You can save a lot on car insurance once a year. No other insurance company gets such a fuss at the same time of year as car insurance. Insurance companies and insured persons have November 30th as the deadline. Since this change deadline is the same every year and still seems to surprise consumers again and again, this guide is intended to summarize the most important details about car insurance in a brief and informative manner.
The three main components of car insurance
When we talk about car insurance, we are actually talking about two sub-areas. the Motor vehicle liability insurance is compulsory. The consumer advice center says:
All motor vehicle owners are obliged to take out motor vehicle liability insurance. Since damage caused by car accidents is often in the millions, a high sum insured – preferably 100 million euros – should be taken out.”
Source: Verbraucherzentrale.de
the Comprehensive insurance is the second part, to which, however, no motorist can be obliged. The reason for this is that the comprehensive insurance covers damage to your own vehicle – and whether this is contractually agreed is ultimately up to you. The vehicle owner must also decide for himself which form of cost recovery is desired. He chooses between the partially comprehensive and the fully comprehensive variant.
The insurances are divided into the following types:
| mandatory area | elective | ||
| liability insurance | Comprehensive insurance | Partial coverage insurance | |
| Car stock | 41 million | 23 million | 12.2 million |
| Services | 13,586 million euros | 7,217 million euros | 1,053 million euros |
| annual premium on average | 249 euros | 314 euros | 90 euros |
The insurance industry is undergoing major changes due to many FinTechs. There are always new models and offers that are aimed more strongly and at a young target group with flexible needs. For example, the insurance company friday.de bills the kilometers exactly and offers a monthly cancellation. No more stress with the notice period in October / November.
You have to pay attention to this when signing
For many motorists, the choice of car insurance seems to be both a blessing and a curse. Although there seems to be potential for savings, most people are not clear on what exactly to look out for when comparing price-performance ratio. Therefore, insurance experts recommend comparing these details:
- Comfort and flexibility: In today’s fast-moving society, service providers and insurance agencies have to adapt. This starts with the online availability of the contract data or a calculation tool and does not end with the service number. Flexibility is also expected from the tariff itself. In practice, this is usually implemented using the building block principle. Tariffs and extras can be combined in such a way that individually tailored insurance tariffs are created.
- Cost and performance transparency. When looking for car insurance these days, more than one provider is compared. Calculation tools that show how each parameter affects insurance premiums are popular with consumers. In addition to the vehicle data, the driver data usually also has an effect on the insurance premiums. In addition to the costs, the benefits, which can be limited to liability and comprehensive insurance, must not be ignored. Combination and extension offers with a protection letter or additional passenger insurance are also possible.
Calculation knowledge simply explained
How a car insurance company calculates the insurance premium is no secret. Basically, there are person-dependent factors and vehicle-dependent factors. The following table shows what this includes:
| Individual Factors | Vehicle dependent factors |
|---|---|
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Additional factors affecting insurance premiums are marital status. Here it is assumed, for example, that families drive more carefully. Even those who own their own home and work as a civil servant or employee of a non-profit organization can count on lower insurance premiums.
The double card is no longer available, the eVB number is new
Anyone who has not registered a vehicle for a long time probably only knows the double card that had to be requested from the insurance company. Without this, it was not possible to register the vehicle. Today, digitization has also entered this process. And its center is the eVB number. The service strength of the insurance company is also evident here. Anyone who listens to their customers knows that the eVB number should be assigned as quickly as possible. This is where online contracts, in which the eVB number is issued directly after the data has been handed over to the customer, benefit. In addition to the eVB number, the following documents are required for approval:
- ID card, passport or registration certificate of the driver
- Approval certificate 2
- if necessary, an EC certificate of conformity from the manufacturer