Knowledge Base

We always try to get each set of quotes to you within an hour, obviously if all staff are busy with clients in the office it is sometimes difficult to keep that promise BUT be assured we will try and get these to you as soon as humanily possible.

The email you receive with the quotes is quite detailed and explains which insurance company needs what emailing back for us to set up the insurance for you.

The insurance can be set up within the hour and with some insurances you can have instant cover or be covered from at least the next day.

However, there are some exceptions.

For vehicle insurance for example, it is slightly different as this is linked in with the German “Straßenverkehrsamt” registration office.  We set up the vehicle insurance in advance to start from the date you are planning on going in to register your vehicle. The German vehicle insurance cover will kick in the second the insurance company’s EVB number (we have issued) is entered as proof of insurance into the German registration system to get the vehicle registered.

There are generally three main levels of cover:

Third Party Only which is the minimum cover you need to get a car registered and legally on the road (known as KFZ-Haftpflicht in German). This covers up to a max. of 100 Million Euros worth of damage done to a Third Party (normally limited to a max. of up to 12 Million per individual person) or Third Party property with most vehicle insurances.

Third Party Fire and Theft (half-coverage, also known as Teilkasko in German) which includes the min. required Third Party cover just mentioned before PLUS damage to your own vehicle due to Fire, Theft (and attempted Theft) Glass breakage, Storm, Lightning and Hailstone damage and hitting wild animals (some even cover any animals).

Fully Comprehensive (full-coverage incl. collision, known as Vollkasko in German) which includes the Third Party Fire and Theft cover just mentioned before PLUS damage to your own vehicle due to vandalism or accidental collision damage or being victim of “hit and run” when the guilty party can’t be found. This cover is normally required when a vehicle is financed or leased in case of a total loss (total write-off).

Excess (or deductible) is the first part the insured needs to pay towards a claim on damages done to their own vehicle.

Partial Claims (Fire, Theft, Glass Breakage, Hailstone, Lightning, Storm Damage and collision with Animals) tend to have either a €150,- or €300,- excess and Fully Comp claims tend to have either €300,- or €500,- although this can be increased to €1000,- or €2000,- to reduce the premium, if requested.

Some insurances ask if you would like to set up your own monthly or yearly standing order from any bank account you like to use or if you prefer them to debit a VISA or Mastercard when due but most ask for your German IBAN for them to be able to set up a SEPA direct debit their end.

Payments are generally monthly, quarterly, ½ yearly or annually (annually being the cheapest option as they charge extra for any other option). If they can’t debit a German IBAN then they can normally send out a bill for you to pay them via a bank transfer (please note this will not be possible monthly and they again will charge an extra on top for not being able to debit a German IBAN)

Yes, although this is not required in many countries of Europe anymore, the German insurances do still issue them. They are sent out or emailed through at the same time as the policy documents, so don’t worry you dont have these immediately, your vehicle is still insured to be driven throughout Europe incl. UK, even without this international green card (IVK) in your car.

Please note new green cards are no longer green in colour. They are white now.

That used to be very true and some very few still do insure the car, so that their policies are any driver policies BUT over the years most German car insurances have changed their policies and do now give discounts for just named drivers like “Insured Only” or “Insured and Spouse/Life-Partner only” etc for example. Some allow you to set up insurance on a “any driver over 23 years old” or “any driver over 25 years old” basis for example.

Most insurance companies work on a no-claims structure which means the more years you have been insured without accidents/claims the cheaper the insurance gets for you, as you get a discount for this.

Providing the the right proof of these no-claims is sometimes the tricky part as different countries have different structures and different requirements but basically as percentages can mean different thing, the amount of no-claims needs to be shown in YEARS. No-Claims have to be on the previous insurance company’s headed paper and also show a cancellation date as they can only be used on one policy at a time. Most insurance companies also insist on seeing the actual inception date the policy started on too and what type of vehicle was insured, eg. motorbike, car, caravan, campervan etc…

Most insurances need to receive an original No-Claims certificate as a hard copy via post but there are a couple that will also accept them as a pdf attachment and most still accept them up to 7 years after the cancellation date, which is different to many other countries where they already run out after 2 years.

Each vehicle has its own set of no-claims here, so the same set of no-claims can NOT be used on more than one policy at the same time.

You normally get 4-6 weeks to provide a proof of no-claims. This can be an ORIGINAL hard copy sent through via post or a copy emailed through as a pdf attachment. If not received you will get a reminder sent out to you giving you another couple of weeks to provide this. If still not received after this period then the premium will be increased to having NIL no-claims and the difference will be debited back-dated to the beginning of the policy until the no-claims are provided and then the difference gets refunded back again once the no-claims certificate has been received, accepted and actioned.

IF you are just changing insurances from one German insurance to another German insurance then you do not have to provide a certificate of no-claims as all German vehicle insurances are linked into an internal electronic no-claims confirmation system. In this case, you would just need to provide the name of your previous insurance holding the no-claims, the policy number and cancellation date and your new German insurance will obtain the no-claims confirmation from the previous insurance company directly themselves.

No, although most insurances do work on no-claims, we also work together with an insurance company that are not interested in getting any proof of no-claims as they work out their premiums differently. This is ideal for people who do not have a spare set of no-claims for a second or third vehicle for example.

