Every year, car owners receive numerous offers from car insurance companies advertising a change of insurance. And indeed, with a new policy you can save a few hundred euros. Sometimes an offer is only cheap at first glance.
What to keep in mind when changing car insurance to avoid falling into a cost trap. – © ambrozinio – stock.Adobe.Com
- Where car insurance becomes cheaper in 2017
Many car owners have to dig deeper and deeper into their pockets for car insurance. In 2016 alone, the average gross premiums increased according to association of the german insurance industry (GDV) in the 2.9 percent in motor liability, only 0.2 percent in partially comprehensive, but 2.8 percent in fully comprehensive. However, customers do not have to accept such increases without complaint. If you compare the prices of different insurers, you can save a lot of money.
Compare car insurance on portals
The best way to compare car insurance yourself is through internet portals. Finanztip points out however that there are also large outliers with the respective offers. Even with the best portal according to finanztip, check24, the final offer was up to 24 percent more expensive in extreme cases. Therefore, the price should always be checked on two different portals. According to finanztip, the best results are achieved by combining check24 with either huk24, verivox or hannoverschen. Alternatively, finanztest offers an individual service for 7.50 euros, in which 159 rates from 72 providers are compared.
When you can change the car insurance?
Toward the end of the year, many drivers ask themselves: if I change my car insurance, when can I cancel?? The comparison portal check24 points out that insurance customers after a premium increase in liability or comprehensive insurance – regardless of the changeover date – the right to extraordinary termination have. The prerequisite is that the scope of the insurance cover is not extended at the same time. The policyholder can change his contract within one month after receiving the notice of increase with reference to the price increase, the policyholder can give extraordinary notice of cancellation.
In addition, in the event of a claim both the insurer and the policyholder should the right to cancel car insurance after the claim has been settled, subject to the deadlines.
When changing vehicles, policyholders can without notice period change the insurance.
Changing car insurance: what to look out for
If the decision is made to change the car insurance, the old insurance must be cancelled. These are the most important points to consider:
- When is the deadline to cancel the old car insurance??
The deadline for the change of car insurance is the 31st. December. In most cases, the cancellation is informal with effect from 31 December. December is possible. Customers simply have to send a letter to their insurer with the following wording: "I hereby cancel". Check24 offers a sample form for changing car insurance policies.
- When is the deadline by which notice of cancellation must be received??
The deadline by which the termination letter must be received by the insurer is 30. November. Consumers should either send the cancellation by registered mail or ask the insurer for written confirmation.
- What information must the noticefor the change of car insuranceinclude?
In the notice of cancellation of the car insurance, the address of the sender, contract number, license plate number, the current date and the date on which the cancellation is to take effect must be included. Not missing
- Tip: do not cancel prematurely
Those wishing to switch should not cancel the old insurance contract until the new one has been signed police is under wraps. According to the consumer advice center, it often happens that the old contract is cancelled, but the new contract is not yet valid.
Check the bill even with a more favorable no-claims class
If you remain accident-free, you often achieve an improvement over the previous year more favorable no-claims class. This will result in a lower bill. but be careful: despite a lower bill, the insurer can, according to stiftung warentest have the premium increased .
The policyholder can check this in two ways. Firstly, on the basis of the comparative premium. many insurers indicate the value in the invoice. This is the amount that the customer would have paid in the previous year if his new no-claims class had already applied at that time. If the new premium is higher than the comparative value, the insurer has become more expensive.
Changing car insurance: how to calculate the basic amount
Some companies hide the comparative premium in the small print, others do not mention it at all. Then the customer can go the second way: calculate for himself and determine the basic premium, which would be due at 100 percent contribution rate. the calculation for this is: price times 100 divided by discount rate.
Example: the customer with 55 percent premium rate and 400 euro annual premium calculates: 400 times 100 divided by 55. This results in a basic premium of 727 euros. In the previous year it was 700 euro (420 times 100 divided by 60). This makes it clear: the insurer has increased the basic price. Without the increase, the customer would have to pay less in annual premiums than the insurer now charges – only 385 euros.
