Business liability
Pays for harm to customers and other people and, once damage to items being worked on is included, for customers' devices broken during repair.
Insurance broker / Business types / Retail and wholesale
Insurance for electronics shops, phone shops and repair counters in Germany
An electronics shop sells small things of great value: a tray of smartphones is worth as much as a small car and fits into a rucksack. Add customers' devices waiting for repair and lithium batteries that can catch fire. This page explains how to protect all of that and what it costs.
The question almost everyone asks first
Who pays if a customer's phone dies while we are replacing the screen?
Insurers call this damage to third party property you are working on, and many public liability policies exclude exactly that. If you do repairs, you need to have damage to items in your care and items being worked on written into the policy. For a customer's lost data you are usually only liable if you acted negligently, so get written confirmation before every repair that a backup has been made.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Burglary and smash and grab
New smartphones, tablets and headphones are easy to carry and quick to sell on. Thieves are often through the shop window and gone in under two minutes.
- 02
A battery catches fire
Swollen batteries from customers' devices, power banks in the stockroom, e-scooters on charge: lithium fires burn hot, are hard to put out and leave toxic smoke behind.
- 03
Devices in your care
If a phone dies for good on the repair bench or is stolen from the workshop, you have to replace it.
- 04
Customer data
Transferring data or unlocking a phone puts photos, chats and passwords in front of you. A data leak or a nosy member of staff can prove expensive.
- 05
Accessories imported from Asia
Unbranded charging cables and power adapters you import yourself: if one overheats at a customer's home, you are liable as the importer.
- 06
Fraud at the till
Fake payment slips, phone contracts signed with someone else's ID and rigged returns cost you stock and commission.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Strongly advised
Business contents
Replaces stock, shop fittings and customers' devices after burglary, robbery, fire and water, with a theft limit high enough for what you actually hold.
Business interruption
Keeps paying rent and wages while the shop stays shut after a fire or break in.
Cyber insurance
Helps after a leak of customer data or an attack on your till system and web shop, including the reporting duties under the GDPR.
Depends on the business
Electronic equipment
Covers your own workshop kit, such as soldering stations, microscopes and screen presses, against operating errors and power surges.
Business legal expenses
Legal expenses cover for disputes with suppliers, with network operators over commission, or with your landlord.
What it costs: example prices
Liability cover is cheap, while burglary cover costs more than for other shops because theft is so tempting. What matters is the value of your stock, your security, the location and whether you repair devices.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Business liability | Phone shop without repairs, 3 million euros cover | around 80 to 250 euros a year |
| Business liability | Shop with repair workshop, damage to items being worked on included | around 200 to 600 euros a year |
| Business contents | Stock and fittings worth 150,000 euros, burglary included, good security | around 700 to 1,800 euros a year |
| Cyber insurance | Small shop with till system, customer database and web shop | around 400 to 900 euros a year |
| Electronic equipment | Workshop equipment worth 15,000 euros | around 150 to 400 euros a year |
For comparison: For a small phone shop, liability and burglary cover together cost roughly as much a year as one new top of the range smartphone.
Guide figures excluding insurance tax, as of September 2026. Liability and cyber are based on publicly quoted price examples. Burglary cover for electronics shops is a guide figure from our own quoting practice, because insurers price it case by case given the theft risk.
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Start
For: small phone shop or accessories store without a workshop
- Business liability
- Business contents
Together around 800 to 1,600 euros a year
Request this package02
Repair
For: shop with a repair workshop and customers' devices in its care
- Business liability
- Business contents
- Electronic equipment
- Business interruption
Together around 1,200 to 2,600 euros a year
Request this package03
All round
For: specialist electronics retailer with a web shop and several employees
- Business liability
- Business contents
- Electronic equipment
- Business interruption
- Cyber insurance
- Business legal expenses
Together around 2,200 to 4,500 euros a year
Request this packageThe worst day in the phone shop
Six losses of the kind electronics and phone shops really face, all on a single Friday. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€100,200
-
Smash and grab: a drain cover goes through the window and two display cases of new smartphones are emptied.
-
Opening a tablet, a technician tears a ribbon cable and the mainboard is finished. The customer wants a new device.
-
An employee has copied customers' photos onto a private USB stick. Lawyer, report to the data protection authority, letters to everyone affected.
-
The soldering station falls off the bench and cracks the repair microscope.
-
A swollen battery at the drop off counter ignites. Fire in the workshop, soot all through the shop.
-
After the fire the shop stays closed for three weeks while rent and wages keep running.
Which package would you have had?
Illustrative amounts before any excess. Whether and how much is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
- Have damage to customers' devices in your care and on your bench written explicitly into your liability policy, with a limit that suits the repairs you do.
- Agree with the insurer which stock has to go into the safe overnight and up to what value the display cases are covered.
- Keep faulty and swollen batteries in a fireproof container; many insurers ask about this.
- Check your products liability for accessories you import yourself, even if they are only charging cables.
- Choose a cyber policy with round the clock assistance, because an attack on the till on a Saturday cannot wait until Monday.
- Keep a repair log with serial numbers and the condition of each device on arrival; it cuts short any argument about earlier damage.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We find insurers willing to cover electronics
Not every insurer is keen on phone shops. As a broker we approach several and compare their security requirements and theft limits.
We know how the other side works
Because we settle boat claims ourselves, we know how an insurer examines a burglary. We help you submit stock lists and police reports so that nothing has to be requested twice.
Shop, web shop and private cover together
Your business, cyber cover, car and personal protection all sit with one contact, reachable on +49 3375 29 12 77.
A family business since 1989
For decades we have looked after businesses where a small team gets a lot done. Our work costs you nothing.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
What insurance does a phone shop need?
Public liability, including damage to items being worked on if you do repairs, and contents insurance with a high burglary limit. Cyber cover is worth having as soon as you store customer data.
What does insurance for an electronics shop cost?
Liability cover starts at around 80 euros a year. With burglary cover for the stock, small shops usually budget 800 to 1,600 euros a year.
Are customers' devices covered in a break in?
Only if third party property is included in your contents insurance. Ask for the exact limit that applies to customers' devices.
Am I liable for a customer's lost data?
Yes, if you acted negligently. Point out the need for a backup before every repair and have the customer sign to say so.
Will insurance pay for a fire started by a customer's battery?
Contents insurance pays for fire damage to your shop. Make sure you meet any conditions on how batteries are stored, or the insurer may reduce the payout.
Do I need electronic equipment insurance for my workshop?
It makes sense if you use expensive kit such as microscopes or testing and programming devices. Unlike contents insurance, it also pays for operating errors and drops.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Electronics shop
The recommended covers are already ticked. Change what does not fit; we obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. You can write in English.
Thank you, we have your request.
We will be in touch within one working day. If it is urgent: +49 3375 29 12 77.
Related trades
Does my liability insurance pay if a customer's device breaks while I repair it?
Am I liable as a retailer if a product from China injures someone?
Is ordinary contents insurance enough for my jewellery?
Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 47.40 Einzelhandel mit Geräten der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik
- 47.54 Einzelhandel mit elektrischen Haushaltsgeräten
- 95.10 Reparatur und Instandhaltung von Datenverarbeitungs- und Telekommunikationsgeräten
- 95.21 Reparatur und Instandhaltung von Geräten der Unterhaltungselektronik
- 95.22 Reparatur und Instandhaltung von elektrischen Haushaltsgeräten und Gartengeräten
Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), WZ 2025. All business types
Boat or yacht? Here we are not the broker but the underwriting agency, with our own policies and our own claims handling.
Boat insuranceNAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker. Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated