Key takeaways
- Taking private health insurance is a lifelong decision.
- All rating agencies rated the private health insurance plans based on a sample customer.
- When taking private health insurance, you should also consider the financial health of the insurer. Small private health insurance companies might not survive the financial turmoil.
- Use our tool “Health Insurance Finder” to check which health insurance makes sense in which situation.
This is how you do it
- Educate yourself about the German healthcare system.
- Get personalized advice from a fee-based advisor or an insurance broker.
Table of Contents
Warning: Things you should know about
Things you should know about before deciding to get private health insurance
- Educate yourself about the German healthcare system
- Taking private health insurance is a lifelong decision. You cannot return to public health insurance. Additionally, changing private health insurance providers is expensive.
- Private health insurance premiums don’t depend on your income. So, you should be able to pay high premiums in the long term, especially after retirement.
Things you should know about the ratings
- These ratings are based on the snapshot of a specific sample customer. So, you should not completely rely on these ratings. Every individual and their needs are different. Thus, you should get personalized advice from a fee-based insurance advisor or an insurance broker.
- The rating agencies rate private health insurance policies based on different criteria and weights. Some criteria that are relevant for you might not be considered in these tests.
You are now aware of the shortcomings of the rating results. Let’s check which health insurance policies and companies came out on top.
Best private health insurance in Germany – 2025
We extracted the private health insurance companies and plans that were rated the best by multiple rating agencies here. You can find which agency rated it and how later in this guide.
Best private health insurance companies
Franke Bornberg, DFSI, and IVFP compared and rated private health insurance companies based on different factors. All three of them rated Allianz, LVM, and Signal Iduna as the best private health insurance companies in Germany.
Best private health insurance tariffs
Here are the private health insurance plans that were rated the best by Handelblatt and Morgen & Morgen.
| Basic protection | Standard protection | Top protection |
|---|---|---|
| Hallesche “NK.select S Bonus, NK.select Flex URZ” | Allianz (GSP70) | Hallesche “NK.select XL Bonus, URZ” |
| Hallesche “NK.select L Bonus, URZ” | UKV (GesundheitVario) | |
| uniVersa (uni-top) | ||
| Allianz (GSB70) |
NOTE: You can get Hallesche insurance policy from Feather*. Feather is an insurance agent and sells only Hallesche private health insurance.
Conclusion
Hallesche, Allianz, and Signal Iduna received above-average ratings from all the rating agencies in Germany.
We recommend getting private health insurance via an insurance broker. They are experts and can help you find the best plan for your needs. You can book a call with an expert we recommend here.
Insurance brokers and advisors are liable for their advice. This means that if the insurance plan they recommended doesn’t fulfill your wishes, they are liable to pay the damages.
Insurance brokers offer free advice. The insurance company pays them upon the successful conclusion of the contract.
An insurance broker can also help you file a claim with the provider. The broker we recommend has been offering services to expats for more than a decade.
Book a free call with a health insurance expert
- German health insurance is a complicated product. There are several factors that must be considered before deciding which health insurance is best for you. An expert can guide you and help you pick the best option for you.
- An Insurance broker is liable for their advice. This means if the policy they recommended doesn’t offer the coverage you requested, they are liable to pay the damages incurred in the future.
Best private health insurance plans per Handelsblatt – 2025
Who rated the private health insurance plans?
Handelsblatt, together with Franke and Bornberg (Map-Report), analyzed private health insurance policies.
You can read the full review here (German).
How were the private health insurance plans rated?
- The private health insurance tariffs were divided into three categories
- Basic protection: Tariffs that offer coverage similar to public health insurance.
- Standard protection: In addition to basic protection, the tariff covers psychotherapy, an electric wheelchair, a twin room, and 60% dentures.
- Top protection: The tariff reimburses the costs of alternative practitioners, single rooms, treatment by the head doctor, implants, and at least 80% of the denture costs. In addition, doctors’ services are billed and reimbursed up to the maximum GOZ and GÖA rate.
- Handelsblatt rated private health insurance policies for each category separately.
- They gave 70% weightage to the health insurance performance and 30% to the insurance cost.
- The sample customer was a 35-year-old individual.
NOTE: The rating is for a particular private health insurance policy and not the company.
Result
| Basic protection | Standard protection | Top protection |
|---|---|---|
| Debeka (NW, PVN) | Arag (Med Extra) | Hallesche “NK.select XL Bonus, URZ” |
| Hallesche (NK.select S Bonus, NK.select Flex URZ) | Continentale (Premium, PVN) | Bayerische Beamtenkrankenkasse (GesundheitVario) |
| Continentale (Premium, PVN) | Deutscher Ring (A brand of Signal Iduna) | UKV (GesundheitVario) |
| Süddeutsche (AM30, AM31) | HanseMerkur (AZP classic) | Süddeutsche (AM12, S1, Z8) |
| Bayerische Beamtenkrankenkasse (GesundheitVario) | uniVersa (uni-top, uni-ST Stufe 1/100, uni-ZA 100, uni-KU/100) | |
| UKV (GesundheitVario) | ||
| Süddeutsche (AM12, S1, Z8) |
Best private health insurance plans per Morgen & Morgen – 2025
Who rated the private health insurance plans?
