You are an insurance intermediary if you work as:

• insurance agent or
• insurance broker.

To do this, you need a permit from your local Chamber of Industry and Commerce. In addition to obtaining the permit, you must also be entered in the insurance intermediary register. At the same time as you apply for a permit, you can also apply to be entered in the register of intermediaries.

As an insurance agent

• If you mediate insurance contracts for one or more insurers on a professional basis and
• as its property manager, you are on the side of the insurance company on the basis of an agency agreement.

As an insurance broker:

• you independently broker insurance contracts on behalf of the customer and
• are on the side of the customer as his or her guardian of interests.

Special features for foreign nationals:

If you are a foreign national with a branch in another member state of the European Union (EU), you must register in that country. You do not need a permit in Germany, nor can you register in the German insurance intermediary register.

For foreign nationals from non-EU countries, the same regulations apply as for German nationals. These also apply to EU nationals who register a corresponding trade exclusively in Germany.