An insurance customer who has agreed in the insurance policy that he will bear a small part of the damage himself in the event of a claim, the insurance cover usually costs significantly less than without this agreed deductible.
If you want to pay as little insurance premium as possible, but still want to be comprehensively insured, you can achieve this goal cost-effectively by agreeing on a deductible, as is offered with various types of insurance.
Many people would like to be covered by an insurance policy against a certain risk in such a way that the cost risk in the event of damage is as low as possible, i.e. they do not suffer any serious or even existential financial losses in the event of damage. In addition, most people want the cheapest insurance premium possible. Both are possible by agreeing a deductible in the event of a claim in the insurance policy, as this reduces the insurer's risk and allows it to lower the insurance premium accordingly.
Such a deductible is often offered with private liability and legal protection insurance as well as household contents, residential building or travel insurance, but also with motor own damage and private health insurance policies.
There are different deductibles
As a rule, a deductible can be agreed in the policy in terms of amount and/or proportion, which must be borne by the insurance customer in the event of a claim. Typical for a sum-based deductible is, for example, a deductible of 150 euros for partial comprehensive motor vehicle damage, i.e., for example, damage to one's own car due to a collision with a furred deer or due to hail damage.
An example of a percentage deductible is, for example, a 90 percent reimbursement of the cost of a dental prosthesis under a supplementary dental health insurance policy, i.e., the insurance customer has agreed to a deductible of ten percent of the cost in this case. The exact type and amount of the agreed deductible is noted in the respective insurance policy.
The insurance customer benefits from a lower insurance premium right from the start as a result of the agreed deductible – and this is permanent. The agreed deductible, on the other hand, is only due if a claim is made. The higher the agreed deductible, the lower the insurance premium.
The fewer claims, the higher the savings effect
The insurance customer achieves the greatest savings potential if he has agreed a deductible and never suffers a claim. But even with an average claims frequency, the premium saving is usually higher than the amount you have to pay out of your own pocket in the event of a claim under the deductible.
And even those with above-average damage can benefit from a deductible. If you don't report small claims that are below the deductible, you reduce the risk that your insurance company will cancel your policy because the frequency of claims is too high. How long you have to be damage-free, so that the deductible is worthwhile, you can easily calculate yourself.
The formula is: the amount of the deductible divided by the difference in premium between the tariffs with and without the deductible equals the number of years. Example: deductible 100 euros, annual premium 150 euros without and 130 euros with deductible (difference 20 euros), i.e. 100/20 = five years. If the insurance customer suffers a loss from the sixth year or later, he saves more in total on a policy with an agreed deductible due to the lower premium up to that point than he would have to pay in the event of a loss.
Effective reduction of expenses
In private health insurance, the calculation is even simpler, because a deductible of a few hundred euros per year is usually worthwhile even for sick people from the first year of the policy's existence. The premium difference between a health insurance policy with a low or no deductible is often very high compared to a health insurance contract with a higher deductible. In addition, in the case of health insurance policies, the amount to be paid is often limited to a maximum annual amount.
If you want to save money effectively, you can agree on acceptable deductibles in all insurance lines, if possible.
After a certain period of time, the resulting savings in premiums can be used to pay for small claims without any problems, and there is still money left over compared to the higher insurance premiums that would have had to be paid without a deductible.