New figures from the arbitration board
Complaint record: These insurance policies annoy many people
April 29, 2026 – 7:29 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
If you have trouble with your insurance company, you can contact the insurance ombudsman. A particularly large number of complaints were received about one division in 2025.
Disagreements between insurers and their customers have increased significantly in the past year. According to the 2025 annual report published on Tuesday, the insurance ombudswoman Sibylle Kessal-Wulf received around 28,900 complaints. That was over 7,000 more than the previous year and more than ever before. Last year, the ombudsman recorded a record number of complaints with around 21,500.
The Insurance Ombudsman e. V. is an arbitration board for disputes with insurers. If insurance companies refuse benefits or make insufficient payments, affected customers can contact the arbitration board with their complaints, which will examine the complaints independently and free of charge.
As in the previous year, most of the complaints came to Kessal-Wulf because of motor vehicle insurance (comprehensive and liability). The admissible complaints here totaled around 5,300. Last year there were around 3,500. In motor vehicle liability insurance, the classification into the different no-claims classes is the main cause of trouble. In particular, a change of insurer is often a cause for complaint, for example if the new insurer does not accept existing discounts or classifications.
In motor vehicle comprehensive insurance, differences of opinion about the amount of damage played a primary role. Differences in the replacement value and residual value of the vehicles also increasingly concerned the arbitration board last year.
Other main areas of complaint included legal protection (4,005 complaints), life (2,669) and building insurance (2,099). Meanwhile, comparatively few complaints were received regarding accident (623) and occupational disability insurance (430).
However, the arbitration board recorded the highest percentage increase in liability insurance. Compared to 2024, the number of complaints increased by 52.7 percent to 1,098 admissible complaints. The disputes often centered on risk exclusions, which are included in many contracts. One example is damage to rental apartments, where insurers often rely on the exclusion of risk due to wear and tear and excessive use.
According to the ombudsman, the reason for the increased number of complaints is not poorer claims settlement by insurers, but rather the increasing popularity of the arbitration board. In addition, it has become easier for insured persons to submit a complaint in recent years: around 80 percent of complaints now reach the arbitration board digitally.