Cancellation as an opportunity to check insurance coverage
Cancellation is also always an opportunity to check your coverage. According to stiftung warentest, the insurance cover should offer the following benefits:
- Comprehensive: those who bought their car years ago and kept the fully comprehensive insurance should consider, whether partial casco is sufficient now. Reason: in the meantime, the loss in value has advanced. point of reference: most cars insured under fully comprehensive insurance are 15.000 euros and more. For accident-free drivers who have a favorable no-claims class, the fully comprehensive insurance is the best choice sometimes, however, hardly more expensive than the partial casco .
- Liability: coverage should be at least 50 million euros, better 100 million euros. This is also confirmed by bianca boss from the Bund der versicherten (association of insured persons). "Although this often costs a little more, it can pay off in the event of a claim." the statutory minimum coverage for property damage is 1.12 million euros. If you cause major damage, you have to pay the higher costs yourself.
- Game accident: the partial casco should do not only provide coverage for hairy deer, but for all animals. "Some insurers only pay for accidents with hairy game", says michael bruns from finanztest. A cow, for example, is not considered hairy game according to the Federal Hunting Act, and dogs are not covered by this definition either. Therefore, in the insurance contract should be "all animals" stand or at least "all vertebrates".
- Marder: the partial cover should insure bite damage and especially consequential damage. Because: marten damage is often not immediately noticeable. If the engine subsequently breaks down because a radiator hose was bitten into, the insurance should also cover such damage.
car insurer should waive objection of gross negligence
The insurer should explicitly waive the objection of gross negligence. If there is no such extra clause in the contract, the car insurance company can reduce the benefits in the partial and fully comprehensive insurance. In the event of an accident, this can quickly become expensive: for example, it can be gross negligence if you operate the navigation system while driving. If the insurance waives the objection, the damage is also covered in this case.
no-claims bonus only rarely
Many customers who have been in their old insurance contract for years still have a so-called "discount saver" as a free extra. This means: your no-claims bonus will not be downgraded if you cause an accident. In new contracts there is hardly. A discount protection now usually costs a surcharge. An existing special discount for the second car can also make the new insurance much more expensive.
Telematics tariffs since 2016
A new group of tariffs are the so-called telematics tariffs. A small box continuously records driving behavior. It is the size of a cigarette box and is installed in the car – or alternatively in the cigarette lighter. It registers the route, destinations, breaks, emergency braking, cavalier starts, fast bends, speed limits, position, mileage and other information. The data is sent to the insurer’s central office via the cell phone network. This enables the insurer to precisely assess the customer’s accident risk and calculate the premium to match.
Are telematics rates suitable for young drivers??
Advantages for drivers with telematics tariffs in unfavorable no-claims classes. These are mostly young people. With telematics, the latter can prove that he drives carefully. This means that the otherwise high price surcharges can be avoided. Different insurance providers like signal iduna, VHV, AXA, admiral or allianz already have such offers in their program.
Data is collected anonymously for the telematics tariffs
Sparkassen direktversicherung, the first to introduce a telematics tariff in 2014, agreed this with the data protection authority. The data is sent anonymously to a company in London, who do not know the identity of the driver. It calculates a point value from the driving style and passes it on to the insurer. But the latter does not know the details of the trips.
According to the european union is to be reduced from 31. March 2018 every new car must have an automatic emergency call system on board, the so-called ecall. It detects via several sensors in the car if an accident occurs and notifies the emergency call center via mobile radio. This is to shorten the time until the arrival of the rescue forces.
Conclusion: changing car insurance is not always worthwhile
In most cases, according to finanztest, it pays to change car insurers. However, not always. "If customers have made use of their discount protection, it is not always worth switching", according to the testers. What is the reason? When an inquiry is made, a tariff may initially be more favorable than the old one. However, if the new insurer then finds out that the customer has had a claim, it recalculates the rate. As a result, premiums for the new car insurance are similarly high to those for the old insurance.
According to the Bund der versicherten (bdv), the previous insurer always confirms this to the subsequent insurer the course of the contract. This information is used to contact the new insurer Classification in the no-claims class. In the event of a claim in the current insurance year, the insurance company will make a downgrading of the no-claims bonus according to the downgrading table. However, this can differ from insurer to insurer and thus lead to a worse classification.
The bdv also points out special classifications Attention – for example, for a second car. In the event of a change, the new insurer would not be informed of these, but only of the actual no-claims bonus from the start of the contract and any claims that are onerous. Dpa/dhz