FIRST CALL THE POLICE (110) – THEN YOUR INSURANCE!

The 24h helpline telephone numbers can normally be found on your policy document (for example:
0800-227-25246 or 0049-221-925488-79 for Mirascon clients and
0800-11 22 33 44 or 0049-89-38002300 for Allianz clients and
0049-221-60607060 for Europa clients).

It does not matter if you are to blame or not, please always call the police, as leaving the scene of the accident is a serious offence in Germany, which if not taken seriously could jeopardise your insurance cover!

Afterwards we can still assist you with all matters and help make an unpleasant incident as carefree as possible.

To report or make a claim MIRASCON clients need to please complete the online claim report form on the CLAIM page of the MIRASCON website: www.mirascon.com

This is required for any sort of claim/incident even if only a chipped or cracked windscreen. Mirascon’s claims dept. will email you your claims number and what the next steps to take are, all in English. If you have problems online please call: 0800 Car Claim (0800-227-25246) or 0049-221-925488-79.

ALLIANZ clients need to please call: 0800 11 22 33 44 or 0049-89-38002300 or send an email to [email protected] and we will get the Allianz Claim Report form emailed over to you to complete and return.

EUROPA clients need to please call: 0049-221-60607070 or send an email to [email protected] and we will get the Europa Claim Report form emailed over to you to complete and return.

Nothing really, as German car insurance policies automatically renew for another year each year on their main renewal date unless you provide the insurance company with the required one month’s written notice (signed by the insured) before the main renewal explaining that you don’t wish to renew the following year.

No, sorry, German car insurance doesn’t insure you to drive other people’s cars regardless of where in Europe they are. The owner/insured of the car you wish to drive will need to put you down on their own policy as a named driver for the time in question. It is good to ask this as many people assume this is the same throughout Europe as with most UK insurances where you tend to be insured to drive other people’s vehicles inside the UK for Third Party cover only on your own UK insurance policy but this isn’t the case here.

You can cancel your German car insurance policy by either giving the required one month’s written notice (signed by the insured) a month BEFORE the main annual renewal date or by providing a de-registration certificate as insurance is linked in to the registration office. All the time it is registered here it needs to have insurance and to cancel the insurance it needs to be de-registered.

As German insurance is linked in to the registration system here (whether BFG, USAREUR, NATO or German registration) it can only stay valid whilst still registered here. When you leave Germany you will have to get new registration sorted out in the country you are moving to and would therefore require new insurance to do this BUT we work together with many insurance companies in other countries too, so we can get some good insurance quotes for you when you leave Germany.

Yes, some insurances provide this in English straight after cancellation via email and others send out an original hard copy on their headed paper in English and German after cancellation and will send it to your forwarding address regardless of where that may be in the world.

Yes, we do all types of insurances including Household Contents too. Best thing would be if you could please complete the relevant online insurance quotation form for this, by using the “Quotations Forms” button and going down to House Contents. Once received we will email you the top couple of our best quotes to you.

Over the years you collect a lot of personal items, making your household contents build up to quite a value, that could be a big financial burden should you lose everything and have to replace everything new again like after a fire for example. Household Contents Insurance insures these items (furniture, clothing, electronic devices etc) in cases of fire, theft after a break-In, lightning strike, explosion, burst waterpipes, storm, hailstone damage, robbery and vandalism following a burglary.

As cover is „NEW for OLD“ the sum insured needs to be the total amount that would be needed to replace everything new. Basically speaking if you turn your house/flat upside down, the total value of everything that falls down needs to the sum insured. To avoid being under-insured we recommend at least €650,- per square metre of living area and that is why we ask for the square metre size of your flat/house on the quotation form.

Yes, we do all types of insurances including Private Liability. Best thing would be if you could please complete our online insurance quotation form for this, by using the “Quotation Forms” button and going down to Private Liability. Once received we will email you the top couple of our best quotes for you.

Private Liability is a “must”! A brief act of carelessness or a mishap can end up causing you significant financial damage especially if other people suffer injuries as a result of this. There are so many things that can happen accidently. Children could damage parked cars with their bikes, your washing machine may leak into the flat below or you may pour red wine over your friend’s valuable persian carpet… are just a few more harmless incidents but the list is endless and costs can easily go in to the millions.

You can get policies covering anything from 5 Million to 60 Million Euros.

It isn’t normally very expensive at all. Single people can get a Private Liability policy for only around €40,- per year. A family policy tends to be around €85,- per year.

UK based Household Contents insurance often include family liability incl. pets like cats and dogs automatically BUT here, in Germany for example, most insurances are separate and although cats are included in the normal private liability policies, dogs have to have their own insurance and get registered here too.

Yes, we can set up Dog Liability too. Please could you complete the relevant online quote form for that.

Yes, we can set up Dog Health Insurance too. Please could you complete the relevant online quote form for that.

We will require the following:

• Name of Pet and if female or male?
• Chip / Tattoo number
• If sterilised/castrated?
• German IBAN number for direct debits.

Yes, all of Europe is covered (normally restricted to up to 6 months per year) Some also do worldwide cover.

Liability cover can be provided for dogs and horses. Health insurances can be provided for cats, dogs and horses.