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Does insurance pay after an accident with bald tyres?

In short

Does insurance pay after an accident with bald tyres? In Germany it pays the other side: your liability insurance covers their loss but can claim back up to EUR 5,000 from you if you knew about the tyres. Comprehensive cover (Vollkasko) may cut what it pays for your own car if the tread was below 1.6 mm and that caused the crash.

Does insurance pay after an accident with bald tyres?

What it costs

Fines for too little tread and what new tyres cost by comparison.

ExampleTypical range
Tread below 1.6 mm at a roadside checkEUR 60 and 1 point
Tread below 1.6 mm, endangering othersEUR 75
Tread below 1.6 mm with an accidentEUR 90, about EUR 120 with fees
Claim back by the liability insurer for an increase in riskat most EUR 5,000
Four new tyres with fitting and balancingon average about EUR 580 to 800

As of November 2026, from fine figures of a motoring club, the regulation and garage prices.

The deductible and the cut in the worked example are a guide value from quoting practice,

courts decide case by case.

Whether your policy waives the gross negligence defence is something we check for you;

we obtain the exact quote.

Worked example

Off a country road in the rain, tread 1.2 millimetres

The driver had known since the last service that the tyres were due. An expert sees the tread as the cause. Comprehensive cover with a EUR 500 deductible, damage to the own car EUR 9,000, to a neighbour's fence EUR 3,000. The cut is an assumption for illustration.

Neighbour's fenceEUR 3,000, paid by liability insurance
Possible claim back by the liability insurerup to EUR 3,000, legal cap EUR 5,000
Own car, normal settlement9,000 minus 500 = EUR 8,500
Assumed cut by half in comprehensive coverEUR 4,250
Fine after an accidentEUR 90, about EUR 120 with fees

In the worst case over EUR 7,000 stays with you, plus the lower no-claims class. Four new tyres would have cost about EUR 580 to 800 on average. Calculation with guide values.

Liability insurance pays the other side

The other driver does not have to care about your tyres. Your motor liability insurance (Kfz-Haftpflicht) pays their loss. Under section 103 of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG) it is only released if the damage was caused intentionally, which is not the case with worn tyres.

After the accident your no-claims class drops, as with any other claim.

When the liability insurer claims money back

Raising the risk after signing the contract is called an increase in risk (Gefahrerhöhung). The Higher Regional Court of Cologne held that driving on unsafe, bald tyres can be such an increase under section 23 (1) VVG. The condition is that the policyholder knew about the condition or deliberately avoided checking (case 9 U 175/05).

In liability cover the consequence is capped: under section 5 (3) of the Motor Insurance Regulation (KfzPflVV) the insurer may claim back at most EUR 5,000 from the policyholder and co-insured persons because of an increase in risk. Under section 26 (3) VVG even that falls away if the increase in risk did not cause the accident.

SituationLiability insuranceComprehensive cover for your car
Tread above 1.6 mm, accident in the rainpaysusually pays in full
Tread below 1.6 mm, you did not knowpayscut only for gross negligence
Tread below 1.6 mm, kept driving knowingly, tyres caused the crashpays, claim back up to EUR 5,000 possiblecut according to the degree of fault
Tread below 1.6 mm, crash would have happened with new tyres toopayspays
Policy waives the gross negligence defencepayspays, as far as the waiver reaches

When comprehensive cover may cut

Only comprehensive cover pays for your own car. If you cause the accident through gross negligence, section 81 (2) VVG lets the insurer reduce its payment in line with how serious your fault was. The increase in risk can add to this: with gross negligence section 26 (1) VVG also allows a cut, with intent no payment at all.

Two points decide. First, the tyres must have caused the accident. The Higher Regional Court of Koblenz made the insurer pay despite badly worn tyres, because an expert found that in about 25 centimetres of water new tyres would not have changed anything (case 10 U 253/08).

Second, it depends on what you knew. In the Cologne case the rear tyres had only about one millimetre of tread according to the police. The insurer still had to pay: the low tread was not obvious, and according to this ruling a driver who does not measure tyres without a particular reason is not grossly negligent.

Minimum tread and fines

Under section 36 (3) of the Road Vehicle Licensing Regulation (StVZO) the main tread must be at least 1.6 mm deep all around the tyre. The main tread is the wide grooves in the middle of the tread, covering about three quarters of its width. Mopeds and light motorcycles need 1 mm.

Driving with less costs EUR 60 and one point in Flensburg. If you endanger others it is EUR 75, after an accident EUR 90, about EUR 120 with fees.

Why 1.6 mm is not much

The legal minimum is a floor, not a safety margin. In a test by a motoring club a winter tyre with 4 mm of tread aquaplaned at 63 km/h, a new one only at 87 km/h. On a wet road the braking distance from 80 km/h was 7 percent longer with 4 mm.

The recommendation is therefore at least 3 mm for summer tyres and 4 mm for winter and all season tyres.

When you do not need to worry

If your tread is above 1.6 mm, your tyres are not bald in the legal sense, even if they are no longer new. The minimum under section 36 StVZO is met.

And even below the limit: a rear end collision on a dry road or a parking bump usually has nothing to do with the tread. Then the causal link is missing.

Step by step

  1. Measure the tread on all four tyres at several points around the circumference.
  2. Plan a change below 3 mm on summer tyres and 4 mm on winter tyres.
  3. After an accident, photograph the road, the weather and the tyres.
  4. Report the claim truthfully, the model conditions allow one week for this.
  5. If the insurer cuts or claims back, have it checked whether the tread really caused the accident.

Checklist

  • Main tread at least 1.6 mm everywhere, better 3 to 4 mm
  • Tread measured after every tyre change and before long trips
  • Garage or inspection notes on the tyres dealt with
  • Comprehensive cover that waives the gross negligence defence
  • Photos of tyres and road after an accident

Common mistakes

  • Believing there is no cover at all with bald tyres
  • Ignoring a garage warning that the tyres are due
  • Measuring at one point only, although the minimum applies all around
  • Accepting a cut although the accident had nothing to do with the tread

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Does the other driver get paid if my tyres were bald?

Yes.

Your liability insurance pays their loss.

A claim back only concerns you and your insurer.

How much can the liability insurer claim back from me?

For an increase in risk at most EUR 5,000.

This requires that you knew about the tyres and that the tread contributed to the accident.

Does comprehensive cover pay nothing at all?

Not automatically.

With gross negligence the payment is cut according to the degree of fault.

If the tyres were not the cause, it must pay in full.

When are tyres legally bald?

Below 1.6 mm in the main tread.

For safety, 3 mm on summer tyres and 4 mm on winter tyres are recommended.

Why did the cut fail in the rulings mentioned?

In Koblenz the tyres were not the cause: the crash would have happened with new tyres too.

In Cologne it could not be proven that the driver knew about the low tread.

What minimum tread applies to motorcycles?

Also 1.6 mm.

Only mopeds and light motorcycles need just 1 mm.

Sources

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