102 C 227/13•Duty to check the reasonableness of expert fees after a traffic accident
102 C 227/13Court of First InstanceFeb 17, 2014Civil lawDismissed
Extracted by Omnilex
The Bonn Local Court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim arising from a traffic accident and ordered the plaintiff to bear the costs. The dispute concerned recovery of an expert-witness fee. The court stated that an injured party must inquire into the expected cost of an expert report before commissioning it and assess whether the fee is reasonable. If the claimant fails to do so, the tortfeasor’s insurer may reduce the recoverable amount where the fee’s arbitrary setting would have been apparent to a layperson.
StVG § 7; BGB § 249; recoverability of expert fees following a traffic accident. Before commissioning an expert report, the injured party must inquire into the anticipated costs and assess their reasonableness. Failure to make that inquiry does not by itself justify reducing the recoverable amount. A reduction is permissible where it was recognizable to a layperson that the expert had set the fee in an almost wholly arbitrary manner.
Entscheidungsdatum: 2014-02-17
Aktenzeichen: 102 C 227/13
ECLI: ECLI:DE:AGBN:2014:0217.102C227.13.00
Dokumenttyp: Urteil
Spruchkörper: 102. Zivilabteilung
Normen: StVG § 7; BGB § 249
Der Geschädigte eines Verkehrsunfalls ist vor Beauftragung eines Sachverständigen gehalten, sich nach den voraussichtlichen Kosten für die Erstattung des Gutachtens zu erkundigen und diese auf Angemessenheit zu prüfen.
Unterlässt er dies, ist die Versicherung des Schädigers zu einer Kürzung des Anspruchs des Geschädigten im Hinblick auf das Sachverständigenhonorar berechtigt, wenn für den Geschädigen als Laien erkennbar war, dass der Sachverständige sein Honorar geradezu willkürlich festgesetzt hat.
Die Klage wird abgewiesen.
Die Kosten des Verfahrens trägt der Kläger.
Das Urteil ist vorläufig vollstreckbar.
Whether the plaintiff could recover the claimed expert-witness fee as accident damage.
A claimant who fails to check the anticipated expert fee may have the claim reduced if the fee was manifestly arbitrary to a layperson.
Before commissioning an expert, an injured party must inquire about the expected cost and assess whether it is reasonable. The defendant’s insurer may reduce the claim when the fee’s arbitrary setting was apparent to the claimant.
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