4.1 Conduct in the insured event / fulfilment of obligations, Legal Expenses Insurance, Basis Plus

Obligations are all rules of conduct that you and the insured persons must observe in order to retain the entitlement to cover.

4.1.1 What must you do if an insured event occurs and you need cover? 4.1.1.1 You must notify us of the insured event without delay, by telephone if appropriate. ("Without delay" does not necessarily mean "immediately", but "without culpable hesitation, that is, as quickly as possible".) 4.1.1.2 You must  inform us fully and truthfully about all circumstances of the insured event, and  state all evidence, and  make documents available to us on request.

4.1.1.3 You must, where possible, agree cost incurring measures with us, so far as that is reasonable for you. (Examples of cost incurring measures: instructing a lawyer, bringing an action or lodging an appeal.) 4.1.1.4 When the insured event occurs you must, where possible, take care to avert and reduce the loss, see section 82 of the German Insurance Contract Act (VVG).

4.1.2 We confirm to you the scope of cover that exists for the specific insured event. Do you, however, take measures to enforce your legal interests  before we have confirmed the scope of cover, and  do such measures incur costs? Then we bear only the costs we would have had to bear had cover been confirmed before these measures were initiated.

4.1.3 You may choose the lawyer. We choose the lawyer  if you request this, or  if you do not name a lawyer and the immediate instruction of a lawyer appears necessary to us. If we choose the lawyer, we instruct him or her in your name. We are not responsible for the work of the lawyer.

4.1.4 After instructing the lawyer you must do the following: inform your lawyer  fully and truthfully,  state the evidence,  give the information possible,  obtain the necessary documents, and give us information about the status of your matter on request.

4.1.5 If you intentionally breach one of the obligations named in 4.1.1 and 4.1.4, you lose your cover. German law applies to the contract. The German wording of the conditions alone is binding; this translation is provided for understanding only. In the event of a grossly negligent breach of an obligation, we are entitled to reduce our benefit in proportion to the severity of your fault. (Example of "grossly negligent conduct": someone disregards the necessary care to an unusually high degree.) If you breach an obligation to provide information or to clarify after the occurrence of the insured event, this too may lead to the complete or partial loss of cover. This presupposes, however, that we have previously informed you of these duties by separate notification in text form (example: letter or email). Cover is retained if you prove that you did not breach the obligations through gross negligence. Cover is also retained in the following case: You prove that the breach of obligation was not the cause  of the occurrence of the insured event,  of the establishment of the insured event, or  of the establishment or extent of our benefit (for example: you did not agree the lodging of the appeal with us. On subsequent examination, however, we would also have confirmed the assumption of costs had it been agreed in good time). Cover is not retained if you have breached your obligation fraudulently.

4.1.6 You may assign your claims to insurance benefits only with our consent. ("Assign" means: you transfer your claims to insurance benefits that you have against us to your lawyer or to another person.) Our consent must be given in text form. Exception: the consent requirement does not apply if you have monetary claims against us (for example: you have exceptionally paid a court costs invoice in advance). If we are to indemnify you against cost invoices not yet paid, there is no monetary claim.

4.1.7 If another person (for example: your opponent in the proceedings) has to reimburse you for costs of pursuing your rights, this claim passes to us. But only if we have already paid the costs. You must hand over to us the documents we need to enforce this claim. You must also cooperate in enforcing the claim if we so request. If you intentionally breach this duty and we therefore do not obtain reimbursement of these costs from the others, we do not have to reimburse any further costs beyond the costs already paid. If you have acted with gross negligence, we are entitled to reduce the costs in proportion to the severity of your fault. You must prove that you did not act with gross negligence. (Example of "grossly negligent conduct": someone disregards the care required in ordinary dealings to an unusually high degree.) 4.1.8 Has another person (for example: your opponent in the proceedings) reimbursed you for costs of pursuing your rights, and were these previously paid by us? Then you must repay these costs to us.