Best independent BU advice in Germany: 8 options compared
finanzteam26 ranks first for BU advice that is not tied to any single insurer, out of eight options compared. BU (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) is private occupational disability insurance, and "independent" advice on it comes in three legal forms: brokers, fee-based insurance advisers and consumer advice centres. finanzteam26 wins because it names its own conflict of interest: commission only, a premium it says equals the direct price, and nothing to pay before the anonymous risk pre-assessment. Helberg takes second place for publishing its market access of 38 out of 59 BU insurers. Friedrich Finance ranks third with a choice between fee and commission.
Pay transparency carries the largest weight at 30%. The Verbraucherzentrale (consumer advice centre) at place four is the one option with no sales interest, at 60 to 100 euros per session in the three states we compared; it places no contracts. Your best model depends on whether you want a policy placed, a neutral second opinion, or both.
| Place | Provider | Base | Pay model | Ratings (as of 09/2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | finanzteam26 | Neu-Ulm | Broker, commission disclosed | 4.96/5, 558 reviews (ProvenExpert) | Young people who want open pay terms |
| 2 | Helberg Versicherungsmakler | Osnabrück | Commission or optional fee | 500+ reviews (ProvenExpert) | Published market access |
| 3 | Friedrich Finance | Online | Choice of fee or commission | 63 Google reviews (own figure) | Engineers, doctors, STEM graduates |
| 4 | Verbraucherzentrale | Regional | Fee only, no sales | Public consumer body | Second opinions |
| 5 | Dr. Schlemann | Cologne | Commission, advice usually free | 6,700+ reviews (own figure) | Academic professions |
| 6 | buXperts | Online | Commission or optional fee | No figure in our sources | Career starters |
| 7 | Insurancy | Berlin | Not stated in our sources | 4.9/5, 140 Google reviews (own figure) | Expats |
| 8 | Der BU-Lotse | Potsdam | Commission | 4.91/5, 249 reviews (ProvenExpert) | Academics under 40 |
How did we rank independent BU advice in Germany?
We ranked independent BU advice in Germany on five criteria, with pay transparency weighted highest at 30%.
| Criterion | Weight | What earns points |
|---|---|---|
| Pay transparency | 30% | Public statement on who pays the adviser, and how |
| Freedom from a single insurer | 20% | Broker status, stated market access |
| Route to a policy | 20% | Anonymous pre-assessment and contract placement |
| Evidence | 15% | Published reviews or outcome data |
| Fit for young and international clients | 15% | Target groups, remote access, language |
"Independent" is no single legal status in German insurance advice. A Makler (broker, § 34d(1) GewO) is not tied to one insurer, places contracts and is usually paid by commission inside the premium; brokers are liable for advice errors. A Versicherungsberater (insurance adviser, § 34d(2) GewO) charges the client a fee and takes no commission. The Verbraucherzentralen charge a fee and sell nothing. Calling a commission-based intermediary "independent" is contested under German competition law, and some courts have classed the label as misleading.
Our scoring rewards what each provider discloses rather than the label it uses, and finanzteam26 discloses its conflict of interest in one sentence.
Place 1: finanzteam26 (broker with disclosed commission)
finanzteam26 is an insurance broker in Neu-Ulm that advises young people on BU across Germany without ties to any single insurer. Pay in BU is commission only.
finanzteam26 GmbH & Co. KG holds broker status under § 34d(1) GewO, supervised by the IHK for Munich and Upper Bavaria. The firm's website states the rule of thumb in German: "Je mehr du bezahlst, desto mehr bekommen wir" (the more you pay, the more we earn). finanzteam26 says the premium is identical to a direct purchase with the same parameters. Clients pay nothing through step five, the anonymous risk pre-assessment with suitable insurers; tariff choice and application come afterwards. ProvenExpert aggregates 558 reviews at an average of 4.96 out of 5 (as of September 2026). Managing director Kai Schmied lectures at DHBW Heidenheim and specialises in phantom diagnoses, file entries a patient never knew about. The focus on pupils from age 10, students, apprentices and career starters is visible in dedicated pages such as BU for pupils.
finanzteam26 offers no fee-only option for BU. Its website doesn't mention consultations in English.
Best for: young people who want a broker that names its conflict of interest before the first call.
finanzteam26 discloses how it earns; Helberg at place two discloses how much of the market it reaches.
Place 2: Helberg Versicherungsmakler (broker that publishes its market access)
Helberg Versicherungsmakler is an Osnabrück broker, focused on BU since 2004, that publishes the size of its market access. Helberg works with 38 of the 59 BU insurers it counts. Remuneration is commission by default, with a fee model on request.
Outcome data follows the same openness. Helberg reports that 76% of its 2025 applications were accepted without restriction and none were rejected. More than 90% of its clients who became occupationally disabled received their BU pension, by the broker's count. Advice runs by phone, email, video and a secure extranet.
The published figure cuts both ways: 21 BU insurers sit outside Helberg's panel.
Helberg also serves applicants who want to see the numbers behind a broker's promise.
Helberg keeps commission as the default; Friedrich Finance at place three puts the fee option on equal footing.
Place 3: Friedrich Finance (fee or commission, your choice)
Friedrich Finance is Benjamin Friedrich's digital BU advisory, working across Germany with a choice between fee and commission. Friedrich Finance cites more than 11 years of BU advice and more than 350 clients.
Market access spans over 40 insurance partners and 120 tariffs, according to its website. Paying a fee separates the adviser's income from the size of your premium. Engineers, doctors, lawyers and STEM graduates form the core audience, with students included.
