Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created a humanitarian catastrophe. Many Germans help refugees, for example on the Polish-Ukrainian border, but also locally in Ukraine. But the humanitarian mission harbors dangers. Cash. spoke to Helmut Wagner, Head of Accidents at the liability insurance company, about the accident insurance cover for those providing assistance.
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Mr. Wagner, what about the insurance cover in the context of assistance
Wagner: Basically, the activity as a helper in the context of a private initiative or in the context of an aid organization is also insured. There are no restrictions. The only thing to note is that if the commitment is so great that you even do it full-time on the occasion of the Ukraine war, a change of career would have to be reported to the accident insurer.
In private accident insurance, war events are considered an exclusion criterion? What about protection when I am on the border with Ukraine or helping in the country itself. For example, directly behind the border to accompany the injured, sick or children to Poland.
Wagner: Irrespective of the activity of the insured person, the exclusion of accidents caused by war events must be observed when staying near or even in the Ukraine. There is no insurance cover for accidents that were caused directly or indirectly by war or civil war events. The exclusion is regulated in the General Accident Insurance Conditions (AUB).
What exactly is the meaning and purpose of the exclusion?
Wagner: Accidents that would occur directly or indirectly as a result of war or civil war would be of a magnitude that the insurer could no longer bear. A reliable calculation of the costs for expected accidents would not be possible. In order to be able to calculate the contributions seriously, the exclusion was included in the GDV model conditions. The so-called surprise clause is an exception.
Can you briefly outline when it is a question of war or civil war in the sense of the exclusion?
Wagner: Unfortunately, the definition is very technical. War is an organized conflict between states, carried out with the use of weapons and violence. The fact that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are to be described as acts of war is undisputed in terms of international law. However, this definition under international law is not a sufficient definition within the meaning of the clause. Rather, what matters is a definition in the sense of insurance law. And their borders are to be drawn further.
War in the sense of insurance law is any actual state of wartime violence without regard to the temporal, factual and spatial limits of the state of war in the sense of international law. And even when the war is over, for example after an armistice, surrender or peace agreement, there is no protection if the risk of war materializes. Because, for example, a left-over hand grenade, which can still explode, represents such a risk of war. There is also a spatial aspect.
And what are the consequences?
Wagner: During the second Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 rockets into Israeli territory, although Israel did not officially participate in that war. According to the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post, these caused two fatalities through direct hits. Since these “accidents” were caused by war or civil war events, there would have been no insurance cover here. So if a rocket misdirected from Ukraine explodes in a neighboring country, accidents from this event are not insured in private accident insurance.
Does that mean my private accident insurance does not apply if I am injured in Poland, i.e. the European Union, by a ricochet that comes from the Ukraine?
Wagner: Unfortunately, it’s complicated here. We distinguish between a direct and an indirect war event. First of all, a clear demarcation between an activity and an event (accident event) must be made. Helping refugees is an activity and therefore not to be regarded as a direct or indirect event. As already mentioned, this activity is covered by accident insurance.
On the other hand, there is the event that caused the accident. Any event that is related to war, is typical of war and would not have occurred without war is a war event. Events that can also occur in peacetime and that only happened by chance during a war are not war events. That is, the explosion of the misguided missile is clearly a war event. As I said, a distinction between a war-independent event and an indirect war event cannot be summed up in a few words.
Here it depends on the individual case. However, mere physical proximity is not enough. There must be a connection with the war. A person who stumbles and falls over a curb in Poland, for example, while doing assistance at the border, has insurance cover.
Let’s come back to the surprise clause, please. What exactly does she mean?
Wagner: For tourists, business people, journalists and other travelers on business or leisure, coverage remains in place during unexpected war or civil war events to give them the opportunity to leave the state before coverage for passive war risk ends. The insurance cover therefore exists if the insured person is unexpectedly affected by war or civil war events while traveling abroad.
With the surprise clause, these insured persons are given the opportunity to leave the state before the insurance cover for the passive war risk lapses. However, the surprise clause does not apply to travel to or through countries that are already at war or civil war. Likewise, this clause does not apply to active participation in war or civil war. This point is theoretically relevant if the war were to spread to Poland, for example. As a liability insurance company, we have improved this.
In what way?
Wagner: The AUB’s “surprise clause” requires the insured person to leave the country in which war or civil war is breaking out within seven days. This period cannot be “excused” by difficult traffic situations and is therefore very tight in individual cases. The deadline has therefore been significantly extended in all product lines of basic accident insurance. With our “Einfach Gut” and “Einfach Besser” tariffs, the insurance cover does not expire until the 21st day after the outbreak of war or the beginning of hostilities. Also insured are accidents caused by terrorist attacks in causal connection with a war or civil war, which are carried out outside the territories of the warring parties.
With Simply Complete, the insurance cover lasts as long as the insured person makes efforts to leave the war or civil war zone at least 28 days after the outbreak of war or the start of hostilities. In principle, it can be stated that there is also insurance protection for refugee helpers in the vicinity of the border with Ukraine. However, the situation in this region of Europe is currently difficult to predict. It can therefore not be ruled out that – if the general security or war situation in the countries bordering Ukraine deteriorates – accident insurance protection is at risk.
This would be the case if events in these countries that were causally related to the Ukraine war led to an accident. With the liability insurance, you also get very good insurance protection in relation to accidents during war or civil war events or even terrorist attacks.
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