Independent · English-speaking · Licensed under § 34d GewO

Insurance in Germany for Expats

One Broker. The Whole Market. No Sales Script.

You didn’t move to Germany to become an expert in Sozialversicherung. An independent broker compares the whole market for you, explains what each policy actually covers, and stays on the other end of the phone when something goes wrong — not just when something needs signing.

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Years in the German insurance market

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Insurers compared for every case

Named contact, not a call centre

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Clients advised

The problem

Why expats end up with the wrong insurance in Germany

It’s rarely bad judgement. It’s a system that sells you a policy before anyone explains how German insurance actually works — mandatory, optional, public, private, gesetzlich, privat. Three reasons this happens on repeat:

Tied agents can only open one drawer

An Ausschließlichkeitsvertreter (tied agent) represents a single insurer. Ask about a competitor’s policy and you’ll get a polite version of “we don’t do that here” — even when it’s the better fit for someone new to Germany.

Comparison portals sort by price, not by what happens when you claim

Check24 and similar sites are built to rank the cheapest premium, not the exclusions buried in paragraph fourteen of the policy wording. For an expat who can’t read the small print in German, that gap gets expensive fast.

Nobody explains the system before asking you to sign

You get handed a GKV or PKV form during your Anmeldung week, take out a Haftpflicht policy because a flatmate said so, and only later find out what any of it actually means. That’s the wrong order.

Start here

How insurance actually works in Germany

Germany runs on a mix of state systems, payroll deductions and private cover — and almost none of it gets explained to newcomers in one place. Here’s the short version, in three tiers.

What the law requires

Non-negotiable. If you live and work here, these are simply part of being resident in Germany.

Health insurance (GKV or PKV) — required for every resident from the day you register your address (Anmeldung), no exceptions.
Statutory pension contributions — automatic once you’re employed; deducted from your payroll before you ever see it.
Car insurance (Kfz-Haftpflicht) — required to register any vehicle, including a scooter.
Dog liability insurance — mandatory by law in several federal states, including Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia.

What most residents get anyway

Not required by law, but close to universal — and the gaps get expensive quickly.

Personal liability insurance (Privathaftpflicht) — around 85% of German households carry one; covers you if you damage someone else’s property or injure someone by accident.
Household contents insurance (Hausrat) — covers your belongings against fire, theft and water damage; landlords increasingly expect to see proof of it.
Legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutz) — covers legal costs for tenancy, employment or traffic disputes, three areas where expats run into the German legal system fastest.

What depends on your situation

Worth having for some people, unnecessary for others. This is where honest advice matters most.

Private pension top-ups (Rürup, company pension) — closes the gap the state pension won’t fill, especially for freelancers.
Income protection insurance (Berufsunfähigkeit) — replaces your income if illness or injury stops you working in your profession.
Professional liability insurance — mandatory for some regulated professions, sensible for most freelancers and contractors.
Pet health and surgery insurance — covers vet bills beyond the basic liability cover above.

If you only sort two things in your first month here, make it health insurance and personal liability. Everything else can wait for a proper conversation.

The difference

Independent broker, tied agent, or comparison portal — what's the actual difference

All three will sell you a policy. Only one of them is legally required to work for you.

Independent broker
(insure-Germany)

Tied agent

Comparison portal
(e.g. Check24)

Works on behalf of

You — legally your representative under § 34d GewO

Their employer, the insurance company

Its own platform and advertising partners

Insurers compared

100+ across the market

Usually one company’s product range

Only insurers who pay to be listed

Advice

Personal, based on your situation and paperwork

Personal, but limited to what they’re allowed to sell

A form, not a conversation

Your contact

Same person, year after year

Changes when territories or jobs change

Call centre, different person each time

If you need to claim

I handle the communication with the insurer for you

Passed on to the insurer’s claims department

You’re on your own

Liable for the advice given

The broker

The insurance company

Effectively none — it’s a comparison tool, not advice

What it costs you

Nothing — paid via commission already built into the premium

Nothing — paid via commission already built into the premium

So why not just use Check24?

Comparison portals are fine for shopping a single, simple product like car insurance, where price is most of the story. They’re a poor fit for anything with real small print — private health insurance, income protection, legal cover — because the site can’t read the wording for you, doesn’t know your Vorerkrankungen or your visa status, and won’t be there in three years when your situation changes. A broker will.

How I'm paid, in plain terms

As an independent broker licensed under § 34d GewO, I’m paid via commission that insurers already build into your premium — whether you buy through a broker, directly, or through a portal. Using a broker doesn’t cost you anything extra, and the premium doesn’t change.