Morgen & Morgen (M&M) compared and rated private health insurance plans. You can read the full review here (German).
How were the private health insurance plans rated?
- M&M rated the private health insurance based on 60 questions.
- They gave weightage to all the questions based on their importance.
- M&M assigned a score to each question based on whether the health insurance plan
- fully fulfills it (100% of score),
- partially fulfills it (50% of score), or
- doesn’t fulfill it (0).
- Besides the score, private health insurance plans must meet certain minimum criteria to get the top rating.
- M&M considered three professional groups
- Normal professional group: Everyone who is qualified to get private health insurance
- Civil servants
- Doctors
Result
Here, we share only the private health insurance policies that received the highest rating. You can check the M&M website for tariffs with lower ratings.
NOTE: The tariffs are alphabatically ordered in the table. They all are rated five stars by M&M.
| Normal professional group | Civil servants |
| Allianz (GSB70, GSUB90, GSUB100, GSZ100, PVN) | Allianz (Outpatient allowance 51, hospital allowance 51, dental allowance 51, hospital single room, PVB, daily hospital allowance) |
| AXA (ActiveMe-U, Komfort Zahn-U, KUR-U/50) | Barmenia (GK30, GK20P, G1B, G2B30, G2B20P, GEPlus, PVB, KH+) |
| Barmenia (EXP1+) | DBV (Vision B 50T-U) |
| BBKK (GesundheitVARIO 400, VARIO KlinikPlus, VARIO ZahnPlus, VARIO AmbulantPlus, Courtagegeld) | Hallesche (CAZ.30, CAZ.120, CG.230, CG.320, CSD., CSR.30, CSR.120, BEb.50, JOKER.flex) |
| Gothaer (MediCompact Premium 240) | R+V (BB30, BB20E, W130, W120E, EB1) |
| Hallesche (NK.select XL Bonus, JOKER.flex) | Ottonova (B22AZ30, B22AZ20K, B21BC30, B21BC20K, B21S30, B21S20K, B21FC100, PVB, KHT) |
| Inter (QMP 300 U) | UniVersa (Kompakt 2/50) |
| LKH (GUP0, GIP0A) | |
| Ottonova (FC100-10, First Class Pro+) | |
| R+V (Agile premium TN0U) | |
| SDK (AM1x, S1, Z9) | |
| Signal Iduna (Prime) | |
| UKV (HealthVARIO 400, VARIO KlinikPlus, VARIO ZahnPlus, VARIO AmbulantPlus) | |
| Universe (uni-Top|Privat 300) | |
| Württemberg (Outpatient Premium 480 SB, inpatient Premium, dental Premium) |
Best private health insurance companies in Germany per Franke Bornberg (Map-Report) – 2025
Who rated the private health insurance plans?
So far, the rating agencies have analyzed and rated particular private health insurance plans. However, Franke Bornberg (Map-Report) rated the private health insurance companies instead.
How were the private health insurance plans rated?
Franke Bornberg requested several private health insurance companies participate in the analysis. However, not every company agreed to participate.
Thus, many private insurance companies might not be part of this list. It’s not because they didn’t perform but because they didn’t participate in the review.
Franke Bornberg examined private health insurance companies in three areas:
- Service: It includes the number of complaints with Bafin, processes, general services, etc.
- Contract data: It includes premium increase over time
- Balance sheet: Financial health of the insurer
Each area has equal weightage. A private health insurance company can achieve a maximum of 30 points in each category, for a total of 90 points.
Result
The top ten private health insurance companies in Germany in 2025, based on Franke Bornberg’s analysis, are
| Private health insurer | Total points | Franke Bronberg Rating |
|---|---|---|
| LVM (89, mmm+) | 89 | mmm+ |
| Signal Iduna | 88.85 | mmm+ |
| Debeka | 85.7 | mmm+ |
| Allianz | 83.8 | mmm |
| Alte Oldenburgers | 82.45 | mmm |
| VGH Provincial | 81.98 | mmm |
| R+V | 80.47 | mmm |
| SDK | 79.65 | mmm |
| Concordia | 75.16 | mmm |
| Württembergische | 68.13 | mm |
Best private health insurance companies in Germany per IVFP – 2025
Who rated the private health insurance plans?
IVFP (Institut Für Vorsorge unde Finanzplanung) examines and rates private health insurance companies annually. They have been publishing their report and ratings for 10 years.
How were the private health insurance plans rated?
