Overview
- Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled the Allianz clause invalid for unreasonably disadvantaging customers in case IV ZR 34/25 on December 10.
- The provision let the insurer lower the agreed conversion factor after contract signing without a contractual duty to raise it when conditions improved; voluntary assurances were deemed insufficient.
- Allianz’s appeal was largely rejected, though the court removed an overbroad ban on using similar clauses because the plaintiffs had not requested it.
- Consumer groups say up to around one million Riester, Rürup, workplace and private policies across providers could be implicated, and customers may seek restoration of the original factor and back payments.
- Allianz says older contract generations could be affected, while the litigated wording applied to 2006 policies where factors were cut, for example, from €38.74 to €30.84 per €10,000 policy value.