Advising on car insurance excesses: Compare affordability and actual offers

Treat the excess as a separate customer decision

Your customer wants a lower car insurance premium and asks about a higher excess. As an intermediary, establish what they want and can afford to pay towards an insured claim and what premium change is actually offered in return. Both sides belong together. A low regular premium alone does not show whether the combination fits the customer’s financial room.

Start with the meaning of the excess. DA Direkt describes it as the contractually agreed amount the policyholder bears per claim. Your comparison must identify the insurance section and claim to which it applies. Do not simply place a large number beside the premium. Explain the cover concerned and the specific agreement underlying it.

Ask what the customer wants to change: lower regular expenditure, greater certainty about a claim payment or different protection overall? These objectives can produce different offers. Separating them first allows you to vary the excess deliberately. A question about the excess should not silently become a choice of reduced benefits.

Record partial and fully comprehensive excesses separately

A fully comprehensive option may have different excesses for fully and partial comprehensive cover. DA Direkt describes fixed combinations and gives 300 euros for fully comprehensive and 150 euros for partial comprehensive as an example. This is an insurer example, not a general market standard or promise for every policy. Obtain the combinations actually available for the chosen option from the intended insurer.

Record both amounts with their labels. “300 euros excess” is incomplete if the partial comprehensive side remains unclear. Explain which figure belongs to which section. This also helps comparison with the existing policy: perhaps one excess changes, perhaps both differ. Show this before the decision.

Check whether the offers describe the same desired protection. Comparing fully comprehensive with partial comprehensive cover involves more than the excess. Record changed scope as a separate alternative. The customer can consciously choose between the same protection with another excess and different protection altogether.

Discuss affordability without unnecessary private data

A useful question is: which offered excess could you pay after a claim without abandoning another committed payment? The customer need not disclose a complete private asset statement. An honest initial assessment of the offered amounts is enough. Do not derive a suitable figure simply from occupation, vehicle brand or assumed income category.

Separate existing reserves from savings only planned for the future. Someone without a buffer today cannot automatically use future premium savings to fund an early claim. Discuss current affordability. This is a customer choice, not a prediction of when damage occurs. It needs neither an invented claim probability nor an allegedly optimal amount for every driver.

Ask about the certainty the customer wants. One may consciously accept a larger own share; another may particularly want to limit the individual payment. Both choices can be understandable. Explain the available combinations and consequences. The cheapest displayed offer need not be what the customer chooses after understanding them.

Limit a fictional claim example properly

This example is entirely fictional and is not an insurer’s claim calculation. Assume damage of 1,200 euros fully covered in principle and amount. For this simplified calculation alone, disregard other deductions or special circumstances. With a 300-euro excess, the customer bears 300 euros and the calculated insurance payment is 900 euros. With 500 euros, the figures are 500 and 700 euros.

The calculation shows only the changed excess under these assumptions. It does not establish whether real damage is covered or the settlement under a particular policy. That requires the circumstances, conditions and insurer assessment. Do not promise that every invoice amount above the excess will be paid. A covered amount is explicitly an assumption here.

Explain the per-claim basis too. For two separate fictional claims of 1,200 euros each, fully covered under the same simplified assumptions, the excess is twice 300 or twice 500 euros: 600 or 1,000 euros in total. This does not predict an insurance year. It shows why the excess should not be assumed to be an annual maximum.

If an incident involves several damaged vehicle parts, ask the insurer how it defines the claim for the agreed excess. The number of workshop line items alone should therefore not determine your calculation. Request an explanation for the actual case before adding several excesses or suggesting that only one will apply.

In the same entirely fictional model, consider covered damage of only 200 euros. With an agreed 300-euro excess, those 200 euros remain with the customer and the simplified calculation produces no insurance payment. The customer does not additionally pay 300 euros to the insurer. This explains an excess as participation in damage rather than an extra fee. For a real claim, the amount recognised under the conditions and any further agreements remain decisive.

Add actual premium offers

Have options calculated using the same accurate vehicle and policy details. Identify the excess in each. If drivers, mileage, payment frequency or benefits change simultaneously, explain those differences separately. Otherwise the customer might attribute the whole premium change to the excess although several inputs differ.

Compare the same period. Monthly and annual amounts are not directly comparable without conversion. Use the offers’ actual payment information and explain its basis. You can present confirmed costs for a common comparison period. Do not invent usual prices or apply someone else’s example to the customer’s vehicle.

The actual premium difference and additional own share remain different quantities. The premium concerns the agreed period; the excess concerns each covered claim under the policy. Show both without turning them into guaranteed profit. You do not know how many claims will occur. A comparison without claim assumptions cannot guarantee that the higher excess will ultimately cost less.

Check special agreements in the specific tariff

Read whether the chosen option has special rules for particular damage types or agreed procedures. Ask the insurer if the offer and corresponding conditions do not clearly align. A broad statement in a general guide does not replace the agreement. The customer needs an explanation of the particular policy being considered.

For a leased or financed vehicle, consider the customer’s actual contractual requirements. Ask whether protection or excess requirements exist and have the relevant agreement examined. Assume neither a universal maximum nor automatic permissibility of the offered combination. An attractive insurance premium does not establish compatibility with another contractual obligation.

Keep a workshop agreement or another benefit separate when it differs between offers. You need not recommend additional benefits. Show the differences the actual offers contain. The customer can assess the excess without overlooking another important contractual difference or mistaking a price comparison for a complete benefits comparison.

Prepare a requested change specifically

For an existing policy, establish the actual current excesses for partial and any fully comprehensive cover, the requested change and desired start. DA Direkt directs customers to contact their insurer about adjustments and notes possible premium effects. This does not promise automatic changes at other insurers or on every desired date.

Obtain confirmation of availability, start and new premium for the specific change. Discussing a lower excess does not itself alter the policy. Keep the current position distinct from the requested option. If the response gives another date or combination, explain that difference before the customer interprets it as fulfilment of the original request.

If damage has already occurred, separate the claim from a future policy change. Clarify the actual claim with the responsible insurer under the applicable policy. Do not promise a retrospective excess reduction. Have future options assessed separately so a policy-design response is not mistaken for a commitment about the reported claim.

Record an understandable decision

At the end, the customer should explain the chosen partial and fully comprehensive excesses and why they fit their available funds. Ask what period the quoted payment covers. If they still confuse the excess with an annual maximum, explain it again through the expressly fictional example. Understanding the combination matters more than quick agreement to the lowest premium.

Keep the selected offer version, excesses and important differences discussed in your protected records, including outstanding confirmations about start or contractual requirements. Your comparison note is an organisational aid, not an additional insurer benefit. Use only necessary information; fictional figures suffice for general explanations without sharing real customer documents.

If funds or vehicle use later change, the customer can return to this decision. Review the affected assumption and currently available options. The original comparison stays understandable without claiming to remain the best tariff forever. Your advice supports a consciously chosen excess and a clear balance between regular premium and the burden retained.

Advise new car insurance contacts personally

webRichtung provides vehicle type, cover preference, reason, registration location and contact details as a starting point. It does not promise a particular excess or completed tariff calculation. You undertake the offer assessment yourself; no special excess filter is implied.

Register on the car insurance leads page. The welcome email takes you to webRichtung Customer. Select industry, area in Germany, delivery type and monthly limit; see the current price before a binding order. New contacts and clear professional advice together support the offer decision.

Source and scope

Read in full on 18 October 2026: DA Direkt: car insurance excesses. Insurer-specific combinations are not universal promises. Older example prices and savings percentages are not applied. The claim calculations are explicitly fictional and simplified; the insurer decides actual cover, settlement and changes under the policy.