Insurance for driving schools and driving instructors in Germany
In a driving lesson the person at the wheel is only just learning. If they crash, German law treats the instructor as the driver, and the car belongs to the school. This page shows what a driving school has to insure, what it costs and where the gaps are.
Who pays if a learner causes an accident during a lesson?
Damage to other cars and injuries to people are paid by the tuition car's motor liability, because in law the instructor counts as the driver. Damage to your own tuition car is only paid by comprehensive cover. Claiming the money back from the learner is only possible within narrow limits. That is why comprehensive cover for tuition vehicles is effectively a must, even though the law does not require it.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Accidents during lessons
Rolling back on a hill start, missing a right of way, misjudging a gap: most damage is minor, but not all of it.
02
Motorcycle training
Tip overs on the practice ground and falls during emergency braking cost levers, mirrors and fairings, and sometimes an injury.
03
Lorries and buses
Large vehicles in inexperienced hands: manoeuvring, swinging out, trailers. Here small mistakes become expensive damage.
04
Tuition car off the road
No car, no lessons. After an accident lessons and test appointments are lost, while the costs keep running.
05
Classroom
A learner falls on the stairs, the projector burns out, water damage in the training room.
06
Back and concentration
Eight hours a day in the passenger seat, always ready to brake: instructors have a high risk of back and stress related illness.
Covers driving simulators and training equipment, including operating errors and power surges.
What it costs: example prices
Almost the whole premium goes on the tuition vehicles. What matters is the number of instructors, vehicle categories, excess and claims history. Public liability and contents are comparatively cheap.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Fleet insurance
Driving school with three vehicles, liability and comprehensive under a fleet policy
about €2,250 a year
Business liability
Driving school with two staff and €200,000 turnover
about €65 a year
Business contents
Classroom with furnishings
about €60 a year
Business legal expenses
Driving school with two staff
about €165 a year
Fleet insurance
Category A training motorcycle, liability and comprehensive
about €400 to €1,000 a year
For comparison: Public liability, contents and legal expenses for a small driving school together cost about as much a year as five driving lessons.
The first four examples come from a publicly available worked example for a driving school with
two staff, €200,000 turnover and three vehicles (around €2,650 in total including buildings cover).
The motorcycle figure is a guide value from our own quoting work.
Six things driving schools really go through, all on one test day. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€34,100
On a hill start the tuition car rolls back into the car behind.
€2,100 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
The training motorcycle tips over on the practice ground: levers, mirror and fairing.
€1,600 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
During a test a learner misses a right of way and another driver is slightly injured.
€14,000 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
Damage to your own test car from the right of way accident; the car is off the road for three weeks.
€9,500 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
A learner slips on the wet stairs up to the classroom and breaks her foot.
€6,000 · Paid by: Business liability
A learner refuses to pay for twelve lessons, claiming they were never agreed.
€900 · Paid by: Business legal expenses
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €34,100
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Insure every tuition vehicle with comprehensive cover; most damage during training affects your own car.
Training motorcycles and lorries must be insured expressly as driving school vehicles; normal tariffs often exclude tuition.
Cover for third party vehicles protects you when you teach in a learner's own car, for example for the trailer category.
Choose an excess that suits your many small claims; €500 is often a good compromise.
Check the liability limit: a combined €100 million costs hardly more than the legal minimum.
Have the practice ground, including rented areas, expressly included in your public liability.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know the driving school tariffs
Tuition cars, motorcycles, lorries and third party vehicles all need the right components. As a broker we compare several insurers that cover driving schools.
We know how accidents are settled
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. We help when there is a dispute over fault and loss of no claims discount after a lesson.
School and private in one place
Tuition vehicles, classroom, income protection and your personal insurance all run through us.
Family run since 1989
Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission. And you speak to people who know your vehicles.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Which insurance is compulsory for a driving school?
Motor liability for every tuition vehicle.
Everything else is voluntary,
but comprehensive cover and public liability are strongly recommended.
What does insurance for a driving school cost?
A published worked example for a driving school with three vehicles puts it at around €2,650 a
year, of which about €2,250 is for the vehicles.
Who counts as the driver during a lesson?
Under § 2 (15) StVG, the instructor.
That is why the school and instructor are liable,
and the tuition car's motor liability pays for third party damage.
Does the learner have to pay for damage?
Only in exceptional cases, such as gross misconduct against instructions.
As a rule, the driving school bears the risk through its insurance.
Are falls on the training motorcycle covered?
Only comprehensive cover pays for damage to the motorcycle.
The learner's injuries are covered by motor liability if the instructor is liable,
otherwise by accident insurance.
Is a fleet policy worth it for driving schools?
From three vehicles, often yes.
The premium then follows the claims history of the whole school,
and new vehicles are covered immediately.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Driving school
The recommended covers are ticked.
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