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Insurance for small manufacturers, craftspeople and instrument makers in Germany

Violin, ring, wooden toy or knife: in a small workshop the value lies in a few pieces and in your own hands. Customers' pieces are often in the workshop too, for repair or rework. This page shows what to insure in Germany in case a fire, a burglary or a faulty product hits your business.

Insurance for small manufacturers and craftspeople

The question almost everyone asks first

Is my customer's violin covered if my workshop is burgled?

Only if third party property is included in your contents insurance, and then usually only up to a limit. For valuable instruments, jewellery or watches the standard sum is rarely enough. Keep a list of customers' pieces with their values and have the sum set to match. Many customers also have their own instrument or jewellery insurance.

What goes wrong in this trade

  1. 01

    Burglary at the workshop

    Precious metals, gemstones, old instruments and finished pieces are small and valuable. Burglars know that.

  2. 02

    A customer's piece is damaged

    A stone cracks while soldering, an old top splits during varnishing, an heirloom bends while polishing. Such damage is often irreplaceable.

  3. 03

    Toys and children

    Small parts, flaking paint, sharp edges: with products for children a fault quickly leads to injuries and recalls.

  4. 04

    Fire at the bench and kiln

    Soldering torches, kilns, varnishes and wood dust are typical causes of fire in small workshops.

  5. 05

    On the road at markets and fairs

    Goods in the car, on the stand and in the hotel are not automatically insured. Theft from a stand happens fast.

  6. 06

    Your own hands

    Cuts, burns and strain on hands and back can bring a one person workshop to a sudden halt.

Risk radar
Liability 3Fire and water 4Theft 5Cyber 2Downtime 3Health 3

Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.

The insurance you need

Essential

Business liability

Covers harm to customers and buyers, product liability for your pieces and damage to customers' property while you work on it, if included.

Business contents

Replaces tools, material, finished pieces and third party property after burglary, fire and burst pipes.

Strongly advised

Cargo insurance

Insures goods on the way to markets, fairs and galleries, in the car, on the stand and in the post.

Depends on the business

Business interruption

Pays running costs and lost profit if the workshop is out of action for months after a fire.

Cyber insurance

For your online shop and customer data if you sell a lot directly over the internet.

What it costs: example prices

Small workshops are among the cheaper businesses to insure, as long as values and customers' property are not too high. Jewellery, watches and old instruments raise the security requirements and with them the premium.

InsuranceExampleTypical range
Business liabilityOne person workshop, selling direct and onlinearound €100 to €300 a year
Business liabilityWorkshop with five staff and retail stockistsaround €300 to €900 a year
Business contentsTools, material and goods worth €60,000around €150 to €450 a year
Business contentsGoldsmith with precious metal and customers' jewellery, safearound €500 to €2,000 a year
Cargo insuranceGoods worth €20,000 at markets and fairsaround €150 to €500 a year

For comparison: Liability and contents insurance for a small workshop cost roughly as much a year as one handmade Damascus steel kitchen knife.

Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026,

from published tariff examples for small businesses and our own quoting.

For jewellery and precious metal, insurers require a safe and an intruder alarm,

which strongly affects the premium.

We obtain the exact quote.

Sources of the price examples

Our suggestions: three packages

01

Workbench

For: One person workshops and side businesses

  • Business liability
  • Business contents

Together around €250 to €700 a year

Request this package

02

Workshop

For: Workshop with staff, commissions and markets

  • Business liability
  • Business contents
  • Cargo insurance
  • Business interruption

Together around €700 to €2,000 a year

Request this package

03

Studio and shop

For: Workshop with online shop, fairs and valuable stock

  • Business liability
  • Business contents
  • Cargo insurance
  • Business interruption
  • Cyber insurance
  • Occupational disability

Together around €2,000 to €5,000 a year, income protection extra depending on age

Request this package

The worst day in the workshop

Six things that really happen in workshops and small manufactories, all on one Saturday with a craft market. Tap through.

Damage so far€79,100
  1. Burglary overnight: gold, stones and three customers' rings in for repair are gone.

