Guides

Guides: Understanding Insurance

Insurance guides built around real life situations, risks and contract details, explained plainly – no jargon, no sales pitch.

Updated: 27 September 2026 Tim Jungeblut Editorial methodology

Start with the event you could not afford to cover yourself. From there, our guides lead you to the relevant types of insurance and key features, and only then to comparisons.

Key situations

Moving house, setting up your first home, starting a family, buying a property, changing vehicles and keeping animals are the situations that change your risk profile the most. Each of these six has its own page here – focused on the question that arises at exactly that moment, rather than a general product overview.

Moving house: address, living space, insured location
First home: when co-insurance ends
Starting a family: who depends on you financially
Buying a property: the contract passes to you
Changing vehicles: transfer rather than cancel
Keeping animals: liability without fault

Contracts and rights

What applies if the premium goes up, if a contract is cancelled after a claim, or if something on the application was answered incorrectly? When it matters, these questions decide whether your cover holds – and almost all of them turn on a one-month deadline.

Withdrawal within 14 days
Special right of cancellation after a premium increase
Cancellation after a claim
Duty of disclosure on the application

In this section

Switching car insurance

Your cancellation must reach the insurer by 30 November. Special cancellation after a premium increase, 2027 type classes and how to switch.

Duty of disclosure

Answer questions on the application incorrectly and you put your cover at risk. What § 19 VVG requires, when the insurer may withdraw and what remains after that.

Premium increase

If your premium rises without more cover, § 40 VVG applies: you can cancel within one month of receipt. Which deadlines apply and what to check first.

First home

When you move out, co-insurance through your parents does not end immediately – but it does end. What you really need now and what can wait.

Changing vehicles

When you change cars, you can stay with your current insurer or insure the new vehicle elsewhere. What happens to your no-claims discount and the old contract.

Starting a family

With a child, less changes in property cover than you might think – and more in the question of who depends on you financially. What to check now.

Buying a property

When you buy a house, the buildings insurance passes to you by law – whether you want it or not. What that means and which deadline applies.

Cancellation after a claim

After a claim, the insurer may also cancel. Which rules apply to property, liability and other insurance, and how to avoid a gap in cover.

Your rights

Withdrawal, premium increases, cancellation after a claim and the duty of disclosure: the specific deadlines and entitlements the VVG gives you.

Keeping animals

With dogs and horses, you are liable under § 833 BGB even if you are not at fault. Why personal liability insurance does not cover this and where cover is mandatory.

Moving house

When you move, update your address, living space and insured location in good time: what to check now for contents, liability and buildings insurance.

Withdrawal

Under § 8 VVG, you can withdraw from an insurance contract within 14 days – in text form, without giving reasons. When the period starts and when it ends.

Frequently asked questions

When should I review my insurance?

Whenever your life changes – moving house, moving in together, a child, a property, a new car, a dog. These are the moments when gaps appear and old contracts become unnecessary. Apart from that, a look every one to two years is enough.

Why do you write so much about notice periods and legal sections?

Because that is where the money is that nobody else talks about. Whether your cover holds when it matters rarely depends on the premium and often on a one-month deadline or a question on the application form. These rules are set out in the Insurance Contract Act (VVG), and they often matter more for your cover than the premium. That is why we explain them here in detail.