Insurance — what you actually need

Germany is an enthusiastic country for insurance. A friendly broker will happily sell you eight policies before you have finished your coffee. Most of them are optional; two or three are close to essential. This page walks through the main ones, with rough costs and an honest take on whether they are worth it.

The short list of essentials

If you only buy three things, in this order: health insurance (covered on its own page), personal liability (Haftpflicht), and contents insurance (Hausrat) once you have furniture worth more than a few thousand euros. Almost everything else is a matter of life stage and risk tolerance.

Personal liability (Privathaftpflicht)

If you accidentally cause damage to another person or their property, German law makes you fully liable, without a cap. Spill red wine on a host's silk sofa, knock over a cyclist while walking, drop your friend's borrowed laptop — you owe the bill. Personal liability insurance covers exactly that, up to a chosen sum (usually €10–€50 million).

• Cost: roughly €5–€10 per month for an adult, less for couples and families on a single policy.
• Children are usually covered for free on a parent's policy until they finish their first full-time education.
• Look for cover of Gefälligkeitsschäden (damage to things lent or shared in good faith) and Schlüsselverlust (lost keys to a rented flat — replacing a building's lock cylinder is genuinely expensive).

Comparison portals (Check24, Verivox, Finanztip's recommendations) are the easiest way to shop. Almost every German adult has one. You should too.

Contents insurance (Hausrat)

Covers your furniture, electronics, bikes, clothes and other belongings against fire, water damage, storms and burglary. Sum insured is by square metre of your flat — a rough rule is €650–€800 per m² for an averagely furnished urban apartment.

• Cost: €3–€15 a month, depending on the sum and your district. A flat in central Düsseldorf is rated for slightly higher burglary risk than the outskirts.
• Bikes are usually covered against burglary from inside the home as standard, and against theft outside for a small surcharge with a sub-limit.
• Many policies include a "gross negligence" waiver up to a defined sum — useful if you forget to close a window before a storm.

Disability cover (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung)

Pays a monthly pension if you become medically unable to do your previous job by at least 50 %. The single most important policy for working-age people who would not be financially fine on the state's minimal invalidity benefit. Often skipped because it is complicated and expensive.

• Cost depends heavily on age, profession and health at signing. Young, healthy office workers pay tens of euros a month for a meaningful pension; manual workers can pay several times more.
• Apply when you are young and healthy. Pre-existing conditions, even minor ones documented in your medical history, lead to surcharges or exclusions.
• If you are sent a long health questionnaire, answer honestly. Inaccurate answers void the contract later.

Life insurance (Risikolebensversicherung)

Pays a lump sum to a named beneficiary if you die during the policy term. Sensible when others depend on your income (a partner with a mortgage, young children). Avoid the older endowment-style "Kapitallebensversicherung" products that combine life cover and savings — they are tax-inefficient and inflexible. Pure Risikolebensversicherung is what most people need.

• Cost: a thirty-year-old in good health insures €100,000 over twenty years for roughly €5–€10 per month.

Legal expenses insurance (Rechtsschutzversicherung)

Pays your legal bills if you end up in court — in a dispute with your landlord, your employer, a contractor or after a traffic accident. Genuinely useful in a country where small disputes routinely involve lawyers, especially in tenancy law. Modules are sold separately: Privat, Beruf, Verkehr, Miet- und Eigentum. Mix and match.

• Cost: €15–€35 a month for a full bundle for a household.
• Waiting periods of three to six months apply for new policies. You cannot buy this insurance after you already have a problem.
• Worth pairing with a Mietverein membership (around €80 a year) if you rent. The Mieterverein gives you fast, free first-line advice from tenancy lawyers, and the insurance pays for the court case if it becomes one.

Car insurance (Kfz-Versicherung)

Mandatory for every registered car. Three tiers:

• Haftpflicht — covers damage you cause to others. The legal minimum.
• Teilkasko — adds cover for theft, glass damage, fire, storm, animal collisions.
• Vollkasko — adds cover for damage to your own car, including your own fault. The right choice for new and leased cars.

Premiums depend on the car, your no-claims band (Schadenfreiheitsklasse) and your residential district. Düsseldorf-25 (Oberkassel) is rated differently from Düsseldorf-09 (Bilk). You can switch insurers each November (notice by 30 November) for the following calendar year.

Pet insurance

Two products show up:

• Tierhalter-Haftpflicht — mandatory for dogs in NRW. Covers damage your dog causes to others. Cheap (a few euros a month) and required by law in this state regardless of breed.
• Tier-Krankenversicherung — covers vet bills for the animal itself. Premiums rise sharply with age. Skip the cheap fixed-cap products; if you buy at all, buy a real OP-cover policy.

Travel insurance

Public health insurance covers basic medical care anywhere in the EU/EEA via the EHIC card on the back of your German health card. For longer trips and outside Europe, a separate Auslandskrankenversicherung is cheap (often under €20 per year for a yearly policy with unlimited short trips) and worth it. Travel cancellation cover (Reiserücktritt) is a separate product and usually attached to specific bookings.

Brokers and how to buy

Three routes:

1. Comparison portals (Check24, Verivox). Fast, but they earn commission on what they recommend, and not every insurer is on every portal.
2. Independent brokers — sometimes called Versicherungsmakler. Paid by the insurer, but contractually obliged to act in your interest. Worth seeking out for big products like disability cover.
3. Tied agents at single insurers. They only sell their own company's products. Fine if you already know which company you want.

Finanztip and Stiftung Warentest publish well-researched independent rankings in German; their lists are a good cross-check on whatever a broker suggests.

Related reading: health insurance, banking, taxes.