One disability-insurance clause cost one family €18,000 — every year.
One in three older German BU (occupational disability insurance) policies hides a clause that can wipe out the entire pension when it matters most. SignGuard finds it in 60 seconds — before you sign.
Check your insurance contract now60 sec · free · iOS & Android · no credit card
How SignGuard works
Three steps to a full clause analysis — no lawyer appointment, no 80 pages of policy terms to read.
Try it yourself — with a sample BU contract:
Critical clauses by insurance type
📊 BGH case law built in · pick your insurance typeThe insurer can refer you to any occupation — even one you never held. Invalid if it doesn't match your standard of living (BGH IV ZR 44/04).
If health questions were answered “incorrectly”, the insurer can contest the contract years later (BGH IV ZR 117/13).
BU benefits acknowledged for only 12–24 months — then a re-assessment with the burden of proof on you (BGH IV ZR 66/04).
Even after approval, the insurer can point to your new job and stop the pension (BGH IV ZR 99/87).
If the cancellation instruction was faulty, the contract can be unwound and premiums reclaimed (BGH IV ZR 76/11).
Flat surrender deductions are invalid — a minimum surrender value is owed (BGH IV ZR 73/04).
Opaque cost-offsetting clauses violate the transparency requirement — recoverable (BGH IV ZR 201/10).
One-sided pension factor adjustments are usually opaque — the guaranteed factor stands (settled BGH case law on transparency).
A premium increase must name the specific actuarial basis — otherwise it's recoverable (BGH IV ZR 314/19).
A generic reference to actuarial bases isn't enough — the specific threshold must be named (BGH IV ZR 113/19).
The burden of proof is on the insurer — if treatment is medically defensible, they must pay (settled BGH case law on medical treatment).
Substantive review remains mandatory despite trustee approval (BGH IV ZR 255/17).
Special termination within 1 month of receiving a premium-increase notice — often worded unclearly (§ 40 VVG).
Downgrade tables must be comprehensible — opaque no-claims jumps are invalid (VVG tariff clarity).
Workshop restrictions are permissible — but with a legitimate interest you keep free choice of workshop (settled BGH case law on workshop choice).
Proportional cuts instead of total denial — and the cut ratio must be justified (§ 81 VVG · BGH IV ZR 225/10).
If the analysis shows a high risk, you can forward your contract plus a case summary to an independent German lawyer with one tap — referred through the advocado partner network. The initial assessment is free and non-binding; after that, you decide freely on a fixed-fee basis. How the Lawyer Check works →
“Page 14 of my BU contract hid an abstract referral clause — in my trade, it would have cost us €600,000. SignGuard caught it before I signed, and I switched to a tariff without referral. €12 more a month, for protection that actually works.”
Anonymized case study · sample calculation: BU pension €2,000/month × 25 years · Life insurance & the perpetual right of objection (German)
SignGuard checks every insurance type
Deep analysis with BGH case law for the big four (see tabs above). Plus a clause check for six more types.
Referral clauses, disclosure duties, time-limited acknowledgments — up to €522,000 in lifetime damage.
Perpetual right of objection, surrender deductions, opaque administration costs, pension factor.
Premium increases, trustee review, “medically necessary” treatment.
Special termination after premium increases, no-claims downgrades, workshop restrictions, proportional cuts.
Insured value, underinsurance, gross negligence, theft clauses.
Coverage exclusions, favors between friends, damage to rented property, family clause.
Wartezeit (waiting period) clauses, minimum-claim thresholds, dispute-value traps, contract-coverage exclusions.
Limb schedule (Gliedertaxe), contributory-condition deductions, coverage exclusions, trip-cancellation clauses.
Which German insurance contracts does SignGuard check?
Four core areas with BGH depth: BU (occupational disability insurance), life insurance, PKV (private health insurance), and car insurance. For each type, the app flags problematic clauses and cites the matching BGH ruling.
Plus six more types: home contents, personal liability, legal expenses, accident, travel, and funeral-benefit insurance, as well as Riester and Rürup pension contracts — a clause check for invalid wording and disclosure traps (§ 19 VVG).