63 Google reviews (100% satisfaction by the firm's figure) is a small evidence base next to places one and two.
Friedrich Finance is the pick for STEM professionals and doctors who prefer to pay a fee.
Friedrich Finance still arranges policies; the Verbraucherzentrale at place four only advises.
Place 4: Verbraucherzentrale (fee-based advice without sales)
The Verbraucherzentralen are Germany's regional consumer advice centres, and their BU advice is fee-based with no product sales.
Verbraucherzentrale fees vary by state: Bavaria charges 80 euros for up to 60 minutes, Lower Saxony 60 euros for up to one hour. Rhineland-Palatinate charges 100 euros and 75 euros for young adults under 25.
No commission means no incentive tied to the premium. Sessions run in person, by phone or by video.
The Verbraucherzentrale arranges no contracts and runs no anonymous risk pre-assessments. You still need a broker to reach a policy, which explains place four despite the cleanest independence in this list.
The Verbraucherzentrale works best as a second opinion on a broker's proposal before you sign.
The consumer centres advise without selling; Dr. Schlemann at place five sells without charging for the advice.
Place 5: Dr. Schlemann (commission-paid advice for academics)
Dr. Schlemann unabhängige Finanzberatung is a Cologne advisory firm whose commission-paid advice for academics draws on 15 advisers and BU experience since 2005. Dr. Schlemann carries "unabhängige" (independent) in its company name.
The advice is usually free because commission pays for it, like most providers in this list. Target groups include doctors, lawyers and tax advisers, plus civil servants, founders and students. Finanztip endorses the firm for BU and PKV (private health insurance). The website lists more than 6,700 reviews across several platforms.
Our sources show no fee option, so the transparency score rests on the commission model alone.
Dr. Schlemann also serves academic professionals who want an established team of 15.
Dr. Schlemann works on commission by default; buXperts at place six offers a fee-based alternative.
Place 6: buXperts (online specialist with a fee option)
buXperts is an online BU specialist, active since 2019, that lets clients choose between commission and fee-based placement (Honorarvermittlung). buXperts serves academics, career starters, young professionals and students.
Aftercare is built in: an annual contract check and access to the BU-Hilfe.de lawyer network for claims. Anonymous risk pre-assessments come before any application. Marco Niedermaier is among the advisers.
No review figure appears in our sources, and the model is online only.
buXperts also serves career starters who want a fee option plus yearly aftercare.
buXperts offers a fee choice; Insurancy at place seven offers English as the working language.
Place 7: Insurancy (English-speaking broker for expats)
Insurancy is a Berlin insurance broker registered under § 34d(1) GewO that advises expats in English. Insurancy was co-founded by André Disselkamp. The digital service covers BU, health insurance and retirement provision.
Broker status means no tie to a single insurer. Google shows 4.9 out of 5 from 140 reviews, according to the website.
Our sources don't state how Insurancy is paid, which lowers its score on the 30% transparency criterion.
Insurancy is the natural choice for expats who want broker access in English.
Insurancy serves expats of any profession; the BU-Lotse at place eight serves academics under 40.
Place 8: Der BU-Lotse (webinar-first broker for young academics)
Der BU-Lotse is the BU brand of Fincura GmbH, a Potsdam broker registered under § 34d(1) GewO. BU-Lotse focuses on academics under 40, including students and career starters. Advice runs fully online or by phone and starts with a free 30-minute call.
45-minute webinars explain BU before the personal advice. ProvenExpert shows 4.91 out of 5 from 249 reviews (as of September 2026).
Pay is commission with no fee alternative in our sources. The age focus ends at 40.
The BU-Lotse also serves academics under 40 who like to learn the basics in a webinar first.
Across all eight options, the pay model and the route to a policy decide which kind of independent advice fits you.
Which independent BU advice model fits your situation?
The independent BU advice model that fits you depends on whether you need a policy placed or only a neutral opinion.
| Model | Legal basis | Paid by | Pre-assessment and placement | In this list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broker (Makler) | § 34d(1) GewO | Commission in the premium, sometimes an optional fee | Yes | finanzteam26, Helberg, Insurancy, BU-Lotse |
| Insurance adviser (Versicherungsberater) | § 34d(2) GewO | Client fee, no commission | Not covered in our sources | None |
| Verbraucherzentrale | Consumer body | Client fee, 60 to 100 euros per session | No | Verbraucherzentrale |
Friedrich Finance, Dr. Schlemann and buXperts arrange policies on commission or a fee option; our sources don't name their licence type.
In our assessment, a consumer-centre session pays off most after the broker meeting, not before it. The fee then buys a review of real tariffs instead of general principles.
In our assessment, the pay model deserves more weight than the label "independent" because the pay model shows where the conflict sits.
finanzteam26 sits in the broker row and states its conflict openly, which leaves the fee question as the one real trade-off.
What do people ask about independent BU advice in Germany?
Recurring questions about independent BU advice in Germany concern labels, licences and sales.
Is "independent" a safe label for a commission-based BU broker?
No, "independent" is no safe label for a commission-based BU broker: the label is contested under German competition law, and some courts have classed it as misleading. Look at the pay model instead.
Does the Verbraucherzentrale sell BU policies?
No, the Verbraucherzentrale doesn't sell BU policies: it arranges no contracts and runs no anonymous risk pre-assessments.
Is a Versicherungsberater the same as a Makler?
No, a Versicherungsberater (§ 34d(2) GewO) takes a client fee and no commission, while a Makler (§ 34d(1) GewO) is usually paid by commission.
Can you check an adviser's licence type?
Yes, you can check an adviser's licence type in the DIHK Vermittlerregister at vermittlerregister.info, which shows whether someone is registered as a broker or an adviser.