Settling into Germany
Car insurance, built for Indian expats
Kfz-Versicherung
We arrange car insurance for clients whose cover we look after as a whole. A single policy on its own rarely lets us do that well, so this page is honest about when we are the right choice and when another route serves you better.
Liability
third party liability is mandatory before you can register a car, and we set it up with cover of up to 100 million euros
New driver
most expats begin without a German no-claims record and are rated as a new driver, which lifts the early premiums
Driver protection
an important layer that covers your own injuries as the driver, including in an accident you caused yourself
No-claims protection
a recommended layer that keeps your no-claims class intact after a claim, so one accident does not push your premium up
Firat Üstüner
Your car insurance specialist
Mon to Fri, 9:00 to 18:00
Overview
Why Indian expats need this cover
Car insurance in Germany comes in three layers, and only the first is required by law. Which of the other two earns its place depends on the value of your car and how much risk you are comfortable carrying yourself.
Liability (Kfz-Haftpflicht)
Required before you can register a car, it pays for injury and damage you cause to other people. This is the part the law insists on.
Partial cover (Teilkasko)
An optional layer for events outside your control, such as theft, fire, broken glass, storm damage, and collisions with wildlife.
Comprehensive cover (Vollkasko)
The fullest option, adding damage to your own car including a fault you caused and vandalism, which suits newer or financed vehicles.
Is NEOdirect the right fit for your car cover?
We would rather be honest before you spend time with us. Here is who tends to get real value from working with us on a car policy, and who is usually better served another way.
A good fit
- You want one English-speaking advisor for your whole situation in Germany, not a single policy in isolation.
- You care about cover that holds up at claim time, alongside a fair price.
- You are ready to bring your other contracts to us so we can see the full picture.
- You value straight answers, even when the honest one points you somewhere else.
Probably not the right fit
- You have an agent you trust and would like to keep that relationship.
- You only want the lowest possible number and nothing around it.
- You want car insurance on its own for now, with everything else staying where it is.
- You would rather have a quick yes than an accurate picture.
Why we are selective
Why we do not take every car insurance request
This is the part most brokers leave unsaid. We would rather explain it plainly, so you can decide with the full picture rather than a polished pitch.
The economics of a standalone policy
A single car policy for a new expat earns us around 15 to 25 euros a year after tax, while a proper setup takes three to four hours. On its own that leaves no room to look after you the way we would want to.
We can only protect what we can see
When another adviser holds your other contracts and we see the car alone, we cannot judge how the pieces fit together, and giving partial advice is something we would rather avoid.
Expat car insurance is genuinely involved
Without a German claims history you begin at the base class, and an international licence adds underwriting questions that not every insurer will take on. The cheapest quote often carries the widest gaps.
Honesty rarely wins on price alone
A sales pitch shares only the upside, while honest advice has to include what can go wrong, so we will often look like the harder choice next to someone who simply agrees with you.
Something we learned over time
Clients sometimes ask us to start with the car and move the rest later. In practice that move almost never follows, so we now arrange car cover only as part of looking after your full situation.
The difference that matters
Why a broker sits on your side of the table
An insurance agent is contracted to one company and is paid to place that company's products. A broker, the role NEOdirect holds, works on your behalf and compares a wide range of insurers across the market.
The same English word hides two different roles
In English an agent and a broker are often called the same thing, which makes the difference easy to miss. The two are paid differently and answer to different people, and that shapes the advice you get.
A neutral-sounding name is not proof
Some agents trade under names that sound neutral while remaining tied to one or two insurers underneath. What tells you which you are dealing with is the broker licence, the Maklerzulassung. If someone cannot show you theirs, they are acting as an agent whatever the business card says.
Smooth English can skip the clauses that matter
English can make it easier to gloss over the terms that decide a claim, so a confident explanation sometimes leaves out exactly the detail you need later. We would rather walk you through it before you sign.
A real scenario, simplified
A quick example of price against cover
A lower premium can look like the obvious choice until you read what sits behind it. Here is the kind of comparison expats bring to us most often.
You ask us for a quote
1.400 € / year
An agent offers a similar-looking policy
1.280 € / year
On paper you save
120 €
The gap is real, and so is what sits behind it. The cheaper policy often drops the cover that matters after an accident that was not your fault, or sets a higher deductible you only meet at claim time. We would rather show you both numbers and let you choose with the full picture in front of you.
Free tool, no sign-up
Use the free car insurance calculator
If you would like to compare liability, partial, and comprehensive rates yourself, our calculator is open to everyone with no registration. When you want the full picture around it, you know where we are.
How we work
How to get started with NEOdirect
We do not start with a sales call. We start by understanding where you actually stand, and the car fits into that wider view.
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Get the Simplr App
Takes 2 minutes
Download our digital insurance folder. It's where your German contracts live in one organised place.
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Upload your current paperwork
Snap a photo
Upload your current German insurance policies (or your car registration details if you just bought a vehicle). Photos are totally fine.
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Clear feedback in plain English
Within 48 hours
We review your entire situation. We will tell you honestly if we can build a better package with the car included, or if you should keep what you have.
Why NEOdirect
What working with us actually gives you
The value of a broker on car insurance is not only a number on a quote. It is the right cover for your situation here and someone who deals with the German side when a claim lands.
Cover that holds at claim time
We recommend a policy for how you actually drive and live here, and we explain in plain English where it protects you and where it stops.
Built around expat realities
We account for the base no-claims class and an international licence from the start, instead of fitting you to a template built for someone who has driven here for years.
Claims handled in German, by us
When something happens you reach us first. We deal with the insurer in German and keep you updated in plain English while the claim runs.
One point of contact for everything
Your car sits alongside the rest of your cover with a single adviser, so you are not juggling separate agents for each policy.
FAQ
Questions Indian expats ask us most about car insurance
We arrange car insurance for clients whose wider cover we look after, rather than as a single policy in isolation. If you would like us to take on your full situation, the car fits in naturally, and if you prefer to keep everything else where it is, the free calculator on this page lets you compare rates yourself.
A standalone car policy gives us only a narrow view, and the advice we can give from there is limited. Looking after your contracts together lets us judge how each piece supports the others and set the cover up properly, which is the standard we want to hold.
Most expats start in the base no-claims class, which lifts the first year and then improves with each claim-free year that follows. We check whether your insurer recognises a no-claims record from your home country, since some will, and we factor that in when we set things up.
For the first months after you move you can usually drive on a recognised foreign licence, and after that most residents convert to a German one. An international licence adds a few underwriting questions, and not every insurer takes them on, so we match you with one that does.
Partial cover (Teilkasko) handles events outside your control such as theft, fire, glass, storms, and wildlife. Comprehensive cover (Vollkasko) adds damage to your own car, including a fault you caused and vandalism. Which one makes sense depends on the value of the car and how much risk you would rather carry yourself.
Third party liability (Kfz-Haftpflicht) is required before you can register a car, because it covers the damage you might cause to other people. Partial and comprehensive cover are optional and sit on top of that.
We review your current policy and its timing, and if a switch serves you we handle the change so you are never left without cover. The main German switching window runs to the end of November for a January renewal, and we flag your own dates when we look at your contract.
After you register and upload your documents in Simplr, we review everything and come back to you within two business days with a clear recommendation and the next step.
Want one advisor for the car and everything around it? Let us take a look together.
No German required. Tell us where you stand, and we will set up your full cover, with the car insurance in its proper place.
NEOdirect · Insurance broker for expats in Germany