What we cover

What we advise on

Six areas, each compared across the market rather than sold from one shelf. If you’re not sure which one applies to you, that’s what the free call is for.

Health insurance in Germany for expats

Public or private, top-up cover, dental – the decision that shapes your monthly budget more than any other. We compare providers on what they actually pay out, not just the entry premium.

Private pension plans in Germany

The state pension alone won’t be enough, and it gets complicated if you ever leave Germany. Rürup, company pensions and private plans compared side by side, in numbers you can actually check.

Personal liability insurance in Germany

Haftpflicht is the one policy almost every

German household has and almost every expat skips in year one – until a bike, a rented flat, or a friend’s phone gets damaged. We find cover with the fewest exclusions, not just the lowest price.

Business insurance for freelancers in Germany

Freelancing here comes with liability, indemnity and health-insurance questions employees never have to think about. We cover professional liability, cyber risk, and the health/pension gap self-employed people fall into.

Pet insurance in Germany

Dog liability cover is a legal requirement in several federal states, not an optional extra. We also compare health and surgery cover for cats, dogs and horses, so a vet bill doesn’t become a financial event.

Legal insurance in Germany

Legal insurance helps cover legal fees when a dispute becomes expensive — from employment and tenancy issues to private legal conflicts. We explain which types of legal protection actually make sense in Germany and what you should look for before choosing a policy.

Independent Broker

100+ insurers compared

The difference

“I spent my first years selling for one insurer. That's exactly why I stopped.”

I started in tied agency — Ausschließlichkeitsvertrieb, selling one company’s products and nothing else. It taught me the mechanics of the industry properly: underwriting, claims, the small print that actually matters. What it didn’t let me do was tell a client the truth when a competitor had the better policy.

That’s the part that eventually got to me. I’d sit across from someone — often someone who’d just moved to Germany and had no idea what Privathaftpflicht even was — and know there was a better option two providers over, one I simply wasn’t allowed to offer. After a few years of that, going independent wasn’t really a decision. It was the only way to keep doing this job honestly.

Twelve years into the German insurance market, I now compare more than 100 insurers for every case, advise in English or German depending on what’s easier for you, and work from Mannheim with clients across the country. The job hasn’t changed much — people still need someone to explain what they’re actually buying. I’ve just stopped having to hide the alternatives.

Christian Keller

Independent insurance broker, licensed under § 34d GewO · insure-Germany

The decision everyone hits first

Public or private health insurance

— and who actually gets to choose

Neither one is simply better. Which route is right depends on your income, your age, whether you’re employed or self-employed, and whether you’re planning a family here. Here’s the honest short version.

Private health insurance (PKV)

Open to the self-employed and higher earners

Who can choose it

Freelancers and the self-employed, civil servants, and employees earning above the annual threshold — for everyone else the door stays closed.

What works in your favour

Public health insurance (GKV)

The default route for most employees

Who can choose it

Employees earning under the annual threshold, students, and most pensioners – for many people this isn’t a choice, it’s automatic.

What works in your favour

Whether you can choose public or private health insurance depends on your employment status, income, and personal situation. Before recommending anything, we first make sure you actually have a choice — and then help you make the right one.

Private medical insurance in Germany for expats

Advice is free of charge. As an independent broker I’m paid via commission that insurers already build into the premium, so your contribution doesn’t change.

How it works

How working together actually works

Four steps, no obligation to continue after any of them, and no fee at any stage.

Free first call

Thirty minutes, by phone, video, or in person if you're near Mannheim. We talk through what you already have, what's missing, and whether I can actually help — free either way.

Policy check

I go through your existing contracts — the German ones you may have signed without fully understanding, plus anything you brought from home — and tell you plainly what's solid, what's missing, and what you're overpaying for.

Market comparison

I compare the relevant part of the market — 100+ insurers — and bring you a short list with the reasoning behind it, not just a spreadsheet of premiums.

Ongoing support

Once you're covered, I stay your contact for policy changes, annual reviews and claims. If something happens, you call me — not a hotline in a country you've never lived in.

None of these four steps costs you anything. See “What does an insurance broker cost in Germany?” in the FAQ below for how that works.

What clients say

Trust isn't a marketing slogan

It’s what happens when someone actually picks up the phone. This is where real client feedback will sit.

