Type classes in car insurance: that is what they mean

The amount of insurance premiums for your car depends on many factors - including the type classes. You can find out what is behind it and which type classes promise cheaper car insurance in our article.

Car insurance: That means the type class

How high your car insurance is depends not only on the type of insurance or the annual mileage, but also on the drivers, the accident-free time and the type classes. In the following you can read what type classes are and what is divided into them:

• A type class indicates what the percentage of accidents of a vehicle model in Germany are. The more accidents or damage caused by a particular vehicle type, the higher the type class for the vehicle. If you drive a vehicle model with which relatively few accidents happen, it is in a lower type class. However, the type class says nothing about the quality of the vehicles, because the more vehicles of a model are on the road, the greater the likelihood of an accident.
• Examples: You drive a Golf six. The vehicle is one of the most frequently driven models in Germany. The participation of this model in accidents is correspondingly high. The Golf six is ​​therefore classified in a higher type class. A Honda Jazz, however, is a rarer vehicle model in Germany. Therefore, less damage needs to be regulated. For this reason, the model is also in a lower type class.
• The type class also depends on the type of insurance. In liability insurance there are the type classes from ten to 25, the partial comprehensive insurance refers to the type classes ten to 33. The comprehensive insurance has the type classes ten to 34. The amount of your motor vehicle insurance therefore depends on the selected type class and the type of insurance.
• Since the damage cases and damage numbers change every year, but also new vehicle models are added, the type classes are adjusted accordingly every year. So it happens that models are divided into higher classes when the claims regulations have increased. Models with less damage come in lower classes. A period of three years is considered for the classification.
• If you have received a notification from your insurance company about higher premiums, but the number of your drivers, kilometers or accident-free years have not changed for the worse, the type class can be responsible. You should therefore check whether your vehicle has been included in a higher type class before contacting your insurance company. You can read the type classes on the Internet. All information about the 2017 type classes can be found here.
• Note: Liability insurance primarily assesses the type of vehicle and the drivers in order to classify the vehicles into type classes. In the case of comprehensive insurance, the number of car thefts or damage caused by glass damage or fire are also included in the assessment. The more often a vehicle model is stolen, the higher it is classified in the type classes.
• The regional classes also have an impact on the amount of the insurance premium. You can find out what this means in a separate article.

Your insurance will be cheaper if you only insure your vehicle for a certain period of the year. These are seasonal indicators, the costs and information of which we will examine in the next article.