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The autumn changeover in car insurance is in full swing. insurers recalculate their prices and maybe you can save a lot of money by changing your insurance at the end of the year. The deadline for cancelling your policy is 30 days before the policy expires. November. However, in order to really benefit – i.e. not to end up paying more – you should know a few tricks about changing insurers. In the guide, we show you in five steps how to proceed correctly.
Do you want to change, read also our analysis of the best car insurers in november 2021.
Step 1: check your current contract and explore savings opportunities
Before you start looking at the competition, first take a look at the offer that your customer is making you current insurer for the coming year. You may have already received the letter with information about your 2022 premium in october; you should find it in your mailbox by november at the latest.
Even if the offer sounds good, it may not be the best one for you – or it may not even fit anymore. Your goal should be to most favorable offer of your current insurer to know, because only this is a meaningful basis for comparison. It is worthwhile to first explore your savings options and contact customer service call.
- First, ask if your insurer is now (because of corona) new tariffs you can find out which insurance plans offer the same benefits but at a lower price – or if the same plan now covers more benefits.Maybe such rates are only offered to new customers. But it doesn’t hurt to ask. it may help to say that as a long-time (satisfied) customer, you will only switch if you have no other choice.
- Then take the opportunity to check all features that will help determine the amount of your current premium. Maybe something has changed in your life – you have moved or you drive fewer kilometers per year because you work from home more often. Both can save costs.
As a starting point for your discussion, you will find in the table the decisive components for the amount of your premium – and how you can save money in the process.
| type class | some car makes and models are statistically less prone to repair than others. | … you choose a statistically "more stable" vehicle. |
| Residence | the insurer associates this with a probability that your car will be damaged, stolen or involved in a traffic accident. | … you live in a rural area instead of a big city. |
| Damage-free years | the insurer rewards you for every year you were accident-free. He will then place you in a better no-claims class (SFK). | … you move into a higher no-claims class. |
| Age | the more experience at the wheel you can prove, the lower the insurer estimates the risk of you having accidents. | … your time as a novice driver is over. |
| Kilometers driven | the insurer wants to know how often you expose yourself to the risks of road traffic. | … in the insurance year you have less than 10.you drive 000 kilometers. |
| Home ownership, garage, annual car | you own a house and land, park your car in the garage and drive an annual car? For the insurer, this means a lower probability that something will happen to your car. | … you now own a house, rent a garage or replace your used car with a new one or an annual car. |
| Deductible, workshop commitment | you are prepared to pay part of the premium yourself in the event of a claim? Or to have the damage repaired in a repair shop that is a contractual partner of your insurance company? you make less work for the insurer. | … you contribute to smaller costs and save the insurer bureaucracy. |
| Occupation | insurers offer discounts on premiums for some occupational groups. This includes, for example, employees in public service or a non-profit organization | … you change to a corresponding profession. |
| payment method | the insurer rewards you if he receives your premium in one piece at the beginning of the year. The money is then worth more to him, he can already use it. | … you pay the annual premium to the insurer all at once at the beginning of the year, instead of in installments spread over the year. |
if you are not sure whether your tariff covers all important benefits, have a look at our text "how much car insurance do you need??"
Step 2: compare correctly and choose the best tariff
You have the best offer of your current insurer with current features in front of you. So you know what another provider has to beat – and you’re ready for the comparison.
Comparison platforms on the internet provide you with as many providers as possible at a glance. The best-known in germany are check24, verivox, nafi and stiftung warentest.
We wanted to know in advance which insurers perform well across several profiles and have already tapped the portals for a total of eight scenarios.
In the article on the best car insurers in october 2021, we present seven that offered favorable prices across our profiles and also scored well in customer satisfaction and customer service (s. methodology). this list can complement your individual price query.
Step 3: watch out for downgrade after accident and discount protection
There are two situations you should pay attention to in order not to pay more in the end – by mistake. The point is to find out whether it is really worth changing your car insurance. The questions are:
- If you had a third-party liability claim in 2021 that your insurance company covered and therefore downgraded you to a lower no-claims bonus class (SFK) for 2022?
in this case there might be problems with the change, because the new insurer might downgrade you more than your current insurer.
