Car insurance in Germany: liability, Teilkasko or Vollkasko?

Motor third-party liability (Kfz-Haftpflicht) is a requirement for registering a vehicle. Partial or fully comprehensive cover (Teilkasko/Vollkasko) protects your own vehicle to different extents; the sensible level of cover depends mainly on the value of the vehicle and how much you could afford to pay yourself.

In short: Motor third-party liability is compulsory in Germany and pays for damage you cause to others with your car. Partial cover (Teilkasko) protects your own car against theft, hail and collisions with animals, for example; fully comprehensive cover (Vollkasko) also covers accidents you cause yourself. Vollkasko usually makes sense for new, financed or leased cars; for older cars with a low value, Teilkasko or liability alone is often enough.

Liability, Teilkasko and Vollkasko compared

Motor third-party liability only pays for damage you cause to others – to people, cars or property. For damage to your own car you need Kasko cover:

Damage to your own car	Teilkasko	Vollkasko
Theft	✓	✓
Fire, storm, hail, lightning, flooding	✓	✓
Glass breakage	✓	✓
Collision with animals and marten bites	✓	✓
Accident you caused yourself	–	✓
Vandalism, hit-and-run by the other party	–	✓

Vollkasko always includes the Teilkasko benefits. Policies differ for collisions with animals: some only pay for game such as deer or wild boar (Haarwild), better ones for animals of all kinds.

Which cover suits your car

• Vollkasko: for new and nearly new cars and for financed or leased cars – banks and leasing companies often require it.
• Teilkasko: for mid-aged cars whose value no longer justifies cover for accidents you cause yourself, but which should still be protected against theft, hail and collisions with animals.
• Liability only: for older cars that you could repair or replace yourself if necessary.

There is no fixed age limit. What matters is whether you could cope with a total loss from your own funds. A higher excess lowers the premium – use the excess calculator to check whether it pays off.

What the premium depends on

The biggest factor is your no-claims class (Schadenfreiheitsklasse, SF class): every claim-free year moves you up and you pay less. After a claim you caused under liability or Vollkasko, you are moved down; Teilkasko has no no-claims class. Regional and vehicle type class, named drivers, annual mileage, parking location and excess also play a role.

Regional class of your district

Alongside the no-claims class and type class, the regional class (Regionalklasse) feeds into your premium. The German Insurance Association (GDV) calculates it every year for each vehicle registration district, based on how many claims were reported there and how expensive they were. The statistics are not binding on insurers: according to the GDV, they can be applied immediately to new policies and to existing policies from the next insurance year. The 2027 values and the change from the previous year are on our regional pages (in German), for example for the district of Ammerland, Oldenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich.

Type classes 2027

The GDV also recalculates the type class (Typklasse) of your car model every year. The 2027 type classes are now available. According to the GDV (press release, 30 September 2026), the motor liability classification changes for more than twelve million drivers: around 7.4 million move to a higher class, around 5.1 million to a lower one, and for around 71 per cent it stays the same. As with regional classes, the statistics are not binding and can be applied to new policies immediately and to existing policies from the next insurance year. A higher type class does not automatically mean a higher overall premium, because other factors also feed into the calculation.

What to check in the policy

1. Liability cover limit: Common and recommended is €100 million lump sum with at least €15 million per injured person.
2. Gross negligence: Good policies do not reduce payouts, for example for running a red light – exceptions usually apply for alcohol and drugs.
3. New value or purchase price compensation: Important for new cars, so that after theft or a total loss you do not just receive the reduced current value.
4. Marten bites including consequential damage: Many policies only pay for the chewed cable, not for the more expensive consequential damage to the engine.
5. Rental cars abroad: An add-on increases the often low cover limits of rental cars outside the EU.

When you can switch car insurance

Most policies run until 31 December and can be cancelled with one month's notice – so your cancellation must reach the insurer by 30 November at the latest. You also have a special right to cancel after a premium increase, after a settled claim and when you change cars. Deadlines, the 2027 type classes and the switch step by step are covered in the guide Switching car insurance. Compare policies in the car insurance comparison.