(1) The commercial agent is entitled to demand reasonable compensation from the trader, after termination of the agency contract, if and to the extent that
1. the trader continues to derive substantial benefits, even after termination of the agency contract, from business relations with new customers procured by the commercial agent, and
2. the payment of compensation is equitable having regard to all the circumstances and, in particular, the commission lost by the commercial agent on the business transacted with such customers.
If the commercial agent has increased the volume of business with a customer to such a significant degree that it is economically equivalent to the procurement of a new customer, this is equivalent to the acquisition of a new customer.
(2) The compensation amounts to not more than one year's commission or other annual remuneration calculated on the basis of the commercial agent’s average earnings for their activities over the preceding five years; if the agency contract goes back less than five years, the average for the period of activity will be determinative.
(3) The claim to compensation will not arise if
1. the commercial agent has terminated the agency contract, unless the conduct of the trader constituted justified grounds for doing so, or the commercial agent cannot reasonably be expected to continue their activities on account of their age or of illness, or
2. the trader has terminated the agency contract and there was grave cause for such termination owing to culpable conduct on the part of the commercial agent, or
3. a third party enters into the agency contract in place of the commercial agent on the basis of an agreement between the trader and the commercial agent; such agreement cannot be made prior to the termination of the agency contract.
(4) The claim to compensation cannot be precluded in advance. It must be asserted within one year after termination of the agency contract.
(5) Subsections (1), (3) and (4) apply to insurance agents, subject to the procurement of new insurance contracts by the insurance agent being substituted for business relations with new customers procured by the commercial agent, and that it is equivalent to the procurement of an insurance contract if the insurance agent has expanded an existing insurance contract to such a significant degree that it is economically equivalent to the procurement of a new insurance contract. In derogation from subsection (2), the compensation of an insurance agent amounts to not more than three years’ worth of commissions or annual remunerations. The provisions of sentences 1 and 2 apply accordingly to agents of Bausparkassen [building and loan societies].