Autounfälle: Offenbach Spitzenreiter bei Kfz-Schäden

Autounfälle: Offenbach leads in vehicle damage claims

Offenbach, a city in Hesse, Germany, has once again been ranked at the top in terms of vehicle damage claims in the latest updated car insurance claims report by the German Association of the Insurance Industry (GDV). The city's auto liability insurance claims are nearly 40% higher than the national average, as reported by the GDV.

Gelsenkirchen and Berlin follow in second and third place, respectively. In contrast, cars with the German license plate EE, primarily from the Elbe-Elster district in Brandenburg, have the best vehicle damage claim record among Germany's 413 vehicle registration areas.

The pricing of car insurance policies is influenced not only by the vehicle model but also by the driver's location. The GDV updates the regional classifications annually. In auto liability insurance, there are twelve regional classifications, with higher numbers indicating poorer performance. Offenbach is classified as regional classification 12, signifying poor performance, though these are only recommendations. Most car insurance companies follow these recommendations.

Jörg Asmussen, the GDV's CEO, noted that the update improved the region classification for 5.2 million drivers in 63 registration areas, while it worsened for 4.8 million drivers in 46 registration areas. The classification is based on the driver's residence. Legally required auto liability insurance only covers damages causing harm to another person's property or health.

Wiesbaden, another city in the top tier, has the same regional classification as Offenbach. With 32 million drivers in 304 registration areas, Wiesbaden's rankings remain unchanged. The Rhein-Main region, including Offenbach and Wiesbaden, is not the only noteworthy cluster; Wiesbaden also ranks fifth in the nationwide damage claim report.

The reasons for these rankings are unclear, but factors such as narrow streets and dense urban traffic in large cities could play a role. Asmussen mentioned that cities generally have poorer safety records than rural areas. Despite this, there is no direct correlation between population size and vehicle damage claims. For instance, Berlin and Offenbach share the poorest regional classification of 12, while larger cities like Hamburg and Munich have lower classifications, such as 10.

This ranking puts Germany's second and third largest cities behind Offenbach. Notably, Bavaria, being the largest German state by area, has more registration areas than any other state, totaling 97. Interestingly, Bavarian drivers performed better overall, with 1.5 million drivers seeing an improvement in their rankings, while only 350,000 experienced a decline.