If your car is registered in Munich, you pay more than the national average for liability cover, and for fully comprehensive too. That does not change in 2027. Still, it is worth checking your policy now: for most contracts the deadline to switch insurer for the new year is 30 November, a Monday.
Two statistics from the German insurers’ association GDV help set next year’s premium. Regional classes depend on where the car is registered; type classes depend on the model.
What has changed for region and model?
The 2027 regional classes cover 413 registration districts. According to the GDV, about 5.2 million drivers in 63 districts move to a better class and about 4.8 million in 46 districts to a worse one. In 304 districts with more than 32 million drivers, the liability class stays the same. What counts is where the car is registered, that is, the keeper’s home address, not where an accident happens. “Where a car is registered makes a considerable difference to the claims record,” says GDV chief executive Jörg Asmussen. Big cities often fare worse than rural areas, he says.
For orientation: liability has 12 classes, with the national average at class 6. The most expensive district is Offenbach in Hesse (class 12, about 40 per cent above average), the cheapest is Elbe-Elster in Brandenburg (class 1, about 33 per cent below). Bavaria has the worst districts for own-damage cover: Garmisch-Partenkirchen is last for fully comprehensive (class 9 of 9), Ostallgäu for part comprehensive (class 16 of 16).
For Munich, ADAC lists these values: the city has liability 10, fully comprehensive 7 and part comprehensive 6 (one class better than before); Munich district has liability 8, fully comprehensive 7, part comprehensive 8. City residents therefore sit four classes above the national average for liability.
On type classes, the GDV reassessed about 33,000 vehicle types. Roughly 7.4 million drivers move up a class and about 5.1 million down; for almost 30 million (71 per cent) the liability class is unchanged. Comparison site Verivox ran examples: a Jeep Wrangler 2.0 would cost about 25 per cent more, a Mini Cooper C 1.5 about 21 per cent less. Each variant of a model line is rated separately. You can find your class using the manufacturer code (HSN) and type code (TSN) in your vehicle registration document.
By when must the cancellation arrive?
For contracts that run from 1 January, 30 November is generally the cut-off. What matters is that the notice has reached the insurer by then, not that it was sent. According to Stiftung Warentest, an informal email with contract number, number plate and contract end (31 December) is enough; it advises asking for written confirmation. Miss the date and you are tied for another year.
Different rules apply if the insurer raises your premium. Under section 40 of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG), you can cancel within one month of receiving the notice, and the insurer must point out that right. It does not apply if the premium rises only because you lost your no-claims discount after an accident or moved to a costlier region.
Is switching really worth it?
Only case by case, and a better regional class does not guarantee a lower price: insurers may use the GDV statistics for new contracts at once, for existing ones only from the next policy year, and they are not bound by them. Mileage, no-claims class and excess also count.
Our assessment: the effort pays off mainly if you have stayed with one insurer for years and never compared. Compare like with like, the same no-claims class and the same cover. Stiftung Warentest warns that a premium can look unchanged while really rising, because your own no-claims class has improved. And only liability cover must be offered to everyone; for part or fully comprehensive an insurer can refuse, so get the new policy confirmed before cancelling the old one. How prices really move will only show in insurers’ offers in December; we think it plausible that room for savings in 2027 is smaller than in earlier years. That is an assessment, not a promise.
Sources: GDV, ADAC, Gesetze im Internet, test.de, cash-online
