Car insurance without workshop commitment

What to look for in car insurance without workshop commitment? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

With the motor vehicle insurance there are many possibilities to reduce the premium. One of them is to leave to the insurance company the choice of the workshop that will repair an incurred damage to the car. One speaks in this connection of a car insurance with workshop binding. In our article we inform you more exactly about it and explain, which advantages a car insurance without workshop binding can have.

What means workshop binding?

As already indicated at the beginning, the workshop commitment is a factor that can be used to reduce the premium amount for car insurance. Strictly speaking, this is about the premiums for comprehensive insurance – that is, the coverage of damage to your own car, which is covered by insurance. In this case, when taking out car insurance, you decide that in the event of damage, the vehicle will be repaired by a workshop with which the insurance company cooperates. In this context, one also speaks of so-called partner workshops.

In the case of motor liability, the car insurer bears the damage to the vehicle of the other party involved in the accident. In this case, there is no workshop commitment or. no workshop commitment can be established for this purpose, because the injured party is always free to choose the workshop that will repair his or her car.

The workshop binding exists only for the comprehensive insurance. It offers the possibility of reducing the premium for this by up to 20%.

What are the advantages of the workshop bond?

Besides the reduction of the premium for the comprehensive insurance of the car, the workshop binding usually brings other advantages for the insured person. This can include z.B. include the following additional services:

  • Pick-up of the vehicle for repair (often directly from the accident site) / return of the vehicle after repair (pick-up service / delivery service)
  • Vehicle cleaning, if this should be necessary conditioned by the damage
  • Free replacement car / rental car for the duration of the repair

The possibility of lowering premiums through workshop binding in car insurance is particularly interesting for novice drivers in order to save on costs. Despite the usually still very unfavorable no-claims class, a good saving can be achieved for new drivers through the often relatively high discount through the workshop commitment in the comprehensive insurance.

The discount or. the percentage saving on the premium for hull insurance that the insurers grant if you opt for the workshop commitment results from the fact that there are specially negotiated contracts between the insurance company and the workshop. The repair costs are thereby under the market prices. For the repair shops, the cooperation with the car insurers means that they can expect a higher volume of orders. The insurance companies then pass on the savings from the reduced repair costs to the policyholder as a discount on the comprehensive insurance premium.

The partner workshops of the car insurers are usually TuV-certified businesses that work in a high-quality and flawless manner. In most cases, they also provide a guarantee on the repairs carried out.

In addition, the processing of a repair by a partner workshop of the insurer is often much less complicated and more convenient for the policyholder, because the car insurer usually relieves him of much of the bureaucracy.

A disadvantage of the car insurance with workshop binding is mostly that the offer of partner workshops can vary strongly depending on the insurer and the region in which one lives. So it can happen, especially in the countryside, that the distance between the workshop and the place of residence is very large. When signing the contract, it is essential to take a close look and ask the relevant insurance companies for a list of partner workshops. You should also take a look at the insurance conditions: As a rule, these specify exactly how far the policyholder can reasonably be expected to travel to the repair shop.

What are the advantages of car insurance without a workshop commitment??

With car insurance without a fixed repair shop, the insured person can decide for himself in which repair shop the damage to his own vehicle should be repaired. So one can then z.B. Select a workshop in the immediate vicinity that is particularly easy to reach or choose a workshop that specializes in the particular case of damage. Also, with a car insurance without workshop commitment, the repair is in a brand workshop or in a garage. Contract workshop possible. In this context, it is worth mentioning that the partner workshops of the insurance companies are usually independent workshops that are not associated with a specific car brand or. be related to a specific car manufacturer.

With a car insurance without workshop commitment, the workshop for damage repair can be freely chosen. This is why one also speaks of car insurance with free choice of repair shop.

Basically, you benefit from the following advantages when you have car insurance without a garage commitment:

  • Free choice of workshop – damage to the vehicle can be repaired in any workshop
  • if necessary. Familiar contact person / mechanic
  • Greater independence from the car insurer

For whom is car insurance without a workshop commitment worthwhile?? When should one prefer the free choice of workshop??

If you want to insure a leased vehicle or a leased car with a comprehensive insurance, you should definitely choose a car insurance without workshop commitment. This is anyway usually in the respective contracts by the lessor or. the financing credit institution is determined accordingly. Repairs to a leased or externally financed vehicle must generally be carried out in a workshop authorized by the manufacturer (brand workshop, authorized workshop).

Also owners of new vehicles, should rather do without with the insurance on a workshop connection. Since the partner workshops of the car insurers are mostly independent workshops and often no original parts are used in repair work, there is a risk that the new car loses its manufacturer's warranty when the workshop is bound. It's also usually the case that having a vehicle serviced and repaired exclusively at an authorized repair shop stabilizes its resale value. Furthermore one has with a mark and/or. Authorized repair shop usually has more opportunities to benefit from goodwill payments.

Conversely, it can be deduced that an insurance with workshop commitment is more worthwhile if it is already an older vehicle, which is self-financed.