# Is Legal Aid Available in Germany?



## JoCatalunya

Hi guys, I wonder if you can help me. 

My husband was involved in an accident at work in Germany, (there was an explosion and he was rendered 80% invalided from working ever again). Now whilst we have settled the problem with Berufgesonnenschaft we now have a major problem with the insurance company HDI GERLING over liability with regards Invalidity Insurance and payout. The company my husband worked for bought Invalidity and Death Insurance from HDI and whilst they (HDI) accept my husband was injured in the accident they will not accept (despite the reports commissioned by BG ETEM) that my husband has been invalided from work, therefore they are refusing to pay out any money. Naturally I thought to go to the Ombudsmen, however, they are not members of the association, so the Ombudsmen cannot help us, so we are left with only one other recourse, which is to seek legal advice and possibly suing HDI for the money they owe my husband. 

Here is my problem, having had dealings with lawyers in Germany I know we cannot afford to go down this route, yet fact is we cannot afford to let HDI get away with not paying out. So with this in mind, do any of you guys know of any Lawyers who work on a NO Win, No Fee basis, or is Legal Aid available in Germany. 

What really bugs me is they have actually said, 'they do not have to listen or take notice of the reports commissioned by BG's doctors (because they are private and BG are government run). Now we have offered for their doctors to see my husband but they absolutely refuse to do anything other than have a doctor who is a specialist in Alzheimers and Dementia comment on a brain damage case which has absolutely nothing to do with either of the above. 

I was considering perhaps going to a newspaper, maybe they would be interested in our story, because if HDI are doing this to my husband how many others will they do this too. Do any of you guys know of a likely paper who might be willing to take up or at least listen to our story and possibly help us get what my husband is due. 

We are not asking for anything my husband does not deserve, you buy insurance in the hope that you never have to call upon its payout. But if you do, it is there to help you out. My husband was brain damaged in the accident and whilst he is still able to function he is not able to work. 

I do hope you can help us out. Thanks in advance.


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## James3214

Hi JoC, I remember your thread on the Spanish forum:

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...ing-incapacity-disablement-benefit-spain.html

I was sorry to hear that you are still having a battle to get your compensation. 

I haven't had much experience with legal matters but Legal aid is known as 'Rechtshilfe' in Germany and doing a quick google it looks like there 
are lawyers that offer the 'non win, no fee' or 'Kein Sieg kein Honorar' as it is known.

I am not sure what level of German you have but you could start with a forum (similar to ours) that is for accident victims. There are a few sponsors on there that you could contact for a start?

Forum für Unfallopfer


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## vronchen

I am so sorry to hear that you have to deal with these problems.

Before going to a lawyer you could also try these

1) Verbraucherzentrale (verbraucherzentrale.de)
2) Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (bafin.de)


Good luck!


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## JoCatalunya

vronchen said:


> I am so sorry to hear that you have to deal with these problems.
> 
> Before going to a lawyer you could also try these
> 
> 1) Verbraucherzentrale (verbraucherzentrale.de)
> 2) Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (bafin.de)
> T
> 
> Good luck!


As I don't speak, read German could you tell me what the above do. Sorry to be a pain but I am floundering here as my translation facility on my computer & mobile just cannot cope with the sentence long words.


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## vronchen

Mmh, I tried to post some links with information in english but I am not yet an active member


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## James3214

vronchen, you can start posting links after 5 posts so you should be able to do it after your next post. 

JoCataluyna, both of those sites have 'English' pages but the first is a consumer organisation based in each region in Germany. The BAFIN one is more a financial watchdog but both are organisations which consumers can go to for advice.


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## vronchen

Ah, thanks! So, I should be able to post urls after this one. Let me try.


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## vronchen

Nope, doesn't work.

Anyways:


Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) = Federal Financial Supervisory Authority 
This is what they say about themselves on their website: 
Since it was established in May 2002, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht - known as BaFin for short) has brought the supervision of banks and financial services providers, insurance undertakings and securities trading under one roof.
BaFin operates in the public interest. Its primary objective is to ensure the proper functioning, stability and integrity of the German financial system. Bank customers, insurance policyholders and investors ought to be able to trust the financial system.
You can file a complain with them about an insurance company. The website is available in english.

Verbraucherzentrale gives advise to costumers. It's not free, you pay about euro 15+ for an advise. I am not sure if you can get advise in english.


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