B-5.1 Pre contractual duty of disclosure, Liability Basis
B-5.1.1 Completeness and accuracy of information about circumstances material to the risk. Up to the point at which you make your contractual declaration you must disclose to the insurer all risk circumstances known to you about which the insurer has asked in text form and which are material to the insurer's decision to conclude the contract with the agreed content. You are also under a duty of disclosure so far as the insurer asks questions within the meaning of the first sentence after your contractual declaration but before acceptance of the contract. Circumstances are material to the risk where they are capable of influencing the insurer's decision to conclude the contract at all, or to conclude it with the agreed content. Where the contract is concluded by your representative and that representative knows of the circumstance material to the risk, you must be treated as though you had known of it yourself or had fraudulently concealed it.
B-5.1.2 Rescission. 1 Incomplete and incorrect information about circumstances material to the risk entitles the insurer to rescind the insurance contract. 2 The insurer has no right of rescission if you prove that neither you nor your representative gave the incorrect or incomplete information intentionally or through gross negligence. The insurer's right of rescission for a grossly negligent breach of the duty of disclosure does not exist if you prove that the insurer would have concluded the contract even had it known the undisclosed circumstances, albeit on different terms. 3 In the event of rescission there is no cover. If the insurer rescinds after the occurrence of the insured event, it may not refuse cover if you prove that the circumstance disclosed incompletely or incorrectly was causal neither for the occurrence of the insured event nor for establishing or determining the extent of the insurer's obligation to pay. Even in that case, however, there is no cover if you breached the duty of disclosure fraudulently. The insurer is entitled to the part of the premium corresponding to the contract period elapsed up to the point at which the declaration of rescission takes effect.
B-5.1.3 Change of premium or right of cancellation. If the insurer's right of rescission is excluded because the breach of a duty of disclosure was based neither on intent nor on gross negligence, the insurer may cancel the contract giving one month's notice. The right of cancellation is excluded if you prove that the insurer would have concluded the contract even had it known the undisclosed circumstances, albeit on different terms. If the insurer can neither rescind nor cancel because it would have concluded the contract even had it known the undisclosed circumstances, but on different terms, those other terms become part of the contract retrospectively at the insurer's request. If you are not responsible for the breach of duty, the other terms become part of the contract from the current insurance period. If the contractual adjustment increases the premium by more than 10 per cent, or if the insurer excludes cover for the undisclosed circumstance, you may cancel the contract without notice within one month of receiving the insurer's notification. The insurer must assert the rights available to it under clauses A-5.1.2 and A-5.1.3 in writing within one month. The period begins at the point at which it learns of the breach of the duty of disclosure on which the right it asserts is based. It must state the circumstances on which it bases its declaration; it may state further circumstances subsequently in support of its declaration if the one month period has not expired for them. The insurer has the rights under clauses A-5.1.2 and A-5.1.3 only if it drew your attention to the consequences of a breach of the duty of disclosure by separate notification in text form. The insurer cannot rely on the rights named in clauses A-5.1.2 and A-5.1.3 if it knew of the undisclosed risk circumstance or of the incorrectness of the disclosure.
B-5.1.4 Avoidance. The insurer's right to avoid the contract for fraudulent misrepresentation remains unaffected. In the event of avoidance the insurer is entitled to the part of the premium corresponding to the contract period elapsed up to the point at which the declaration of avoidance takes effect. German law applies to the contract. The German wording of the conditions alone is binding; this translation is provided for understanding only.