Can I get money before the claim is settled?

Short answer

If settlement drags on you do not have to wait. After one month you can ask for a payment on account of the undisputed part.

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Between notifying a claim and being paid sit investigation, survey and follow-up questions. On a larger loss that easily runs to weeks, and the yard wants to order materials. Many owners assume they have to bridge that themselves. They do not.

German insurance law provides that once a month has passed since notification you may demand a payment on account of the amount that, on the state of things, is at least payable, provided the investigation is not yet complete. So it concerns the undisputed part: if it is established that at least 8,000 euros are due and only a further 4,000 is in dispute, there is no need to wait for the 8,000. Many wordings take this up expressly, some with a shorter period.

In practice it helps to ask for the payment expressly and in writing rather than waiting for it to arrive. Name the amount you consider undisputed and support it briefly with the survey or the estimate. And ask at the same time about the alternative that is often faster than any payment to you: a direct undertaking to pay the yard.

Do I have to repay it?

Only to the extent that less turns out to be due than was paid. On the undisputed part that practically never happens.

Can it be quicker than one month?

Often yes, that is only the statutory floor. Ask as soon as the extent is known, not after four weeks.

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