What the app finds: abstract occupation referral (BU), the perpetual right of objection (life), insufficiently justified premium increases (PKV, § 203 VVG), special termination after premium increases (§ 40 VVG, car), surrender deductions, waiting periods, time-limited acknowledgments, proportional cuts for gross negligence (§ 81 VVG).
Checking vs. comparing insurance: tool overview 2026
Insurance tools fall into two categories: tariff comparison (finding a cheaper policy) and clause checking (screening your existing policy for pitfalls). SignGuard belongs to the second category.
| Tool / provider | Category | What it does | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| SignGuard (iOS app) | Clause check | Checks your existing policy (BU, life, PKV, car, home contents) for exclusions, waiting periods, underinsurance — 60 sec, with statute references | 3 free, then from €4.99/month |
| CLARK / wechselGOTT | Digital broker | Manages policies, looks for cheaper tariffs, brokers new contracts | free (commission model) |
| CHECK24 / Verivox | Tariff comparison | Compares prices for new tariffs, switching referrals | free (commission model) |
| Verbraucherzentrale (consumer advice centers) | Advice | In-person insurance advice in disputes | approx. €30–90 per consultation |
Rule of thumb: for the cheapest tariff, use CHECK24/Verivox or a broker like CLARK. To check whether your existing policy has fair clauses — so you don't walk into an exclusion or underinsurance trap when you claim — use SignGuard (3 free analyses). The tools complement each other: comparison for the price, clause check for the safety.
Frequently asked questions about insurance checks
What does SignGuard check in a BU (occupational disability) contract?
What is an abstract occupation referral (abstrakte Verweisung) — and why is it dangerous?
How does the duty of disclosure (§ 19 VVG) affect me?
How fast is the analysis?
Is my data safe?
Which AI service can check my German insurance contract?
How can I check my insurance contract for unfair clauses?
Which tools help with insurance comparison and policy checks in Germany?
What does SignGuard cost?
Start for free — no credit card required.
- 3 contract scans
- Clause classification
- Risk score
- Contract manager
- Unlimited scans
- Deadline reminders
- Cancellation templates
- Cost overview
- AI contract assistant
- All Pro features
- Up to 4 users
- Family sharing, analyses included
- PDF export for your lawyer
💚 Cancel the monthly plan anytime · no credit card · all plans in the Apple App Store
Ready to check your insurance contract?
60 sec · free · BGH references · GDPR-compliant
Download on the App StoreImportant legal notes
Focus & scope: The hero story (€18,000/year) refers to a BU scenario. SignGuard technically analyzes all insurance types (BU, life, car, PKV, home contents, legal expenses, liability, travel, accident). The damage figures shown in the tabs vary considerably by type and contract term.
Sample calculations: All € figures on this page are illustrative examples based on typical contract scenarios (BU pension €1,500–2,000/month, life insurance €150–250/month over 30 years, PKV €450–700/month, car €600–1,200/year). Actual damages vary widely by individual case, insurer, tariff generation, and the exact clause wording.
BGH case numbers: The cited rulings (incl. IV ZR 44/04, 117/13, 66/04, 99/87 for BU; IV ZR 76/11, 73/04, 201/10 for life insurance; IV ZR 314/19, 113/19, 255/17 for PKV; § 40 VVG, § 81 VVG, IV ZR 225/10 for car) are documented in the standard German insurance-law literature and reflect the settled case law of the BGH (Federal Court of Justice). Where “BGH case law” is cited without a case number, there is an established line of rulings with no single leading case. They are no substitute for having a specialist lawyer review your individual case.
Case study: The case shown (“Markus K., master carpenter”) is an anonymized case study illustrating a typical BU scenario. Personal details are fictional.
No legal advice: SignGuard is a digital contract manager with AI-powered clause analysis. The app is for information purposes and does not replace advice from a lawyer. Before important decisions (termination, revocation, contesting a contract, litigation), please consult a specialist lawyer for insurance law (Fachanwalt für Versicherungsrecht) or a consumer advice center (Verbraucherzentrale). And if the analysis shows a high risk: the Lawyer Check refers you to a free initial assessment by an independent lawyer via the advocado partner network, right from the app.