Life Insurance Germany
Last update: 19 December 2021
In principle, a traditional life insurance policy has one main function: It protects surviving dependents in the event of death!
We explain everything you need to know about life insurance: what variants are available, what sum insured you should take out, or how unmarried couples can best insure themselves.
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At a glance – Top 3 Life Insurance Providers Overview
Below you will find a summary of our best life insurances providers in Germany that offer the best coverage.
Feather
1.98 €per month (starting at)
- Get coverage in 2 minutes
- Adjust your cover sum yearly
- Most accessible life insurance for expats
- Fast support, fully in English
Allianz
2.61 €per month (starting at)
- Germany's largest life insurer
- Attractive price-performance ratio
- Calculate individual premium
CosmosDirekt
2.37 €per month (starting at)
- Financial protection for your loved ones
- Experience as market leader for 25 years
- Recommended as a low-cost provider by Stiftung Warentest
What is life insurance?
With a term life insurance policy, policyholders protect other people. After the death of the insured, the sum insured is paid out to the surviving dependents or other persons explicitly named in the insurance contract. This means, for example, that families are financially protected if the main breadwinner dies.
A term life insurance policy is therefore not an old-age provision – in contrast to capital-forming or unit-linked life insurance policies, for example. However, it is worthwhile for all those who have taken on responsibility for others and would like to ensure that these people are well protected financially after their own death. This also answers the question of which is more suitable, term life insurance or other life insurance: If you want to protect other people against the financial consequences of death, take out a term life insurance policy. If you want to provide for your old age, you can use other forms of life insurance or savings products that build up capital.
What does life insurance provide?
To ensure that every individual life situation can be taken into account, different types of term life insurance exist. What to look for when choosing depends on how you answer the following questions:
Who do you want to cover?
Is there a specific financial burden that needs to be absorbed?
Your answers will determine which type of term life insurance best suits you. It will also make it easier for you to decide what makes more sense: a term life insurance policy with a constant, increasing or decreasing sum insured. Don’t worry if this isn’t clear to you yet – we’ll explain the options you have with term life insurance in a moment.
Remaining the same, falling or rising: the sum insured
When you take out term life insurance, you specify whether the sum insured remains the same or changes during the term. A constant sum insured represents the usual coverage for surviving dependents. However, there are also some cases where a decreasing or increasing sum is the better choice.
With a falling sum, the sum insured shrinks by a constant amount each year. The premium does not change, but is significantly cheaper compared to a term life insurance with a constant sum insured. A decreasing sum insured is worthwhile, for example, if you have taken out the life insurance to secure a loan. The sum insured then decreases in line with the remaining debt, so to speak.
With the rising sum insured, the sum increases annually by a fixed percentage (dynamic option). This annual increase in the sum insured causes an increase in the ongoing premiums. As the policyholder, you will be informed of this separately each year and can, of course, object to the annual increase at any time free of charge.
Providers for Life Insurance Germany – Detailed Overview
Feather
Feather is a modern insurance company founded 2018 by Rob Schumacher and Vincent Audoire. Both realized that the insurance situation in Germany is very outdated and full of paperwork. For a more digital and transparent approach they developed Feather, so the process and membership of life insurance becomes more accessible and contemporary. Their service provides coverage for debt and mortgage, lost income, children and education and final expenses in case of an emergency. The application process is very accessible and short. In only 2 minutes your application is done. It has a fast support that speaks fluent English. For expats, it definitely offers one of the best life insurances in Germany.
Very accessible and a good price value coverage
Fast English speaking service and support
Dept and mortgage
Lost income and final expenses
Children and education
Allianz
Allianz is one of the oldest and well established insurance companies in Germany. Allianz promises, that you can optimally and individually protect your family, your real estate financing or other loans in the event of your death. You can also protect your company financially with a term life insurance policy for your death, that of your business partner or that of important employees. The payout amount, the so-called sum insured, can be used to pay current expenses, such as loan installments from real estate financing. However, term life insurance is not intended to provide for old age. A lump-sum payment is made to surviving dependents only in the event of death in the form of an agreed death benefit. Allianz’s term life insurance policies offer you individual options for protecting your loved ones.
Germany’s largest life insurer with a lot of experience
Attractive price-performance ratio
Calculate individual premium for all necessities
Fast and experienced support
CosmosDirekt
CosmosDirekt belongs to one of the leading insurance groups in the world: the Generali Group. CosmosDirekt is the number one direct insurer in Germany and the world’s largest direct insurer in the life insurance sector. With simple and flexible online offers and competent personal advice around the clock, the company sets new standards in the insurance industry. The range of products and services includes life insurance, pension provision and investment. More than 1.8 million customers place their trust in CosmosDirekt. The company regularly achieves top positions in company ratings and product comparisons – over 500 test seals in the last ten years.
