Methodology & sources

1. We use official sources

Every figure on Topicdrill – deadlines, amounts, fees, property-tax rates – comes from a primary source: laws (gesetze-im-internet.de), federal and state ministries, the Familienkasse (child benefit office), the Federal Employment Agency, statistical offices and the official websites of cities and waste services. You'll find the sources we used under every article.

2. A second pair of eyes and expert review

• Every article is read by a second person and checked against the sources.
• Articles on tax and benefits are also reviewed by specialists ([e.g. tax adviser, benefits adviser]) – look for the "Reviewed by …" note.
• We word things carefully: "you may be entitled if …" rather than promises.
• We're not an authority and don't give individual legal or tax advice.

3. How we build our city data

For each city we collect around 40 facts (citizens' office, online registration, bulky waste, recycling centres, offices, property-tax rates) directly from the city's official websites. Every fact has a source and a review date. A city page is only opened to search engines once enough facts have been verified.

4. How our tools work

The moving checklist, benefits finder and disposal finder turn the rules from our articles and sources into simple questions. They run in your browser; your answers aren't sent to our servers (for postcodes we only look up the municipality via our own API). The results are guidance, not a decision on whether you're entitled to anything.

5. Keeping it current

Every page shows a "last updated" date. We review content at least every six months and immediately when laws or amounts change – for example on 1 January and 1 July.

6. Errors and corrections

However careful we are, mistakes can happen. Use the error-report button on the page in question or email kontakt@topicdrill.com to reach the editors directly. We check every report against the sources, fix mistakes promptly and update the "last updated" date.

7. Images and AI

Some illustrations are symbolic images created with AI (FLUX). We label them as such. They don't show real places, people or documents and don't contain any information that isn't also in the text.

8. Independence and funding

Topicdrill is free and funded by advertising that is clearly labelled "Advertisement". Advertisers have no influence on our content. Topicdrill is not a government service. You can see who runs Topicdrill in our imprint.

9. Open data sources

Municipalities, districts and postcodes come from the OpenPLZ API (open data; see their site for licence details). We sync them regularly.

FAQ