The German Insurance Association (GDV) recently published its annual changes to regional classifications for car insurance, which is used to calculate premiums.
In 2025, the regional classes for third-party liability insurance will change in a total of 108 registration districts across Germany.
German motorist association the ADAC said the classes will increase for around 9.4 million drivers in 49 districts, which could result in higher premiums.
However, around 4.7 million drivers in 59 districts are likely to benefit from a more favourable classification, meaning their payments may go down. For the remaining 304 districts with around 33 million policyholders, everything will remain the same in terms of third-party liability.
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Cities expensive, rural areas favourable
Regional classifications for third-party liability insurance are higher in larger cities than in rural areas.
The district with the worst claims record in the current survey period – making it the ‘riskiest’ – is Offenbach, closely followed by the capital, Berlin. Drivers generally face the highest insurance premiums here.
“In both cities, claims are almost 40 percent above average,” the GDV said. In terms of liability insurance, they are therefore in the worst regional class 12.”
Hamburg, Munich and several cities in the Ruhr region are also near the top of the list.
Meanwhile the Elbe-Elster district in Brandenburg has the best claims record. According to the GDV, claims here are 30 percent lower than the average.
A striking number of registration districts improved in Bavaria. In this state, 24 districts – and almost one in four drivers – achieve a more favourable class under the new system, the insurance association said.
In general, insured drivers in the rural regions of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate fare best.
What does the classification mean?
Once a year, the German Insurance Association (GDV) recalculates the regional classes for the 412 registration districts in Germany. A distinction is made between regional classes for third-party, partial and fully comprehensive insurance.
The regional classifications determine how high the insurance premium will be the following year. It is used as a risk factor to give an indication of how likely a vehicle is to get damaged or be involved in an accident in a particular region. It’s based on where cars are registered – not where an accident took place.
The lower the class, the more favourable the premium. Insurance companies use this classification system as a guide. However, other factors are also taken into account when calculating the premium. This is why car insurance can become more expensive for individual drivers despite a more favourable regional classification.
To calculate the regional classes, the claims records of the registration districts are analysed. When calculating motor third party liability insurance (classes from 1-12), the insurance benefits paid to injured third parties – i.e. usually to accident victims – are taken into account.
The ADAC has published all the regional classifications for 2025 which you can find here.
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Is the classification associated with the original registration, or where the owner currently resides? For example, if someone registers a car in Munich, and then moves to another district (keeping the same tags / registration number, beginning with “M”), is the district updated based on the new location, independent of the registration number?