At the moment, many second cars are being added again: For high school graduation, the offspring often gets the first car. But novice drivers pay especially much, because they usually have to enter with the expensive class 0. With a few tricks you can save a lot of money here.
Every fourth household owns a second car several cars, quite often even if there are no children: Sometimes both partners already had a car and stayed with their old contracts. Sometimes the second car was added at some point and insured directly with the same provider. It’s easier, after all.
No matter what applies to you: If you have several cars in your household, you should definitely Check your insurances. It is not only important that the provider offers favorable rates, but also that you have the best possible insurance for each car No-claims class (SF class) for the tariff get.
1. It all depends on the no-claims class
Every year you drive accident-free, your SF class improves. Especially in the first years, this reduces the contributions significantly. New drivers are often classified in "0", after about five years they pay only half as much as at the beginning, see graph. Those who are a little older and have not been insured before typically get in at "½". On our graph you can see that with "½" you already pay about a fifth less than a novice driver. The numbers vary slightly from insurer to insurer.
2. Reactivate old SF classes or take over from relatives
What many do not know: You can take over SF classes from relatives. However, they lose it for good. If you have insured two cars, and later get rid of one, you can hand over one SF class within the family and keep the other one. However, the recipient can only ever acquire SF classes for as many years as he already has his license. On the other hand, if you haven’t insured a car for a while, you can still reactivate your old discounts – with some providers even after ten years and longer.
3. Register both cars on the same owner
If that doesn’t work, you can register both cars with one owner: as a first and second car. Because then many insurers offer the possibility to start with a better SF class. For this, both cars do not have to belong to the same partner, it is sufficient that they are registered to only one.
If you just buy a new car, you don’t have to stress either. First register the car with double card, now called eVB, on the insurance for the first car. Then you immediately have the offer of your old insurance as a comparison and then 14 days to revoke the insurance to take out a cheaper one.
Make a comparison with our recommendations Verivox* or Check24* – and then again with Huk24*. However, it is not always easy to see on the portals whether second car discounts have been taken into account.
4. Requesting second-car-friendly insurers
Finanztip has researched which providers have good second car offers. Several offer to classify a second car basically in class 2, 3 or even higher. A few even take over the SF class from the first car, these include Axa, HDI, R+V, Verti and VHV. This is usually linked to the fact that both vehicles are insured there.
Admiraldirekt is particularly interesting: it allows you to take over the SF class of the first contract even if you have the first car with another insurance company. Each provider also imposes some restrictions: For example, the group of drivers must often be small (you and your partner), or about the age of the drivers over 23. In our big guide, we have summarized these conditions for several favorable providers.
However, it is also clear that the best discount is of no use if the insurer charges too high a basic rate. So always compare the second car offer with the result of the comparison portal.
5. Registering your child’s car in your own name
If you want to leave a car to your daughter or son, a second car solution is also an option. For this we have noticed two providers with interesting rates, namely Axa and Verti. More about this in the guide. With Verti, novice drivers can even acquire SF classes if previously the car was not registered to them. This is practical when the children register their own car after a few years. Other insurers also offer so-called family tariffs, for example HDI, ADAC and R+V24.
And as soon as the driving conditions have been clarified, you benefit in your own contract from deregistering your children from the driver’s circle again. This saves considerably.
6. Swap first and second car
If your second car is even the bigger one, it is a good idea to transfer the higher SF class to the second car. To do this, simply explain that you want to exchange the discounts. It varies from insurer to insurer whether you have to do it in writing or whether a phone call will suffice. But then the first car drives on the second car regulation of your provider.
With our Excel calculator you can estimate whether the swap is worthwhile.
Either way, unless you’re buying a second car right now, your car insurance probably can’t be canceled until the end of the year, as most insurance policies are. So make a note of the termination date at the end of November. By the way: If you sell a car, you may immediately choose a new insurance company. This also works within the family.