visits to the practice, Michael Hormans has received medical reports from some renowned experts, including a neurologist and an orthopedic surgeon, which certify the injuries as consequences of the accident. And although lawyers have been dealing with the case for years, the VBG is not moving.

She sees it very differently. In response to an EXPRESS request, the employers’ liability insurance association declared that the crash had been recognized as an “occupational accident” and that the “entire costs of medical treatment” and, later, the injury benefit were paid.

However, because several experts found “that the complaints described by the insured person were caused by demonstrably existing previous illnesses”, “no further services should be provided”.

And that is exactly where the crux of the matter lies for Hormans: He estimates that after the accident he has lost a six-figure sum to this day due to lost earnings and other positions. And that’s why he wants to and will continue to fight in the future. (jme)

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