Insurance for graphic, fashion and product designers in Germany
A logo that looks too much like someone else's brand. A label with a missing allergen warning. A chair design whose backrest snaps. Design errors often surface only once thousands of units have been printed or made, and by then the sums involved dwarf your fee.
If you work for businesses, yes. A printing error on 50,000 packs or a trade mark infringement in a logo falls on you personally and without limit, freelancer or not. Professional indemnity for financial loss starts at around €170 to €400 a year, and the insurer's first job is to check whether the claim is justified at all.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Errors the client signed off
Two digits swapped in a phone number, the wrong colour in a corporate design, a typo on the packaging. Even after the client's approval there is often a fight over who shares the blame.
02
Logo and trade mark
A new logo that comes too close to a registered trade mark forces the client to replace signs, vehicle livery and printed matter.
03
Fonts and images
Font licences often cover only one computer or one medium. Use the typeface in an app or on the web and a demand for back payment follows.
04
Engineering in product design
A design for furniture, lamps or toys with a weak point can injure people. Then the issue is personal injury and product recalls.
05
Fashion and patterns
A print that resembles a protected design can stop an entire collection. Stock has to be destroyed or reworked.
06
Data loss
Open files, client archive, font library: a failed drive or ransomware costs days and sometimes client work.
Covers the studio, sewing machines, fabrics and samples against fire, escape of water and burglary.
What it costs: example prices
Graphic design is one of the cheaper professions to insure for liability. Product design costs more, because injuries and recalls are possible, and so does high turnover with big brand clients.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Professional indemnity
Solo graphic designer, financial loss up to €100,000, with an excess
about €170 to €400 a year
Professional indemnity
Design studio with three staff, €250,000 limit, injury and property damage included
about €500 to €1,100 a year
Business liability
Product designer with design liability, €3 million limit
about €400 to €1,200 a year
Electronic equipment
Computers, tablets and printers worth €10,000
about €100 to €250 a year
Business legal expenses
Self employed with no staff
about €250 to €500 a year
For comparison: A graphic designer's professional indemnity costs about as much a year as a simple logo design for a local tradesman.
Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026.
The entry level professional indemnity figure comes from publicly quoted tariffs;
the other values are guide figures from our own quoting work.
Six cases of the kind design studios really see, all on one Thursday. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€52,900
The printer calls: 40,000 labels are missing an allergen warning that was missing from your artwork. Reprint and relabelling.
€14,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
A trade mark owner sends a warning letter over a client's new logo. The client has to redo signs and vehicle livery.
€22,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
At a client meeting your sample case falls onto a designer shelf and scratches it.
€1,800 · Paid by: Business liability
The graphics tablet falls off the desk and the display cracks.
€2,600 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
Ransomware locks the server holding every open project.
€8,500 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
A client refuses to pay because he understood the usage rights differently.
€4,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €52,900
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Have trade mark, copyright, registered design and unfair competition infringements named expressly in your professional indemnity.
In product design, public liability should include damage arising from your design specifications, even if someone else manufactures the product.
Check whether errors are covered after the client has signed off; some wordings exclude them.
Where the insurer offers it, include font licences and software subscriptions in the electronics cover as replacement costs.
If you work worldwide or for US clients, clarify the territorial scope first; US claims are often excluded.
Protect your income with income protection (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung) while you are young and healthy; later it costs more or is not available at all.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We compare wordings, not just prices
Whether an approved error is covered comes down to one sentence in the wording. As a broker we lay out quotes from several insurers with that sentence side by side.
We know how claims handling works
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. That craft helps when your insurer wants to see documents after a trade mark warning letter.
One contact for studio and private life
Professional indemnity, equipment, income protection and pension are arranged together, matched to an income that goes up and down.
Family run since 1989, free for you
The insurer pays our commission. You call and speak to someone who knows your policy.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
What does professional indemnity for a graphic designer cost?
At entry level about €170 to €400 a year for financial loss up to €100,000.
With staff, a higher limit and injury and property damage included,
design studios usually pay €500 to €1,100.
Am I covered if the client approved the design?
Often yes, but not always.
The client can still claim despite approving it, and some tariffs exclude such cases.
Check this before you sign.
Do I need different insurance as a product designer?
Yes: in addition to professional indemnity for financial loss,
public liability that covers injury and property damage caused by your designs.
A broken chair is not a financial loss.
Are warning letters over fonts covered?
Yes, if copyright infringements are included and there was no intent.
The insurer also checks whether the amount claimed is right.
Do I have to join a Berufsgenossenschaft as a freelance designer?
Not without staff, but you can insure yourself voluntarily with this statutory accident insurer.
Once you employ people membership is compulsory, usually with the VBG.
Does the Künstlersozialkasse also cover accidents?
No.
The Künstlersozialkasse, the social insurance fund for self employed artists and writers,
pays part of your pension, health and long term care contributions,
but not accident, income protection or liability cover.
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