Personal liability insurance – necessary for refugees, too | Verbraucherzentrale Baden-Württemberg

In Germany you can insure yourself against a lot of damage. Some insurances are more important than others. The first and most important insurance you need from the beginning is a „private liability insurance“.

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DOC RABE Media / stock.adobe.com

The private liability insurance is one of the most important, optional insurances.

The essentials in brief:

You need a personal liability insurance from the beginning. It is the most important insurance.
You are only liable for damages, when you are to blame for.
If you caused a damage you have to inform your insurance as soon as possible.

What does liability mean?

According to the German Law, you have to compensate damages you caused. That’s called liability or in other words: You are liable for the damage.

Do I have to compensate all damages always?

No. You only have to compensate damages when you didn´t watch out properly. You are then to blame for the damage. If you cannot forestall a damage, you do not have to compensate it.

First example:
You drive your bicycle and brake too late. You bump into a car and scratch the paint. You have to pay for it.
Second example:
Someone is looking at his smartphone and runs right into your bicycle without paying any attention. The smartphone falls to the floor and the screen breaks. You don´t have to pay for this damage, because you did not cause it.

What is a private liability insurance?

This insurance pays for the damages you caused and you are liable for.

In the first examples these are the costs for the new car paint.

The liability insurance also helps when someone demands a compensation for damage from you without a reason. This is called legal protection.

In the second example the owner of the smartphone wants a compensation. The insurance helps you to defend against this claim. The insurance takes care of the letters. The insurance also pays for a lawyer, if you need one.

Third example:

You walk over the street. You don´t take a look around. A bus evades. The bus spins out of control and crashes into a tree. Many people are injured. The bus cannot be repaired. Without a private liability insurance you would have to compensate the whole damage on your own. This can be very expensive. In the worst case you pay the rest of your life for it.

Who is insured?

In a family liability insurance the whole family is insured. Children are insured in the family liability insurance until the end of their first apprenticeship.

In the single liability insurance adults can insure themselves alone. You are single, when you are not married.

How high should the insurance sum be?

The insurance sum is the maximum amount that is payed after the occurrence of damage. The insurance sum should be at least 5 million Euro, better more.

In the third example the insurance would pay up to 5 million euros.

What does the private liability insurance cost?

A cheap insurance with good conditions costs approximately 50 to 80 Euro per year.

What to do after the occurrence of damage?

If you caused a damage, you have to inform your insurer not later than within a week.

Important: In no case you should pay immediately. Who pays anyway, risks that the insurance refuses to pay for the damage.