Insurers
Our picks
No single insurer is best for everyone. The right one depends on the cover you want, your budget and how much you need to deal with the insurer in English. That is why we name a favourite tariff for each level of cover, Entry, Medium and Max, wherever an insurer has one that qualifies in a full market comparison, and at Allianz, Hallesche and ottonova an expat plan as well. In a free call, we narrow them down to the two or three that fit you.
Our favourite tariffs
| Insurer | Entry | Medium | Max | Expat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allianz | – | GSP70with GSUP90, GSUP100 and dental GSZ90 | GSB70with GSUB90, GSUB100 and dental GSZ90 | InboundMed Best 100 |
| ARAG | K0 | ME0 | MB0 | – |
| AXA | EL Bonus-Uwith Kompakt Zahn-U | ActiveMe-Uwith Komfort Zahn-U | GesundExtra 1with Premium Zahn-U | – |
| Hallesche | NK.select S | NK.select L | NK.select XL | Hi.Medical S or Lwith Hi.Dental |
| HanseMerkur | KVPor KVS with a deductible | KVP or KVSwith EKV2 and PSV | AZPwith EGO2 and PS3, PSV optional | – |
| LKH | A100with S220 and Z80 | GUK0 | GUP0 | – |
| ottonova | Premium Economy | Business Class Pro | First Class Pro+ | First Class Expats |
Allianz Private Krankenversicherungs-AG is part of the Allianz Group and describes itself as the third-largest provider in German private health insurance. Its app and its customer hotline work in English; for applications and documents in German, we stay your English-speaking contact.
English: app and hotline
ARAG Krankenversicherungs-AG belongs to the ARAG Group, which describes itself as Germany's largest family-owned insurer. Its app and its customer hotline work in English; for applications and documents in German, we stay your English-speaking contact.
English: app and hotline
AXA Krankenversicherung AG in Cologne belongs to the AXA Group, whose parent is based in France, and insures 816,046 people with full cover (2025). Its service works in German, and we stay your English-speaking contact.
English: through us
Hallesche Krankenversicherung is a mutual insurer from Stuttgart that belongs to its policyholders. It works in English from the app to the hotline and runs its own English customer care line.
English: app, application, documents, hotline
HanseMerkur's health insurer belongs, through a holding, to a Hamburg mutual whose roots go back to 1875. Its app works in English; for applications, documents and the hotline in German, we stay your English-speaking contact.
English: app
Landeskrankenhilfe from Lüneburg is a mutual insurer founded by farmers in 1926 and belongs to its policyholders. Its service works in German, and we stay your English-speaking contact.
English: through us
ottonova from Munich describes itself as Germany's first digital private health insurer and has insured customers since 2017. Its app, application and documents are in English, and customers reach an English-speaking team by chat.
English: app, application, documents, support
In English
ottonova and Hallesche work in English from the app and the application to the documents and the hotline; Hallesche runs its own English customer care line. With both, as with every German insurer, the German version of the contract is the binding one. Allianz and ARAG offer their app and their customer hotline in English, while applications and documents are in German. HanseMerkur's app works in English, and AXA and LKH work in German. Wherever German comes in, we stay your English-speaking contact.
| Insurer | App | Application | Documents | Hotline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allianz | English | German only | German only | English |
| ARAG | English | German only | German only | English |
| AXA | German only | German only | German only | German only |
| Hallesche | English | English | English | English |
| HanseMerkur | English | German only | German only | German only |
| LKH | German only | German only | German only | German only |
| ottonova | English | English | English | English |
Ownership
A mutual insurer (Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit, written VVaG or a.G.) belongs to its policyholders, so it has no shareholders. A public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft, AG) belongs to its shareholders. Hallesche and LKH are mutuals, and HanseMerkur's health insurer belongs, through a holding, to a mutual founded in 1875. Allianz, ARAG, AXA and ottonova are companies within their groups. In both forms, the law sets a minimum share of the surplus, the money left when costs turn out lower than calculated, that must go back to policyholders. Mutual insurer explained
Our method
We start from a full market comparison of private health insurance tariffs in Germany. For each level of cover, we compare the benefits as written in the tariff terms, not the brochure, then the price and how the premiums have developed over the years. At each insurer, we pick the best tariff on all three at Entry, Medium and Max; where no tariff qualifies, as at Allianz for Entry, we name none. Our picks are a starting point: in a free call, we compare the tariffs that fit your situation.
Before you apply anywhere, we ask several insurers anonymously, so you see your options without your name on an application.
Jonas MarxFounder, licensed insurance broker
A free 30-minute call on Zoom, in English. If public health insurance suits you better, we say so. If private cover fits, we compare the insurers and tariffs that suit you.
The facts per insurer stand in the sources of each insurer page.
