Decision on the Recourse of the Private Insurer against the Property Owner

Facts

On 9 December 2001, [B.] had an accident in the Café [M.] in Zurich and suffered serious injuries. The [X.] Insurance AG (Respondent 1) and the [X.] Health Insurance AG (Respondent 2) provided benefits totaling around CHF 123,000.-. They asserted their recourse claims against [A.] (Appellant), the co-owner of the property. The lower court affirmed the liability of the Appellant as the property owner and awarded the claimed amounts to the Respondents. The Appellant challenged this with the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court first held that the claims had not yet become time-barred at the time the request for mediation was filed on 27 March 2007. However, with regard to the IPA claims of Respondent 1 in the amount of CHF 94,129.10, the Federal Supreme Court denied a right of recourse against the Appellant as the property owner. According to the consistent case law and prevailing doctrine, the private insurer does not have a right of recourse against a third party who is causally liable, but only…