IVFP (Institut Für Vorsorge unde Finanzplanung) examined 34 private health insurance companies and rated them based on 21 criteria divided into four subareas
| Subarea | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Company’s stability | 1. Company structure 2. Number of insured members 3. Income from premiums 4. Size of the investment portfolio |
| Security | 5. SCR ratio / financial health of the insurer 6. MCR ratio: The minimum capital an insurer must maintain per German laws. 7. EK Ratio: Does the insurer have sufficient equity to fulfill the private health insurance contracts in the future? 8. Security funds ratio: Long-term viability of the insurer. 9. Insurance business profit ratio: It’s vital the insurer is profitable. This shows that the premium calculations are right. 10. Is the insurer a member of the security scheme? |
| Profitability | 11. RfB allocation rate: This indicates the participation of the customers in creating the retirement reserves. 12. RfB ratio: A high RfB ratio means the premiums will stay stable. 13. RfB withdrawal shares 14. Surplus utilization rate: How much the insurer’s profitability is passed on to the customers. 15. Net interest on the investments 16. Closing cost ratio: Cost of acquiring a new customer. The lower, the better. 17. Administrative expense ratio |
| Market success (Customer Satisfaction) | 18. Growth rate of insured members: The average increase in insured persons over the past three years. 19. Growth rate of income from premiums 20. Trend analysis: Whether the insurer’s value has developed positively or negatively. 21. Bafin complaint rate: Number of people who filed a complaint against the insurer. |
IVFP updates the private health insurance company’s rating results annually. It gives companies one of the following grades.
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Satisfactory
- Sufficient
- Poor
- Unsatisfactory
You can read the complete report here (German).
Result
The table below lists the top private health insurance companies in Germany. The results are presented by the rating level and sorted alphabetically.
| Company | Rating |
| Allianz | Excellent |
| LVM | Excellent |
| Provinzial Krankenversicherung Hannover AG | Excellent |
| R+V | Excellent |
| SIGNAL IDUNA | Excellent |
| uniVersa | Excellent |
| ALTE OLDENBURGER | Very Good |
| AXA | Very Good |
| Barmenia | Very Good |
| Bayerische Beamtenkrankenkasse AG (BBKK) | Very Good |
| Continentale | Very Good |
| Debeka | Very Good |
| DEVK | Very Good |
| DKV | Very Good |
| Generali Deutschland | Very Good |
| Gothaer | Very Good |
| HALLESCHE | Very Good |
| HanseMerkur | Very Good |
| INTER | Very Good |
| Landeskrankenhilfe V.V.a.G. (LKH) | Very Good |
| Mecklenburgische | Very Good |
| Union | Very Good |
| Württembergische | Very Good |
Best private health insurance companies in Germany per DFSI – 2025
DFSI used the following data to examine the private health insurance companies.
- The 2023 annual financial statements of private health insurers.
- Complaint statistics, according to BaFin
- DFSI product ratings from 2024
DFSI rated the insurance companies based on three factors.
- Financial strength: It indicates how likely an insurer is to offer stable or moderately increasing premiums in the future. It also examines whether the insurer can survive financial crises without major fluctuations.
- Product quality and variety
- Service: DFSI analyzed Bafin’s customer complaint statistics and the insurer’s health services. They gave 70% weightage to health services and 30% to complaint statistics.
DFSI gave the following weightage to the three factors.
- 40% to financial strength
- 40% to product quality
- 20% to services
You can read the complete report here (German).
These are top private health insurance companies per DFSI analysis.
| Insurer | Overall Rating | Financial Strength | Product Quality | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allianz | Excellent (1.0) | Very good (1.3) | Excellent (0.9) | Excellent (0.6) |
| Barmenia | Very good (1.1) | Very good (1.2) | Very good (1.1) | Excellent (1.0) |
| SIGNAL IDUNA | Very good (1.1) | Excellent (0.9) | Very good (1.2) | Very good (1.4) |
| R+V | Very good (1.2) | Very good (1.3) | Very good (1.1) | Very good (1.4) |
| Arag | Very good (1.3) | Very good (1.4) | Excellent (0.9) | Good (1,8) |
| HanseMerkur | Very good (1.3) | Good (1.8) | Very good (1.1) | Excellent (0.9) |
| Württembergische | Very good (1.4) | Very good (1.4) | Very good (1.5) | Excellent (0.9) |
| DKV | Very good (1.4) | Good (2.2) | Excellent (1.0) | Excellent (0.7) |
| HALLESCHE | Very good (1.5) | Good (2.1) | Excellent (1.0) | Very good (1.4) |
More topics
- Is private health insurance worth it?
- Private health insurance benefits that you don’t get public health insurance
- Minimum coverage your private health insurance plan should offer
- Private health insurance costs in Germany
- Private vs public health insurance
- Private health insurance cost in old age
- Why is private health insurance cheaper than public?
- How do you choose private health insurance deductible?
- German healthcare expenditure
- Private health insurance for self-employed in Germany
- Private health insurance for the unemployed in Germany
- Private health insurance for students in Germany
- Private health insurance for children in Germany
- Family health insurance in Germany
References
- https://www.dfsi-institut.de/rating/125/unternehmensqualitaet-der-privaten-krankenversicherer-2023-24
- https://www.franke-bornberg.de/ratings/map-report/map-report
- https://ivfp.de/rating/ergebnisse/unternehmen-vg-pkv-2023/
- https://www.bafin.de/DE/PublikationenDaten/Statistiken/Beschwerde/2022/Rechtsschutzversicherung_artikel.html?nn=19659624
- https://morgenundmorgen.com/service/ratings/pkv-vollversicherung
- https://www.finanzen.de/krankenversicherung/private-krankenversicherung/test#/fm