    €24,000 · Paid by: Business contents

  2. While restringing, the top of a customer's old violin cracks. Restoration by a specialist.

    €6,500 · Paid by: Business liability

  3. At the market stall someone reaches into the display and disappears with two silver bracelets.

    €1,400 · Paid by: Cargo insurance

  4. A child swallows a broken piece of a wooden toy and has to go to hospital.

    €5,000 · Paid by: Business liability

  5. The online shop is hacked and customer data has leaked. Lawyer, report to the authority and notifications.

    €4,200 · Paid by: Cyber insurance

  6. The kiln sets the workbench on fire. Workshop, material and orders are covered in soot.

    €38,000 · Paid by: Business contents

Which package would you have had?

Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €79,100

Illustrative amounts before any excess.

What is paid depends on the policy terms.

Practical tips from your broker

  1. Have damage to customers' pieces while you work on them included in your general liability, with a sum that matches the pieces you accept.
  2. Insure customers' property in your contents insurance and keep an intake list with value and photo.
  3. For jewellery and precious metal, ask in advance which safe class and alarm system the insurer requires, otherwise the sum insured is worthless.
  4. Include goods at markets, fairs and in the car expressly, also overnight in a locked vehicle.
  5. If you make toys, document the tests and CE marking and choose a higher product liability sum.
  6. Protect your ability to work with income protection insurance that describes your craft precisely.

Why NAMMERT for your business

We ask about the customer's piece

The biggest gap in workshops is other people's property. We clarify it in advance and compare quotes from several insurers.

We know claims from the inside

As an underwriting agency for boats we handle claims ourselves, including on valuable one off items. We know how to prove value and damage.

Workshop and private life together

In small workshops business and private life overlap. We look after both with one contact, and can do so in English.

A family business since 1989

Craft values continuity, and so do we. Our work costs you nothing; the insurer pays our commission.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and answers

Does a craftsperson need business liability insurance?

Yes, as soon as you sell.

Personal liability insurance does not cover business activities,

and you are liable for your products even without fault.

What does insurance cost for a small workshop?

Liability and contents start at around €250 a year.

With markets, staff and business interruption, workshops usually pay between €700 and €2,000.

Are goods on a market stall covered?

Not under the workshop's contents insurance.

For that there is exhibition or goods in transit insurance.

Do toys need special insurance?

Product liability is part of it.

More important is that you meet the safety requirements and can prove the CE marking properly.

Does insurance pay if I damage a customer's piece?

Only if damage during work is included.

Many basic policies exclude exactly that.

Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?

It depends on the material: wood and metal usually BGHM, print and paper BG ETEM,

other crafts sometimes VBG.

The statutory accident insurer assigns you when you register.

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request quotes for Small manufacturing and crafts

The recommended covers are ticked.

Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Occupational disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung)

For example data analyst in an office, or civil engineer with site visits

We discuss details personally for an anonymous enquiry

For example how long you plan to stay in Germany, self-employment, existing policies

Business liability insurance in Germany (Betriebshaftpflicht)

For example electrical installation in homes, café with outdoor seating, online shop for furniture

For example work at clients' sites, own products, exports to the US, parent company abroad

Business contents insurance in Germany (Inhaltsversicherung)

For example café with bakery, accounting firm, car repair shop

At purchase price, 0 if no stock

For example flood cover, customer property, tools in vehicles, loss of income

Cargo and transport insurance in Germany

Only for hauliers and own-account transport

For example Incoterms, ADSp, packing, storage, previous claims

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Free of charge and without obligation. A person will get back to you.

Related trades

Jeweller

Jeweller

Is ordinary contents insurance enough for my jewellery?

Artist

Artist

Is my instrument covered by my home contents insurance?

Official classification

This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):

  • 18.20
  • 32.20
  • 32.30
  • 32.40
  • 32.91
  • 32.99

Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), WZ 2025. All business types

Boat or yacht? NAMMERT has its own cover concepts for boats, arranged by the same broker.

Boat insurance

Updated