10 + The Best Way To Save On Car Insurance!

Picture: Illustration the best way to save on car insurance

The driver's license has become more expensive. Since 2022, if you want to get your driver's license, you have to pass the so-called "Optimized Practical Driver's License Exam" (OPFEP).

This is a modernized and digitized version of the driver's license test. This means that the driver's license exam now not only takes longer, but also becomes more expensive for you.

So that you can at least save on car insurance, Finanztip has put together the best tips for you, with which novice drivers and young drivers can save money without much effort.

Read Also: How To Compare Car Insurance Quotes To Save Money?

1: Insure the car as your parents' second car

The easiest and cheapest way is for your parents to insure your car as a second car and register you as a driver. Alternatively, the car can also be insured by grandparents or other relatives.

Usually, however, insurance through the parents is the cheapest option. The premium for the first car of the parents does not become more expensive as a result.

Insurance companies classify a second car at least in damage-free class (SF class) ½. Often they even grant an even higher class, in the best case they grant you the same damage-free class with which the first car is insured.

Car insurance through the parents has other advantages: they usually have better insurance values, because they own real estate, for example, or practice a certain profession. For this, the providers often grant further discounts.

Thus, the premium is lower than if the novice driver would insure himself. However, the inclusion of the novice driver in the driver's circle significantly increases the premium, as we found out in a financial tip study in 2018.

By the way, parents do not have to worry that their SF class for the first car will deteriorate if the child makes an accident with the second car. In this case, the downgrade is only for the second car.

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2: Use family tariffs

Not all parents want to insure their child's car as a second car and be policyholders for it. What sounds a little heartless at first does not have to be a disadvantage.

As a novice driver, you will become a policyholder yourself from the very beginning and have your own damage-free discount. The parents' contract can also be very useful.

Many insurers offer young drivers the opportunity to start with a better damage-free class than class 0 if the parents have insured their car with the same company.

With this variant, you insure yourself, the insurance policy then also runs on you. This is usually more expensive than the second car insurance through the parents. But you can still save with it.

As part of our research on second-car tariffs, we have found several of these family tariffs. These are special second-car regulations in which the car may be registered to a person other than the policyholder.

Let us register you as a holder and classify you with the damage-free years that correspond to the duration of your driving license, but at least the SF class ½. This is especially worthwhile if you have already driven a moped or bike before your car driving license, because these times also count.

You cannot conclude the family tariffs with comparison portals. You have to ask your parents' insurer directly.

3: Take part in accompanied driving

For some years now, young people have been able to get a driving license for a car at the age of 17. The prerequisite is that you are always accompanied by an experienced driver in the first year – so you are not traveling alone.

From a statistical point of view, novice drivers who participate in accompanied driving cause fewer accidents – after all, parents usually sit in the passenger seat and pay attention.

This controlled driving pays off. In a sample, we calculated the premium for car insurance in 2016 for three different scenarios: in the first case, the novice driver uses the car of the parents, in the second, a second car of the parents, and in the third case, his own car:

Savings from one year of accompanied driving

For example, the insurance in the sample cost an average of 31 percent less for the first year after the driver's license for accompanied driving than after obtaining the driver's license at the age of 18.

The savings are particularly high if the new driver's license is registered on a car of the parents. Then the family even saves a good 38 percent compared to the driver's license at the age of 18.

In the following years, according to our research, the additional year of driving experience was reflected in cheaper premiums.

If the 18-year-old is allowed to drive without his parents after one year, the car insurance cost an average of 14 percent less than if the 18-year-old would start without driving experience.

Especially with his own car, the 18-year-old saved by experience. On average, providers granted a 20 percent discount. If you only wanted to insure the car with a liability, you even saved almost a quarter of the premium in the 2016 Finanztip sample.

If you want to buy a car yourself at an early age, you should still use your parents' car at the age of 17 and only then get your own car.

As financial tip calculations showed, the driver's license then paid off at 17, although a year earlier there were costs for insurance. You can find out more about our sampling procedure at the end of this text.

4: Take SF classes from your parents' contract with you

It's all hard to start with – and car insurance costs so much premium, especially in the first few years after obtaining a driver's license, because the contribution rate is still high. Over time, however, the insurance will become cheaper if you remain damage-free.

Then a good moment has also come to get into the car insurance contract even as a policyholder. In the best case, you can have the damage-free discount transferred from your parents' second-car contract.

Of course, this only applies to the number of damage-free years, which corresponds to the period of possession of the driver's license. However, it is important that you skip the class 0 or SF class ½ hurdle.

When taking out the new insurance, indicate that you want to take over the damage-free discount of your parents. The insured parent must agree to this takeover in writing. You then start with the new insurance with your own damage-free discount.

You can also switch to a new insurer and do not have to stay with the previous insurance company. You can find out how to do this in our guide to changing car insurance.

Be sure to clarify in advance with the insurer of the parents, under what conditions the discount can be transferred. First of all, ask what damage-free discount he gives you. Many insurers are straightforward in this regard.

However, some providers do not always allow the submission of damage-free classes if you switch to another insurer.

Then you have to calculate whether it is cheaper to stay with the old insurer with the possible discount or to start with another one with the SF class ½ - because you then have the necessary three years of driving license.

5: Take over the SF classes from relatives

As a rule, you can also take over SF classes from relatives and life partners. This option is especially worthwhile for drivers who have had a driver's license for several years, but have never had their own car insurance.

Ask your relatives if they have recently deregistered a vehicle or are planning to do so. This is especially worthwhile if the grandparents can not or do not want to drive a car anymore and can give you their high discount. Not all, but many insurers grant this carryover.

