Gerichte bejahen Restschadensersatzanspruch

Judgments by the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court and the Rottweil Regional Court now give legitimate hope for compensation despite the statute of limitations having expired. In their judgments of May 11, 2021 (case number 9 O 9278/20, Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court) and May 10, 2021 (case number 2 O 525/20, Rottweil Regional Court), they affirmed the so-called residual compensation claim and ordered Volkswagen AG to take back the car and pay compensation - even though the plaintiffs only filed their lawsuits with the court in 2020.

While the Nuremberg-Fürth Regional Court awarded our client damages of almost €13,200 for his 10-year-old VW Touran with an EA189 diesel engine from Volkswagen AG, our client was even awarded damages of €15,640 plus financing costs paid by him for his over 9-year-old VW Amarok by the Rottweil Regional Court.

Limitation of residual damage claims only after 10 years

This option is provided by Section 852 of the German Civil Code (BGB), which guarantees the injured party the so-called residual compensation claim and only expires in the amount of the enrichment after 10 years from its creation, i.e. from the date of purchase. Those affected therefore still have the option of reclaiming what they obtained from Volkswagen through the purchase of the vehicle, provided that the purchase contract was concluded no more than 10 years ago. The purchase contract does not have to have been concluded directly with Volkswagen itself; an indirect inflow of assets, e.g. via contractual partners, must also be returned, according to the awarding courts.