The changing season for car insurance is imminent: Drivers who want to drive cheaper next year should cancel their old policy by the end of November. FOCUS Online shows what benefits a good insurance contract should offer.
Get in and drive off – that’s all you really want to worry about with a car. But if you do a little bit of paperwork for your own vehicle, you can save a lot of money. Car insurance differs considerably in price. And not only there: The insurers also often offer different services. Changing insurance can therefore be worthwhile in various respects. If only because providers keep increasing their tariffs at the turn of the year. If you want to drive more cheaply and with better security in the new year, you have to keep an eye on November 30th: If you cancel by this date, you can still switch in the current year.
The comparison portal Verivox has brought together the crucial points that FOCUS Online documents here.
These details are important:
Anyone who fails to take even the simplest considerations to avert danger is grossly negligent. The insurer may then reduce benefits or refuse them entirely. The following examples show how quickly one acts with gross negligence: running a red light, using a mobile phone without a hands-free system, ignoring a stop sign or driving too close. A good motor vehicle policy therefore includes the so-called “waiver of defense of gross negligence”.
A recommended addition to car insurance is the so-called driver protection. This protects the driver of the car against financial damage if he has caused an accident. Otherwise, as the only occupant, he cannot assert any claims for damages: If something happens to the passengers, the driver’s liability insurance takes effect – without driver protection, however, he himself has no claims against his liability insurance. Although health insurance covers treatment costs, it does not cover any compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings or maintenance payments to surviving dependents. Driver protection does.
Contrary to popular belief, damage caused by marten bites is not always covered by partial casco insurance – especially not in the cheap basic tariffs. However, no motorist should do without this service. Very important: not only insure direct damage to lines and hoses, but also include consequential damage. These in particular can quickly cause costs in the five-digit range.
Collisions with vertebrates are usually included in the collision damage waiver. Here it is important to ensure that the insurance cover not only includes furred game, but “animals of all kinds”. The insurer also pays if, for example, a dog runs across the street and you cause an accident as a result.
The Mallorca policy is a must for holidaymakers who want to hire a car abroad. It increases the country-specific sums insured in motor vehicle liability to the German level. Because the sums insured by foreign vehicle rental companies are not always sufficient to bear all the costs after an accident. Without a Mallorca policy, the vacationer has to pay the shortfall out of his own pocket.
If you are traveling abroad with your own car, you should think about foreign damage protection. Each country has different levels of statutory coverage. If not all costs are covered by the other party’s insurance after an accident, the foreign damage protection covers the difference between the insurance benefit of the other party involved in the accident and the costs actually incurred.
