Insurance for dental laboratories, dental technicians and medical technology firms in Germany
A dental laboratory manufactures medical devices: every crown and every bridge is custom made, and you answer for it. Add milling and printing centres worth several hundred thousand euros, precious metal in the safe and ceramic furnaces that reach over 900 degrees every day. This page shows which claims really get expensive and what protection costs.
Who pays if a crown breaks and the patient is hurt?
Remaking the crown is a warranty matter and stays with you; no liability policy pays for it. But if the patient suffers consequential harm, such as a broken tooth, inflammation or an allergic reaction to the material, and your work caused it, product liability pays. The dentist's costs for removing and refitting can also be insured, but only with an extended product liability module.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Serial defects
A faulty batch of zirconia or a wrongly calibrated sintering furnace affects not one piece of work but the whole week's output.
02
Milling unit and printer
CAD/CAM milling units, 3D printers and scanners are expensive and delicate. A spindle crash halts production.
03
Precious metal on site
Gold alloys, precious metal scrap and electroplating baths attract burglars and are covered only to a limited extent in many policies.
04
Heat and chemicals
Furnaces, casting machines, acids and resin monomers: fires and chemical burns can happen in the lab.
05
Deliveries and deadlines
If the lab is out of action, dental practices are left waiting for fixed fitting appointments, and customers move elsewhere.
06
Dust and allergies
Grinding dust, resins and metals strain lungs and skin. Dental technicians are among the professions with typical occupational diseases.
With product liability included, it pays for consequential harm to patients and meets the financial coverage duty for manufacturers of custom made devices.
For disputes with dental practices over complaints and unpaid invoices.
What it costs: example prices
Hardly any tariff examples are published for dental laboratories; premiums are usually calculated individually by turnover, staff and equipment. The figures below are therefore derived from comparable craft businesses and our own quoting practice.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Lab with up to five staff, product liability included
about €250 to €700 a year
Business liability
Lab with 10 to 20 staff and extended product liability including removal and refitting costs
about €800 to €2,000 a year
Business contents
Furnishings, furnaces, materials and precious metal worth €200,000
about €500 to €1,200 a year
Electronic equipment
Milling centre, printers and scanners worth €150,000
about €800 to €2,000 a year
Business interruption
Loss of income for up to twelve months, added to the contents policy
about €250 to €700 a year on top
For comparison: Basic cover of public liability and contents insurance costs about as much a year as five or six zirconia crowns from your own lab.
Guide prices as of September 2026,
estimated from our own quoting practice and comparable craft businesses,
because insurers publish hardly any examples for dental labs.
Your premium depends on turnover, equipment and precious metal; we obtain the exact quote for you.
Six things that really happen in dental laboratories, all on a single Wednesday. Click through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€172,300
Break-in through the skylight: gold alloys and precious metal scrap from the cabinet are gone.
€16,000 · Paid by: Business contents
The milling machine crashes because a blank was clamped wrongly, and the spindle is wrecked.
€14,000 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
A practice reports that a bridge has broken, and the patient's abutment tooth with it.
€4,500 · Paid by: Business liability
Order data and scans are encrypted; nothing can be milled for two days.
€15,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
Pulling out of a space, the courier car hits a dentist's car.
€2,800 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
A ceramic furnace overheats and the fire spreads to the equipment room. Three weeks of emergency operation.
€120,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €172,300
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Have product liability for custom made medical devices included expressly and check the sum against the requirements of the Medical Device Regulation.
Ask about the extended module for removal and refitting costs, because with dental prostheses practices reclaim exactly these costs.
Set a separate sum insured for precious metal kept in a safe; the usual limits for valuables are too low.
Insure milling units and printers with electronics cover that also includes operating and programming errors.
Keep complete records of batch numbers and material certificates: that limits a serial claim to the pieces really affected.
Back up scan data and designs daily outside the lab, so work can resume quickly after an attack.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We understand product liability
As a broker we compare several insurers and check whether removal and refitting costs and serial claims are really covered, because that is what counts with dental prostheses.
We know how claims are settled
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. That knowledge helps when machines, materials and downtime are valued after a fire.
Lab, vehicles and private cover together
Liability, equipment, courier cars and your private provision sit with one contact.
Family business since 1989
Advice is free for you, as the insurer pays our commission. You talk to people, not a call centre.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Does a dental lab in Germany need product liability insurance?
Yes.
Dental work is custom made medical devices, and as the manufacturer you are liable for harm.
The EU Medical Device Regulation requires sufficient financial coverage of this liability.
How much does insurance for a dental lab cost?
A small lab usually pays €750 to €1,800 a year for liability and contents.
With a milling centre, electronics and loss of income cover, €2,000 to €5,000 is typical.
Does insurance pay for remaking a faulty crown?
No, putting your own work right is a warranty matter.
What is covered is consequential harm to the patient and, with the extended module,
the dentist's costs for removal and refitting.
Is gold in the lab insured against burglary?
Only up to the agreed limit.
Many policies strictly limit precious metal and valuables unless kept in a safe.
Have a separate sum agreed.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft covers dental labs?
BG ETEM.
Your employees are insured there by law against workplace accidents and occupational diseases;
you can insure yourself voluntarily.
Are courier trips insured?
The vehicle through motor insurance, but the work inside the car is not covered automatically.
For high value deliveries, check your contents or transit insurance.
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