When taking over a loss-free discount, the old policyholder loses all his SF classes in this contract. This is only worthwhile if a contract is no longer needed.

For example, if an 83-year-old driver from your family decides to give up driving in the future, you can use this for yourself and take over the damage-free years of the relatives.

However, only as many damage-free years can be transferred as the recipient already has the driver's license.

Example: A 25-year-old driver who obtained his driver's license at the age of 18 can take on a maximum of seven SF classes. At the age of 21, he acquired his first car and insured it as a second car through his parents. He can therefore take over four damage-free years from this contract.

But if at the same time there is an opportunity to take over more than four SF classes from the contract of a relative, this variant is more favorable for him.

The example shows: you can only take on as many classes as you would have achieved yourself if you had insured a car yourself right after passing the driver's license exam.

You can usually still take over the SF classes six to twelve months after deregistering a car insurance policy. Therefore, also check whether vehicles in your family were deregistered some time ago.

6: Use the SF classes of scooters and motorcycles

You can not only transfer the SF classes from one car to another, but also from motorcycles and scooters to a car. This must be at least a scooter from 50 cubic centimeters.

Maybe even your parents had insured a motorcycle or similar a few years ago, so you can now take over their discount.

You can also always exchange the damage-free discounts between your vehicles. If, for example, you have already collected a number of damage-free years with the motorcycle, there is a good starting position for this exchange.

The discount scale for motorcycles is not as long as that of cars, it currently only goes up to SF class 20 and is much flatter: it starts in class 0 at 90 percent in the motor third-party liability insurance, after a damage-free year, the contribution rate drops to 50 percent.

With the exchange, you transfer a very good damage-free class to the car and significantly reduce the contribution rate there.

And your motorcycle is classified as a second vehicle in the ½ damage-free class. At Huk-Coburg, for example, 65 percent of the contribution rate in the motor vehicle liability and 85 percent in the comprehensive insurance will then be due.

7: Use carsharing

If you participate in car sharing, you regularly drive a car without owning it yourself. This is a very good way for novice drivers to gain driving experience without having to dig deep into their pockets for car and insurance.

But if you eventually need your own car because you want to commute to work or be more independent, you don't have to start from scratch with insurance.

Just as some insurers credit the accident-free periods of the company car as pre-insurance periods, some providers also accommodate car sharing users. We found this out as part of our investigation into second-car insurance.

If you have the required number of driven days and kilometers together, you will be credited with correspondingly damage-free years. However, the car sharing provider must confirm this data to you in writing.

Especially if you can bridge the critical years between ½ and 4 damage-free class with car sharing, it's worth it. Then after these four years of driving license ownership, you can start with the SF class 4 instead of with SF class ½.

8: Use telematics tariffs

With telematics tariffs, car insurers offer discounts for a safe driving style. Usually in combination with a plug or sensor, an app on the smartphone evaluates acceleration, braking behavior and speed, for example.

With a very good driving style, novice drivers can save 20 to 30 percent. But even an experienced motorist can hardly achieve the highest discounts, also because factors that are often difficult to influence are often included in the score, such as trips in larger cities during rush hour traffic.

Nevertheless, the telematics discount can at least somewhat cushion the disadvantage of the lack of damage-free class for young drivers. So take a look to see if your insurance company also offers a telematics option.

However, you should be aware that with telematics you pass on a large number of your driving data to the insurance company.

9: Do not choose a typical novice driver car

Whether VW Polo, Opel Adam or Ford Fiesta: these cars are often recommended by car dealers to novice drivers who are looking for their first own car. However, these models are more often involved in accidents.

This is reflected in high type classes – and makes insurance more expensive. In principle, the higher the type class, the higher the risk of damage and the higher the insurance premium.

The type classes in liability insurance range from 10 to 25. Which type class a vehicle is assigned to depends on many factors, for example on the respective year of manufacture and the engine version.

Check before buying a car autoampel.de or on the pages of the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft (GDV) the respective type class of your car and compare it with similar vehicles.

Pay particular attention to the exact type designation of your car, because, for example, the type classes of a Golf IV differ by up to four levels, depending on the number of horsepower and year of manufacture. Choose a car with a lower type class to save money on the insurance premium.

10: Avoid the hull on very old cars

Liability insurance is required by law for every car in Germany. Comprehensive insurance, on the other hand, is voluntary. Taking out comprehensive insurance makes no sense for older cars with a low residual value. It is usually only worthwhile if the car is less than five years old.

The question of partial comprehensive insurance remains. You should pay attention to three factors in particular: the residual value of your car, the price of the partial comprehensive insurance and the question of whether you will get into financial difficulties if it was stolen.

Compare offers with and without comprehensive insurance. And consider whether the additional costs are reasonable in relation to the residual value of your car. Also, consider whether you can choose a higher deductible to lower the premium.

In a financial tip study from 2018, we found that a retention of 500 euros per claim saves a lot of money. If the residual value of the vehicle is now still significantly higher than what you have to bear yourself anyway in the event of damage, then the partial insurance is definitely worth it.

Please note that a partial comprehensive insurance usually only covers the following claims:

• Theft,
• Fire, explosion,
• Storm, hail, flood,
• Clashes with Haarwild.

Your way to the cheapest car Insurance

You can find the cheapest car insurance if you compare several providers. Our large portal test has shown that it is best to combine at least two comparisons. Because not all insurers are also represented on all comparison portals.

Save money with a combination of comparison portal and direct insurer. First, calculate the cheapest suitable car insurance on either Check24 or Verivox.

Then calculate an offer at the Huk24. Conclude the contract with the cheapest provider. How to find the right car insurance on a comparison portal, we explain in our guide to changing car insurance.