Many people like to have a safety net. In the case of German consumers, this means that they are usually pretty well insured. On average, everyone has taken out more than five insurance contracts and pays over 2,600 euros per year, according to statistics from the German insurance industry. But when it comes to insurance, more is not necessarily better. If you tweak a few things, you can often save a lot. And the right insurance coverage is still maintained.
This is possible with the following six tips:
They often only cost a few euros per month, which is perhaps why consumers are so happy to sign them: whether it’s cell phone, glasses or pet health insurance – a lot of it is unnecessary, says Kathrin Gotthold, insurance expert at consumer advice company Finanztip. “This is often talked into consumers’ minds in stores. You should check whether the protection is really needed.” Insurance is actually there to protect against existential damage that consumers cannot pay out of their own pockets. A broken cell phone or a defective television can hurt, but it usually doesn’t threaten your financial existence. Consumers can therefore withdraw from such contracts without hesitation.
This is the ultimate savings tip. “Consumers should pull out their insurance folder and check their tariffs once a year. You can often save a lot of money by switching,” says Gotthold. The classic is motor vehicle insurance, where providers hunt for customers during the autumn switching season. New customers often receive significantly better conditions than loyal souls. If you don’t want to change, you can at least use offers from the competition to negotiate better conditions. Many companies are getting involved in this.
The insurance expert advises that it also makes sense to take a regular look at other policies: “When it comes to liability, for example, new contracts can definitely be cheaper. Above all, the conditions have improved significantly over the years.” Newer tariffs often insure damage that did not play a role in older contracts. For example, with private liability insurance: Current offers usually offer higher coverage amounts and also include damage caused by drones.
Anyone who has to make a financial contribution to every damage has a higher barrier to claiming insurance – especially in the case of small damages. This calculation is behind the deductible. Every insurance event that customers report to their insurance company causes administrative work and therefore costs. This allows entrepreneurs to save money and in turn reduce their contributions.
A deductible is common in many liability tariffs, private health insurance or motor vehicle policies. This allows customers to significantly reduce their contributions. In partial comprehensive car insurance, for example, a contribution of 300 euros reduces the premium by almost a third on average, Finanztip has calculated. “Every customer should check what amount is actually worth it,” advises Gotthold. Your own contribution should not be set too high. Particularly in private health insurance, where there are tariffs with very high deductibles, the expenses can otherwise be overwhelming for some insured people.
Customers are happy to pay for more expensive insurance such as occupational disability insurance or car insurance on a monthly basis. It is worth transferring the contribution in one go at the beginning of the year. “It’s only a few percentage points off. But small livestock also make a mess. All contracts add up to a certain amount of savings,” says the expert.
Whether Comfort, Premium or Plus: Most insurance tariffs are also available in versions with particularly high protection. But Gotthold advises checking carefully whether the additional services are really needed. For example, consumer advocates believe that passenger accident insurance for cars is unnecessary. And when it comes to household contents insurance, some tariffs pay more than others after theft from a ship’s cabin, for example. If you don’t go to sea regularly, you can certainly do without it. Sometimes the basic protection of a good tariff is enough to provide sufficient coverage. A look at the details is essential for an assessment.
There are drastic life situations that change the need for insurance. That’s why insured people should always check their protection in the event of a wedding, birth or similar events. Sometimes you can even save yourself a policy afterwards. There are tariffs for household contents, liability and legal protection insurance that protect an entire family. A marriage certificate is not necessary for this.
Couples can then terminate one of their two contracts. “As soon as you have a common address, a special right of termination applies to the younger of the two policies. The other one then has to be switched to the family tariff,” advises Gotthold. Overall, this is usually cheaper than two individual contracts.
This article first appeared on Capital
