Car insurance in Stuttgart

[daman002 2]

I am really new to this site so please forgive me for posting this in a previous forum that was catered to meeting up, anyways; I will be arriving to Stuttgart this December. Can anyone tell me the best Car Insurance center around. I am going to pay USAA 161 dollars per month for a Saturn Vue 2008 (full coverage, $1000 deduct), this is twice the amount that I was paying for stateside insurance with a $250 deduct with them. I really would like a significant reduction to offset their excellent customer service.

The information above is just to give you an understanding of the outrageous price increase, I am just asking for some recommended local areas or suggestions.

Thanks for making this site great!

[YorkshireLad6 7,142]

The price increase is outrageous because of the outrageous increase in risk.

[Mik Dickinson 438]

Try HUK or Europa in my experience they are the cheapest with good cover

[sarabyrd 18,763]

 

The price increase is outrageous because of the outrageous increase in risk.

 

Car insurance in Germany is based, for one, on the ratio of incidents per vehicle within the city or county where you and the car are registered. As there are more cars and therefore more accidents in large cities the insurance rate is higher.

 

Do a comparison of various insurance providers and their options. For example, car insurance for women tends to be less than for men. Before the usual suspects jump down my throat: They may cause more accidents (I'm not saying that they do or don't) but the damages generally aren't as high. You can also get better rates if you are the sole driver of the vehicle.

 

German insurance is also based on no-claims; get a no-claims confirmation from your current provider.

[tinkerbel9 8]

These guys are who we use. www.mirascon.de/en/index.php

[bal00 1,917]

Keep in mind that the Saturn Vue isn't sold here, which means it'll be a little tricky to get a quote. Insurance companies will ask for the manufacturer and model codes (schlüsselnummern), which you don't have because they don't exist. They probably won't be able to look up the model by name either.

 

In those cases you can usually get them to use the risk data from a similar model. The Vue is a rebadged Chevrolet Captiva, so they'd probably use that. The Opel Antara is a Captiva rebadge too, and it's slightly cheaper to insure, so I would try to point them in that direction. German insurers may refuse to provide full coverage though, because the model isn't sold here and parts availability is a problem. Basically they don't want to end up having to import parts from the US and paying for a rental in the meantime.

[daman002 2]

Thanks for the feedback, I think I have a couple of places to compare for rates and coverage now. I am aware that there are higher risks but I think $161 can be beat by a local company that are not so paranoid as USAA can be with overseas coverage. Saturn, is the equivalent as an Opel, probally a sub division(foreign) of GMC if I can remember correctly. I just need to find the equivalent as a Saturn Vue, probally the Opel Antara as pointed out in the previous post.

[boobirdy 9]

I can't say if the rates would be lower but when I called Geico to tell them we were bringing cars to Germany they said no problem, they will cover us there- you could give them a call and ask for a quote to compare with USAA.

[tinkerbel9 8]

I have one car insured under AIG and their quote is the exact same as Geico. Mirascon is way cheaper than both of them. They are based out of Heidelberg. I did everything through email (have to have a scanner).

[leky 173]

USAA, AIG/AIU, Geico are all rip offs, they know they have you over a barrell as it is very difficult if not impossible (and may not be allowed?) to get German insurance, so they all up the rates accordingly. I also have Mirascon & it is half the price of AIG, click on the link & there is an online quote so you will be able to compare the costs with USAA & the like.

[Ranger1965 3]

Make sure whatever insurance company you go with...to also join ADAC. They are like AAA in the USA, only better. You will want them on your mobile phone once you start driving around Europe. Roadside assistance is great, they will cover a lot of medical and ambulance costs if you need them in an accident, they even have rider coverage you can buy for skiing accidents (no joke, a guy from Patch Ski club broke his back on a mountain and ADAC booked a helicopter to carry him to the hospital...free!). I wrecked a car in Prague and they booked a shipper to bring it back to Stuttgart (300 miles) the same day and bought me a first class train ticket back to Stuttgart. Cost is about 80 euro per year for a the "ADAC Plus" membership.

