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Who carries the risk, and why you should ask

Wuerttembergische Versicherung AG carries the risk on our contracts. The distinction between agency and carrier is not a formality.

1 March 2025CompanyNAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH

Our previous risk carrier, ELEMENT Insurance AG, reported its over-indebtedness to the German supervisor BaFin on 20 December 2024. Insolvency proceedings opened on 1 March 2025 and its contracts came to an end. We cancelled the existing contracts ourselves, and every customer of ours received a new offer straight away.

Today Wuerttembergische Versicherung AG, an insurance undertaking with more than 190 years of history, carries the risk. In practice the cover concept comes from us, contracts are placed through the broker Norman Nammert, and claims are handled with us, while the carrier stands behind the contract.

For a buyer outside Germany the useful part of this story is not the outcome but the question it produces. Before you sign, ask three things: which undertaking carries the risk, which authority supervises it, and what happens to my contract if that undertaking fails. All three are answerable in advance, in writing.

What still occupies us about the episode is set out in full on our German page about the case, including the part we think should have gone better for the customers of those providers who found no solution at all.

In 2024 the former risk carrier withdrew; 90 per cent of clients moved to the new policy

Common questions

Why does it matter who the carrier is?

Because the carrier is the party that owes the money. An agency can settle claims under mandate, but the obligation sits with the insurance undertaking named in the contract.

Who do I speak to about a claim?

Us. The claim is examined and settled with us, not at a central switchboard.

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