Example: your car has been registered to you for two years, you are in SFK 2. in the summer you caused a metal damage, for which your car liability had to pay. in the letter from your insurance company in october you find out that you are classified in SFK 1 again in 2022 – and pay more accordingly.
You want to change insurers, enter SFK 1 in the form for calculating your tariff and conclude a contract with the cheapest provider. In january you receive a letter in which the new insurer informs you that you have to change to the new insurer its downgrading table you have slipped in the SFK ½.
Your contribution has been recalculated. in the blink of an eye, your car insurance costs you 200 euros more. Often the cancellation period is already over by then. You have no choice but to accept the surcharge.
Tip: to make sure this doesn’t happen to you, check with your new insurer before signing the contract directly, what its downgrade table looks like and where you would be classified.
2) you have been with your insurer for a long time and have a (free) discount protection in your tariff? This means that your insurer will cover up to three accidents per year and will not downgrade you to a lower SFK.
In this case you have to be careful when changing insurers. A free so-called discount saver you get no more for new contracts. Instead, you should choose a discount protection with costs when comparing the new tariff. Check whether the change is still worthwhile.
Did you already have an insurance policy in your old contract? discount protection at extra cost If you have an accident and have agreed to this, you must make sure that your new contract also includes such discount protection. Otherwise, what happens is what was described in 1): you end up in a worse no-claims class with the new insurer – and end up paying more.
Tip: to avoid misunderstandings, check with the provider before taking out a new car insurance policy.
Step 4: check how the insurer behaves in the event of a claim
A cheap car insurance is good. But it is just as important that the insurer takes good care of you when you have a claim. So it can be worthwhile to see how the new provider fares in terms of customer satisfaction before you switch to the cheapest car insurance.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to find out how good individual insurers really are when it comes to settling claims.
For the year 2020, for example, the German Institute for Service Quality (Deutsches Institut fur Service-qualitat), commissioned by the news channel N-TV, surveyed the satisfaction of car insurance customers. 26 insurers were under observation. criteria for the grade were the price-performance ratio, benefits, service quality, annoyances and the willingness to recommend the insurance to others.
Result: according to customer statements, VHV, huk coburg and LVM are the least annoying branch insurers, while cosmos direkt, huk24 and europa are the least annoying online insurers. cosmos direkt was the only insurer to receive a "very good" rating for overall customer satisfaction. Several others follow with "good.
Take a closer look at the detailed results of the study.
In addition, you can also read on the comparison portals themselves or on special rating portals such as trustpilot, where things are going well with the insurer and where there is a problem. In our analysis of the best car insurers in october 2021, we looked through six rating portals and gave them a (weighted) overall score. 35% of the customer rating is included in our evaluation.
Step 5: give notice in good time and in the correct form
Once you have clarified everything and are sure that you are really better off with the new car insurer’s tariff, you can put your money where your mouth is and cancel your old contract.
In order for this to work, your current insurer must receive your notice of termination no later than 30 days before the start of the new contract. have November on the table. Play it safe with a letter sent by registered mail. For contracts from 2016 onwards, an email is sufficient. However, you should request a read receipt, insist on a confirmation of cancellation and save the email correspondence. In case of doubt, you have to prove that you have cancelled in time.
Why the 30. November? Your car insurance is usually an annual contract that runs from 1. January to 31. December runs. The cancellation period is one month. If you miss the deadline, your contract is extended by another year. So it’s better to send your notice a few days earlier to avoid a tight deadline.
the form of the cancellation must also be correct: state in the text your address and the address of the insurer, the number of your insurance policy, your license plate number as well as the place and date of the cancellation. You can specify that you cancel in time "at the next main due date.
Special termination: only in exceptional cases can you cancel at a different point in time. The prerequisite for this is that the insurer writes to you and increases your premium without also improving the benefits accordingly. Or vice versa: if it restricts your benefits but does not lower your premium.
Sara is an economist and an expert on investment, retirement and credit issues. In 2013, she graduated from the georg von holtzbrinck school for business journalists. since then, she can no longer ignore the topic of consumer finance. She explains the seemingly complicated world of finance simply and clearly. After working for handelsblatt and finanztip, sara now heads the editorial team of forbes advisor germany.