What is an anonymous risk pre-assessment (anonyme Risikovoranfrage)? Your broker sends your health answers without your name to three to eight insurers and asks whether and on what terms they would cover you. Only then do you file a real application, so no rejection sticks to your name. It costs you nothing and usually takes two to six weeks.
What the anonymous risk pre-assessment costs and typical surcharges.
Example
Typical range
Anonymous risk pre-assessment via a broker
0 euros for you
First copy of your medical file
0 euros (§ 630g BGB)
Surcharge for a minor pre-existing condition
about 10 to 50 percent
Detailed doctor's report requested by the insurer
about 20 to 80 euros, often paid by the insurer
Surcharges and report fees are guide values from day to day quoting practice, October 2026.
The legal basis is linked.
Worked example
Disability cover after back pain
An engineer, 34, had ten physiotherapy sessions three years ago. The broker sends an anonymous risk pre-assessment to six insurers.
Two insurers
exclusion of the spine
One insurer
20 percent surcharge
One insurer
standard terms
Two insurers
postponed for a year
He applies only with the insurer offering standard terms. Guide values from quoting practice; every decision depends on the case.
How the anonymous risk pre-assessment works
You answer the health questions as fully as in a real application. The broker removes your name and address, keeps age and job, and sends the anonymous risk pre-assessment to several insurers.
Each insurer replies with a decision (Votum): standard terms, a surcharge, an exclusion of one condition, a postponement or a refusal. You then apply with your name only where the terms suit you.
Decision
Meaning
Standard terms
no surcharge, no exclusion
Surcharge (Risikozuschlag)
higher premium, full cover
Exclusion (Leistungsausschluss)
one condition and its effects are not covered
Postponement
ask again once treatment is further in the past
Refusal
this insurer will not take the risk
Why no name?
Application forms often ask whether an application was ever refused or accepted only on special terms. A refused application in your name would have to be disclosed. An anonymous risk pre-assessment is not an application, so that trail does not arise.
You also see the offers side by side. One insurer excludes your back, another adds 15 percent, a third accepts normally. That comparison only works if all received the same answers.
Answer the health questions precisely
German law requires you to disclose everything you know that the insurer asks about in text form (§ 19 VVG, the Insurance Contract Act). If you do not, the insurer may withdraw, cancel or change the contract, depending on fault. These rights lapse after five years, or ten in case of intent or fraud (§ 21 VVG).
So request your medical file before the anonymous risk pre-assessment. Your first copy of the treatment record is free (§ 630g BGB, the Civil Code). Old diagnoses you forgot will then show up before the insurer finds them.
Limits
The decision is not binding. If your health changes before you apply, you must say so and the insurer decides again.
If you had no treatment, medication or diagnosis in the periods asked about, you usually do not need an anonymous risk pre-assessment. A direct application is enough.
Step by step
Get your medical file or a list of billed diagnoses from your health fund (Krankenkasse).
Answer every health question with diagnosis and date.
Let the broker send the anonymous risk pre-assessment to several insurers.
Compare premium, surcharge and exclusions.
Apply soon after, with the same answers.
Checklist
Know the look back periods, often three to ten years
Diagnoses taken from the file, not from memory
Same answers to every insurer
Decisions in writing
Health changes reported before applying
Common mistakes
Applying in your name with several insurers at once
Leaving out treatment that seemed minor
Waiting months between decision and application
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Is an anonymous risk pre-assessment binding?
No.
It is not an application.
Only your named application and its acceptance create the contract.
Does the insurer keep my data?
It receives no name, only age, job and health answers,
so the request is not meant to be linked to you.
Which policies is it useful for?
Mainly disability cover, private health insurance, term life and long term care top ups,
where health questions decide the contract.
Can I do it myself?
It stays anonymous because an intermediary passes on the answers without your name.
If you ask an insurer directly, you usually do so in your name.
What if everyone refuses?
Options with simplified health questions, waiting periods or lower sums may remain.
Application forms usually ask about refused applications, and an anonymous request is not one.
