How do you find a good private health insurance broker in Germany?

What is the difference between a broker, a tied agent, a comparison portal and a fee-based adviser?

A broker works for you and compares insurers, a tied agent works for one or more insurers, and a fee-based adviser advises you for a fee.[1]

• Tied agent (Versicherungsvertreter). Appointed by one or more insurers to sell their tariffs.
• Broker (Versicherungsmakler). Works for the client without ties to an insurer and has to base the recommendation on a sufficient part of the market. Anyone who gives the impression of being a broker is treated as one by law.
• Fee-based adviser (Versicherungsberater). Is paid only by the client and may not accept commission from insurers.[2]
• Comparison portal. You choose from results that a form produces. Who stands behind the portal, and in which role, the first information sheet shows.[3]

How do you check a broker's licence and registration?

A broker needs a licence from the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) and has to be entered in the official register of insurance intermediaries, which you can search at vermittlerregister.info.[2][4] The register number appears in the broker's legal notice (Impressum) and in the first information sheet (Erstinformation), which a broker must give you at the first business contact. That sheet also states the broker's status and how they are paid.[3] Professional liability insurance is a condition of the licence, so a licensed broker is insured against mistakes in the advice.[2]

How is a private health insurance broker paid?

A broker is paid by commission that is already included in your premium, so your premium is the same with or without a broker. Who pays your health insurance broker explains how that works. If you prefer to pay for advice yourself, a fee-based adviser charges you directly and takes no commission from insurers.[2]

Does a broker have to compare the whole market?

A broker has to base the recommendation on a sufficient number of insurers and contracts on the market.[5] A broker who works with only some insurers must say so clearly before you sign and name those insurers.[5] So ask which insurers a broker cannot offer, rather than how many they compare: that answer shows you the gaps.

Which questions should you ask before you sign?

These six questions show quickly how a broker works:

1. Are you licensed as a broker, and what is your register number?
2. Which insurers can you not offer?
3. How do you handle my health questions, and can you run an anonymous pre-check with insurers before I apply?
4. What do you do after I sign? Claims, premium adjustments and a tariff switch within the insurer all come up over the years.[6]
5. Do you advise in English, and how do you handle contracts and letters in German?
6. Will you tell me if public health insurance suits me better?

The broker has to document the advice, including your wishes and the reasons for the recommendation, and give you that record before you sign.[7]

What should make you cautious?

A few signs show that the advice may not be in your interest:

• No register number and no first information sheet.
• Pressure to sign quickly, for example with a deadline that is not explained.
• Only one insurer on offer, without telling you why.
• Advice to answer health questions loosely. You have to answer them fully and correctly, and wrong answers can cost you your cover later, as how the health assessment works explains.[8] A good broker goes through them with you and, where your history needs it, checks them anonymously with insurers first.
• No written record of the advice.
• A price guarantee. No broker sets the premium; insurers review it tariff by tariff, as our page on premium adjustments explains. A good broker chooses the tariff and deductible with you and, if your premium changes later, checks a switch to another tariff with your insurer.

Why does an English-speaking broker matter for expats?

Your contract, the tariff conditions and every letter from your insurer are in German, and private health insurance runs for decades. Claims, premium adjustments and tariff switches come up again and again, so an English-speaking broker who stays your fixed contact saves you from explaining your case from scratch each time. It also matters at the start: the health questions are in German, and a broker who can go through them with you in English helps you answer them fully and correctly.

How does TheGoodBroker answer these questions?

You can check each answer yourself:

• Licence and register. We are insurance brokers licensed under § 34d Abs. 1 GewO, register number D-ON7P-Y7Q94-16, as our legal notice shows.
• Experience. We have advised expats on private health insurance in Germany since 2018.
• Reviews. Our clients rate us on ProvenExpert; the reviews on our homepage link to the profile.
• Market and health questions. We run a full market comparison and can run an anonymous risk pre-assessment with insurers before you formally apply.
• After you sign. We stay your contact in the years after you sign, including for a switch to another tariff with your insurer.
• English. We advise in English, at the start and in the years after.
• Public cover. If public cover suits you better, we say so.
• Cost. The call, the comparison and everything after it cost you nothing.

About us shows who advises you. In a free 30-minute call on Zoom, in English, you can put the six questions to us and find out what private cover would cost you and whether it fits your situation.