Jan Tuskan

Trustpilot

Super Nur gute Erfahrungen gemacht. Super Kundenservice. Netter Mensch und kompetente Beratung

Christin

Trustpilot

Kompetente Beratung ohne Schnickschnack

Eigentlich hatte ich mir vorgenommen, hier ein lyrisches Meisterwerk als Rezession zu hinterlassen, aber mit Fakten ist man hier besser bedient :) Das Thema Versicherungen war für mich immer eine Blackbox und ich habe es jahrelang vor mir hergeschoben, was natürlich auch nicht zielführend war. Chris konnte viel Licht in den dichten Versicherungsnebel bringen, hat mir alles super geduldig und ausführlich erklärt und mir die bestmöglichen Versicherungsoptionen angeboten. Kein Schnickschnack, kein unnötiger Quatsch. Super kompetent, prima Beratung und bei insure-Germany ist man einfach gut aufgehoben. Merci!

Anonymous

Trustpilot

Ehrlich gesagt habe ich früher immer versucht, selbst alle Versicherungsanbieter zu finden und alle auftretenden Probleme zu lösen. Needless to say, dass ich mehr als genug Zeit dafür verschwendet habe und den Ergebnis war nicht optimal. Ich bin froh, Kundin von Insure-Germany geworden zu sein, denn das ist einfach ein ganz anderes Niveau. Chris hat mir stets ausführliche Beratungen gegeben und auf all meine Fragen vollständige Antworten gefunden. Natürlich, übt er keinen Druck auf meine Entscheidungen aus und ist einer echter Profi. Ich kann Chris jedem empfehlen, der sicherstellen möchte, dass alle seine Versicherungen optimal verwaltet werden (und einfach optimal sind).

Where we advise

Based in Mannheim, working across Germany

Most of my in-person meetings happen within about 50 km of Mannheim — Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg, Speyer, Weinheim, the whole Rhine-Neckar area. If you’d rather talk at your kitchen table than fill in a web form, that’s the appeal of working locally, and it’s still how I prefer to work when I can.

Everything that doesn’t need to happen in person, doesn’t: video calls, digital signatures, contract management online. That’s why clients outside the region — and expats anywhere in Germany — get exactly the same service, just over a screen instead of a coffee table.

A few quick answers

How far do you travel?

Around 50 km from Mannheim for in-person meetings. Beyond that, video calls cover exactly the same ground.

What does it cost?

Nothing. I'm paid via commission that's already built into your premium, whether you use a broker or not.

Do I have to switch my existing policies?

No. If a policy you already have is genuinely good, I'll tell you to keep it. I only recommend changes where they're actually worth making.

Questions before you call

Frequently asked questions

What does an insurance broker cost in Germany?

Nothing, in the sense that matters: you don't pay me a fee directly. Brokers are paid via commission (Courtage) that insurers already factor into the premium — the same premium whether you buy through a broker, an agent, or directly. Working with a broker doesn't make your policy more expensive.

What's the difference between a broker and a tied agent?

An independent broker (Versicherungsmakler, licensed under § 34d GewO) legally represents you and compares the whole market. A tied agent (Versicherungsvertreter) represents one insurance company and can only sell that company's products, however well or badly they fit your situation.

Do you advise only in English, or German too?

Both. Advice, documents and follow-up communication happen in whichever language works better for you — often a mix, since some German paperwork doesn't translate cleanly.

Which insurance is mandatory in Germany?

Health insurance from the day you register your address, statutory pension contributions if you're employed, and car insurance if you own a vehicle. Dog liability insurance is also mandatory in several federal states. Everything else — personal liability, household, legal cover, pension top-ups — is optional, though most German households carry the first two anyway.

I don't live near Mannheim — can you still advise me?

Yes. In-person meetings happen within roughly 50 km of Mannheim, but video consultations work identically for clients anywhere in Germany and cover exactly the same ground as sitting across a table.

What actually happens on the first call?

We talk through your situation — what cover you already have, what you're missing, and what's genuinely urgent versus what can wait. It's thirty minutes, free, and there's no obligation to continue afterwards.

Why not just use Check24 or another comparison portal?

Portals are built to rank premiums, not to read the exclusions in the policy wording or understand your specific situation — your visa status, pre-existing conditions, or whether you're employed or self-employed. For simple products like car insurance, that's fine. For health insurance, income protection or legal cover, it usually isn't.

Do I need to cancel my existing policies to work with you?

No. I review what you already have first. If something is solid, it stays exactly as it is. I only suggest changes where the current cover has a real gap or is genuinely overpriced for what it does.

How quickly can I get an appointment?

Usually within a few working days. The first call is thirty minutes, by phone, video, or in person if you're near Mannheim.

MARKET-WIDE COMPARISON

One broker. More choice.

We’re not tied to a single insurance company. We compare solutions from a broad range of established insurers in Germany to find cover that fits your situation — not a product we’re required to sell.