Car insurance is suffering from sharply increased costs – and is now taking a path that is both more environmentally friendly and cheaper: repairs with used parts.
Allianz’s motor vehicle insurance now also has cars repaired with used spare parts. This should be both more environmentally friendly and cheaper. Vehicles between the ages of three and eight years old are suitable for this.
The Munich-based Dax group and largest German insurer referred on Friday to England, the Netherlands and France, where there have been guidelines for promoting reusable parts in vehicle workshops for several years. “All experts agree: repairing is more sustainable than using new parts,” said Frank Sommerfeld, the head of Allianz Versicherungs-AG, which operates the property insurance business in Germany.
The source of the spare parts is said to be cars with total damage, which have so far often been sold abroad for dismantling. Allianz wants to reuse parts such as doors, front and tailgates, but also mirrors, headlights and taillights. “Safety-relevant parts such as steering, axle parts or wheels are not used,” said Sommerfeld.
As an example calculation, the manager cited the repair of the windshield of a VW ID.3, where not having to buy a new window would cost 1,200 euros less. According to the Allianz Center for Technology, the CO2 emissions in this example would be almost 100 percent lower. This is because the production of car parts produces greenhouse gases that are naturally not produced again when a used spare part is installed.
German motor vehicle insurers have been suffering from rising costs for years, which are largely caused by the high prices of new spare parts. Since the income currently no longer covers the costs, the General Association of the German Insurance Industry is expecting another billion-dollar deficit in the insurance industry in the auto sector this year.
Source: Stern
