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Beer garden in Munich at the end of March: in Munich alone more than 60 proceedings
Photo: Sven Hoppe / DPA
Thousands of restaurateurs in Germany will be pleased with this verdict: The Bavarian Insurance Chamber has to compensate a Munich beer garden operator with a sum of millions for the state-mandated closure of his restaurant during the corona crisis.
The Munich district court sentenced the public insurer to pay 1.01 million euros because Christian Vogler had to close his Augustinerkeller - one of the largest beer gardens in the Bavarian metropolis - for weeks in the spring.
Judge Susanne Laufenberg said the insurance chamber could not rely on the fact that the corona pandemic was not also insured, especially since Vogler had only signed the contract at the beginning of March, i.e. a few weeks before the forced closings.
The insurance conditions are not transparent.
The verdict is the first in dozens of proceedings pending in Munich alone in the dispute between innkeepers and their insurers.
"All of Germany will benefit from this," said Vogler happily after the verdict was announced.
He fought less for himself than for many other hosts.
"It's about the existence of companies."
Allianz is also defending itself against the demands of restaurateurs in several processes.
Throughout Germany, thousands of restaurateurs are taking legal action against their insurers who are unwilling to pay.
Around 73,000 innkeepers have business closure insurance.
In most cases, the providers of these insurances have so far rejected all claims.
The corporations justify their position with the fact that the insurance only takes effect if an authority closes a specific operation, but not if this happens nationwide due to general orders.
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fdi / Reuters
