About Us: How to Recognise a Genuine Vehicle Expert

You recognise a genuine vehicle expert by public appointment, accredited certification or vetted association membership — not by the word "Sachverständiger" (expert) alone.

"Sachverständiger" (expert), "Gutachter" and "Kfz-Gutachter" are not legally protected titles; only the unauthorised use of the title "öffentlich bestellter Sachverständiger" (publicly appointed expert) is a criminal offence (§ 132a StGB). That does not mean quality is arbitrary — it means you have to check yourself what proof your expert actually holds. The sections below explain the three genuine routes and answer openly how our own independence stands.

How do I recognise a genuine vehicle expert?

There are three reliable routes, none of them a professional licence in the strict sense:

1. Öffentliche Bestellung und Vereidigung (ö.b.u.v. — public appointment and " swearing-in) by a Chamber of Commerce (IHK). Voluntary, on application, under § 36 GewO. " Requirements include "expertise significantly above average", a passed competence exam before a " specialist panel, and swearing-in to independent, instruction-free and impartial performance of " duties. The appointment is limited to five years and published in the IHKs' public register. The " vehicle field is called "Kraftfahrzeugschäden und -bewertung" (motor vehicle damage and " valuation), field number 4850.

2. Certification on the basis of the standard DIN EN ISO/IEC 17024, issued by an " accredited body. This standard governs the certification of persons and is overseen by " the German accreditation body (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle, DAkkS). Of 89 bodies accredited " nationwide for personnel certification, exactly three run their own vehicle-" expert programme: IfS GmbH für Sachverständige (Cologne), the " ZAK-Zertifizierungsstelle für Fahrzeugsachverständige GmbH (Diez), and " IQ-ZERT (Sankt Augustin). You recognise a genuine certification by the exact " wording "Zertifizierte(r) Sachverständige(r) (IfS-Zert) für Kraftfahrzeugschäden und -bewertung, " IfS GmbH" or the equivalent wording of the other two bodies — not by wording that links the name " of the standard with a preposition such as "according to" or "under"; the certifier itself " classifies exactly that as an impermissible advertising claim. Where our own experts hold such a " certification, we state it exactly in the permitted wording, without such a preposition and " without a personal register number.

3. Membership of a professional association with its own admission exam, such " as the Bundesverband der freiberuflichen und unabhängigen Sachverständigen für das " Kraftfahrzeugwesen (BVSK) or the Verband der unabhängigen Kraftfahrzeug-Sachverständigen (VKS). " Both require several years of freelance practice and an external proof of competence — but " neither is itself an accredited certification body or a state licence.

The counter-example, without naming names: there are also associations that " admit anyone — "from any trade", "no seminar, in three steps". Such memberships say nothing " about professional qualification. That is exactly why the three routes above are the yardstick, " not mere membership of any association.

What is the difference between a freelance expert and DEKRA, TÜV or GTÜ?

DEKRA, TÜV companies, GTÜ and KÜS are, first and foremost, " Überwachungsorganisationen (monitoring organisations): under statutory mandate " they carry out the periodic technical inspection (Hauptuntersuchung), emissions tests and safety " checks under Anlage VIIIb StVZO, some as officially recognised experts or technical inspection " centres under the Kfz-Sachverständigengesetz (Vehicle Expert Act). For these sovereign " tasks, the law expressly requires freedom from instruction and economic independence " from the number and outcome of inspections (§ 6 Abs. 1 KfSachvG, Anlage VIIIb Nr. 6.1 StVZO).

This statutory freedom from instruction, however, applies only to the sovereign " vehicle-monitoring function — not to a privately commissioned damage report after an " accident. Those standards do not apply there, because it is an ordinary civil-law " engagement. This is not a statement against the integrity of any particular organisation, but a " statement about the reach of the statutes.

A freelance, independent vehicle expert — like the offices in our group — works exclusively " under a civil-law engagement with you as the injured party, without a statutorily assigned dual " sovereign role. Their independence for the damage report follows from the IHK's code of conduct " for experts, the terms of an accredited certification body, or a contractual self-commitment — " depending on which of the three routes above they hold.

Is an expert recommended by a workshop really independent?

This is the most uncomfortable question on this page, and we answer it openly: " if a workshop recommends an expert and the two are financially interdependent — for " example through a fixed commission for every referral — a structural conflict of interest " arises. The expert could be tempted to size the scope of repair to suit the recommending " workshop, instead of to what the damage actually requires. This applies regardless of how " honest any individual expert actually is — the structure alone creates the appearance.

And now to ourselves: Unfall und jetzt? is the consumer portal of a group of " Kfz-Sachverständigenbüros (vehicle-expert offices) that we own ourselves — so we are ourselves " part of a corporate group, not a single practice with no ties at all. We say this here expressly, " not only in the legal notice (Impressum). The decisive difference from the conflict case " described above: our experts are not tied to any particular workshop and receive " no commission for referring repair work. Their fee depends on the report " instruction, not on the repair volume that follows from the report. You choose freely where to " have the car repaired — we do not prescribe a workshop and do not name one either.

Full transparency also means: check this yourself. Ask any expert you instruct — including one " of ours — whether they are tied to a workshop or receive a referral commission. That checkability " is exactly the difference between a referral platform that cannot answer such questions because " its business model depends on referrals, and an expert group that discloses how it is tied in, " and how it is not.