 

Go here to check it out. The site is not 100% in English, but If you have trouble, you can call.

 

http://www1.adac.de/mitgliedschaft_leistungen/mitgliedschaftstarife/membership/default.asp?ComponentID=30621&SourcePageID=193391

[daman002 2]

Thanks, I think I got all the information to make a wise decision, I will try out Mirascon and then compare it to one other such as HUK or Europa. I am greatful for the feedback

[daman002 2]

This is my quote from Mirascon:

"Thank you for your online quote request for your 2008 Saturn Vie for full coverage (ded 150/500€) we calculated a monthly premium of 107,28 Euro".

This is a slightly better quote from my USAA rate, but the deductible is alot better. I will still do a little more research but thanks again for the input.

[leky 173]

Only problem with Mirascon is they don't (or didn't?) do household & liabilty insurance, so if you need that also (if you are a civilian living off post you should definitely get it) make sure you include it when you ask for quotes as most places will give you a discount.

[holyloch 162]

Note that when getting a fixed contract in Euros vs. a fixed contract in $$ that the exchange rate can move against you.

BTW, in a conversation I had w/GEICO Germany is that AIG is their carrier for auto policies here.

Me: I personally use USAA but I don't pay your rates (maybe I’m a little older as is my car). Car: is slightly more expensive than southeast Virginia so no complaints. My renter’s policy is cheaper than SE Virginia and I have a house here in Germany vs. apartment in VA.

[Ollie1902 3]

What type of car do you have?

 

Because what I recently came across was a sort of map where they had made numerous calculations for four typical German car brands (small, big , middle size)in relation to about 60 biggest cities.

 

See what you can economize in Stuttgart for VW Golf, Polo, BMW and Mercedes.

 

Just to give an idea:VW Polo == prices between 259 Euro and 441 Euro

[arcoiris 7]

I would recommend Marc Horvat, from Allianz, speaks English and offers a great deal on insurance of any kind, he is just the best, here is his info:

 

marc.horvat@allianz.de

 

don't let the other insurances that cater mostly for Americans fool you with outrageous prices!!

 

I used to pay $150 for my car, and now with him I pay $70 and it is all the same!

[From Florida 107]

 

These guys are who we use. www.mirascon.de/en/index.php

 

I agree with the above. I did a quote comparison with Geico and Mirascon. The latter gave me a better deal. I pay about 40 EUR per month for a 2008 Honda Civic. I forget which insurance option I got, though.

[From Florida 107]

I found my policy, so here are some specifics, just in case:

 

Note that these are Monthly charges.

 

Liability (mandatory... this is to cover you in case you are liable for an accident) - 35 EUR

Option 1 - Vandalism, burglary, etc. damage on your car, but not due to collision - 7 EUR

Option 2 - Includes Option 1 and also collision damage on you car - (not sure since I did not get this)

Option Roadside Assistance - 2 EUR (I didn't get this since I have ADAC)

[danielg 18]

On 12/1/2012, 11:07:32, arcoiris said:

I would recommend Marc Horvat, from Allianz, speaks English and offers a great deal on insurance of any kind, he is just the best, here is his info:

 

marc.horvat@allianz.de

 

don't let the other insurances that cater mostly for Americans fool you with outrageous prices!!

 

I used to pay $150 for my car, and now with him I pay $70 and it is all the same!

 

I second getting in touch with Marc Horvat. I had been insuring with "US" agencies ie agencies that cater to Americans in the area for my USAREUR plated car but Marc was able to get me a good quote for German insurance. At least in the Kaiserslautern area, I was unable to find a German agent that would insure a USAREUR plated car but it was really rather easy with Marc. Only downside is that I physically had to bring my insurance paperwork to the USAREUR RMV whereas other US agencies do this electronically, but this is a small inconvenience. This is however only a good option for people who can prove at least a few years of being accident-free so that they can get a good Schadenfreiheitsklasse.