New regional classes Car insurance will probably become more expensive for almost five million
22.08.2024, 09:48 Listen to article
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The German Insurance Association is adjusting the regional classes for motor vehicle insurance. For around ten million drivers, this will probably mean changes to their insurance premiums. Offenbach and Berlin are the worst ranked cities.
Around 9.4 million drivers will have to prepare for changes to their insurance premiums due to new regional classes. For around half of those insured, premiums could soon rise, while for the other half, a reduction in premiums is possible, according to the German Insurance Association (GDV). For around 33 million vehicle owners, however, nothing is likely to change.
Nationwide, the classifications are deteriorating for 49 districts with around 4.7 million drivers. 59 districts and also around 4.7 million drivers will, however, benefit from better regional classes for motor vehicle liability insurance as well as fully and partially comprehensive insurance, as the GDV has now published.
The higher the accident damage in a particular district, the worse its classification in the respective classes. The decisive factor is not where the damage occurred, but in which district the vehicle is registered. For insurers, the GDV regional classes serve as one of numerous tariff features that they use to calculate premiums.
The district with the worst damage record in the current study period was the city of Offenbach, closely followed by Berlin. “In both cities, the damage is almost 40 percent above average,” the GDV announced. In terms of liability insurance, they therefore end up in the worst regional class 12. In comparison with large cities with 300,000 or more inhabitants, Berlin is the city with the highest amount of damage.
Best damage record in South Brandenburg
The best damage record, however, is in the Elbe-Elster district in Brandenburg. According to the GDV, damage here is 30 percent lower than the average. A noticeable number of registration districts improved in Bavaria. “Here, 24 districts and almost one in four drivers achieved a cheaper class,” it said.
Insurance companies can apply the classifications immediately to new contracts and from the next insurance year to existing contracts. However, the regional classes are not binding for calculating premiums.
They lead to significant differences in insurance premiums depending on the region. The comparison portal Verivox, for example, calculated that in Berlin-Mitte, liability insurance for a VW Passat for a 45-year-old single driver who drives 15,000 kilometers per year is on average more than half as expensive as in Emden in East Frisia. In the Berlin district of Nikolassee, insurance premiums are around a third higher according to this model calculation than in the immediately neighboring Kleinmachnow in Brandenburg.