Financial protection for your loved ones
Experience as market leader for 25 years
Recommended as a low-cost provider by Stiftung Warentest
Hannoversche
The classic life insurance Germany includes death cover, immediate protection in the event of accidental death up to 100,000 EUR, and the right to terminate the policy at any time on a monthly basis. The Plus variant offers a 20% increase in the sum insured upon the occurrence of the following events: Marriage or registration of a civil partnership, birth or adoption of a child, construction or purchase of a property, increase in income, completion of studies and training, completion of the master craftsman’s examination and entry into self-employment. Hannoversche also offers an important module: you can choose to combine occupational disability insurance and accident insurance with term life insurance. This offers an all-round carefree package.
Flexible and individual
High protection, low premiums
Test winner in a row
How does a life insurance policy work? The difference between term life insurance and endowment insurance!
Each type of life insurance Germany is basically characterized by a long term and a high sum insured. Beyond that, however, there are sometimes major differences. Especially when the insured event occurs. Life insurance can thus basically be divided into endowment insurance and death insurance, other than health insurance. In the former case, the insured person must live to see the end of the term in order to receive the sum insured. In the second case, the insurance only pays if the insured person dies during the term.
Depending on your personal situation and desire for coverage, certain life insurance policies make more sense than others. The best known types of life insurance are:
- Endowment insurance: this classic form of life insurance is a combination of endowment and whole life coverage. The insured pays premiums over many years and receives the sum insured in the event of death during the term or at the end of the term. The sum insured in the event of survival is made up of his or her premiums, interest and any surplus participation.
- Unit-linked life insurance: Basically, this type of life insurance works like endowment insurance. However, the amount paid out at the end is undetermined. This is because the insured person’s premiums are invested in funds. This means that the chances of return are higher, but at the same time so is the risk. Both gains and losses can occur. The risk of fluctuating share prices is borne by the insured alone.
- Annuity insurance: The insurance company pays out the sum insured in monthly instalments. Either for life or for a specified period. If the insured person dies before the annuity begins, the dependents usually only receive back the premiums already paid in.
- Term life insurance: With term life insurance, no money is saved. As a rule, term life insurance only pays out the agreed sum insured in the event of death. For this reason, term life insurance is also much cheaper than other life insurance policies. With such an insurance you prevent your surviving dependants from getting into financial distress if something should happen to you. This insurance provides a financial cushion through the one-time payment of the agreed sum insured.
Life insurance: When and for whom does it make sense?
The decisive factor in this question is what purpose the life insurance is intended to serve. Only then can you check whether there may be (insurance) products that serve this purpose better. Life insurance is generally a sensible option in the following scenarios.
Financial security for the family
Anyone who has started a family may be worried about what will happen if a partner or parent dies. In this context, one should soberly calculate whether this will result in a pension gap for the surviving dependents. If there is a main breadwinner, he or she should protect his or her family with term life insurance in any case. Especially if, for example, the children are still young. If both parents want to cover each other, cross-insurance makes sense.
Do you think that your family’s needs will grow in the coming years? Then a life insurance policy with a dynamic option may make sense. In this case, the sum insured increases continuously over the term.
Financial security for business partners
You don’t necessarily have to be married or in a relationship to opt for term life insurance. Anyone who starts a business not only has a lot of responsibility to bear, but also a lot of costs to cover. If a business partner dies suddenly, this can endanger the existence of the company. In such a case, term life insurance Germany protects the business partner, who must continue to run the company alone. The death of each business partner should be covered.
What does term life insurance cost?
The amount of premium payments for term life insurance depends on the insured person. For example, whether the person smokes, has pre-existing conditions, or perhaps engages in a risky hobby plays a role in calculating the premiums. Therefore, it is impossible to give a blanket answer to what term life insurance costs.
However, with germanymore, you have a good overview of the best providers in Germany!
You can determine your premium online and sign a binding contract with one of the providers presented above. So, there are always individual answers to the question “What does life insurance cost monthly or annually?”
For whom is term life insurance not worthwhile?
Term life insurance is not worthwhile for singles. Where there are no surviving dependents to provide for, a term life insurance doesn’t make sense. Trainees and students do not yet benefit from term life insurance. Unless they have a family.
In principle, people can be insured up to the age of 70. Some insurers insure their clients until the age of 75. Please keep in mind that premiums increase with age.
Stiftung Warentest examined life insurance policies in an article published in January 2020. It concludes that term life insurance is an important protection for families. The foundation recommends compensating for a possible pension gap caused by the death of one of the parents.
Summary – Best German Life Insurance
Of course there are many more life insurance companies in Germany on the market, but we hope this article gives you a good overview about the topic. If you want to inform yourself about other insurances in Germany check out this comparison.
Disclaimer: This article reflects my personal opinion about the above mentioned insurance providers and their offered policies. I am not giving insurance advice nor am I working for the above mentioned companies. However the article contains affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission if you use those links.