Insurance for energy consultants and energy efficiency experts in Germany
As an energy consultant in Germany you calculate, advise and sign. If a subsidy application fails because a deadline was missed or a figure was entered wrongly, your client can lose a five figure grant, and the first question is who pays. This page explains which insurance energy consultants and energy efficiency experts actually need, and what it costs.
My client lost a subsidy because of a mistake in the application. Do I have to pay?
If the mistake was yours, the client can claim damages, and this is pure financial loss: nobody is hurt and nothing is broken, but money is missing. A general public liability policy usually does not cover that. You need professional indemnity (Berufshaftpflicht) that expressly includes financial loss, with a sum insured that matches the grants your clients apply for.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Lost subsidy
Application filed too late, confirmation completed wrongly, measure not eligible: the client asks you to pay the missing grant.
02
Faulty energy certificate
A wrong figure on the certificate leads to a dispute about the building's condition when it is sold or let.
03
Wrongly sized systems
The recommended heat pump is too small or the insulation was planned wrongly, and the client wants the cost of putting it right.
04
Accident on site
In a loft, on scaffolding or in a cellar you fall yourself, or a measuring device drops on a tradesperson.
05
Expensive equipment
Thermal camera, blower door kit and laptop travel a lot, in the car and on building sites.
06
Client data
Floor plans, consumption data and subsidy documents are stored digitally. A cyber attack or a lost laptop quickly becomes a data protection case.
For the car you use to visit clients and building sites.
What it costs: example prices
The main item is professional indemnity. Its price depends on turnover, the sum insured for financial loss and whether you only advise or also supervise works and plan systems.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Professional indemnity
Self employed consultant, advice and energy certificates only, €250,000 for financial loss
about €250 to €500 a year
Professional indemnity
Energy efficiency expert with site supervision, €500,000 financial loss, €3 million injury and property
about €500 to €1,200 a year
Electronic equipment
Thermal camera, blower door kit and laptop worth €15,000
about €200 to €450 a year
Business legal expenses
Sole trader with contract and employment legal cover
about €300 to €600 a year
Cyber insurance
Office with two workstations, €100,000 sum insured
about €300 to €700 a year
For comparison: Professional indemnity for an energy consultant costs about as much a year as one or two energy certificates for a family home.
Guide values from our quoting practice, excluding insurance tax, as of October 2026.
Your premium depends on turnover, scope of work, sum insured and claims history.
Six things that really happen in energy consulting, here all on one Tuesday. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€45,500
A client calls: his subsidy was refused because work started before the application. He says you never warned him.
€18,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
During a site visit the thermal camera slips from your hand onto the cellar floor.
€6,500 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
Your equipment case falls off a ladder onto a tradesperson's foot. He is off work for two weeks.
€4,500 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
Ransomware locks your office computer with all projects and client data.
€9,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
A homeowner refuses to pay and denies having ordered the site supervision.
€2,500 · Paid by: Business legal expenses
The blower door kit is stolen from your car outside the site.
€5,000 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €45,500
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Make sure your professional indemnity expressly includes financial loss; plain public liability rarely covers calculation errors or lost subsidies.
Describe every activity to the insurer: advice, certificates, subsidy applications, site supervision and system planning. Activities not declared are often not covered.
Choose the sum insured according to your clients' grants. For blocks of flats, subsidies quickly reach six figures.
Put deadlines and warnings in writing, for example that no contract may be signed before the application. It helps in a dispute.
Insure measuring devices under an electronics policy with cover away from the office, so damage on site and theft from the car are included.
Check run off cover if you retire. Mistakes often surface years later.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We read the activity wording
Whether site supervision or system planning is covered sits in the small print. As a broker we put the differences side by side.
We understand financial loss claims
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. We know which documents an insurer wants to see in a dispute about money.
Business and private in one place
Professional indemnity, equipment, car and your own provision are handled together. One call is enough, in English if you prefer.
Family business since 1989
Norman Nammert acts as an insurance broker (Versicherungsmakler). Our service is free for you; the insurer pays our commission.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Is professional indemnity compulsory for energy consultants in Germany?
There is no dedicated statutory requirement.
But anyone handling subsidy applications and energy certificates carries a high risk of financial
loss claims,
and many clients ask for proof of cover.
Who may issue energy performance certificates?
Section 88 GModG sets this out: among others, people entitled to submit building plans,
graduates of certain technical degrees,
master craftspeople from construction and building services,
and state certified technicians, each with additional qualifications,
plus holders of the energy consulting qualification exam.
What does professional indemnity cost?
For advice and certificates about €250 to €500 a year,
with site supervision and higher sums about €500 to €1,200.
These are guide values from our quoting practice.
How long does a listing as energy efficiency expert last?
Three years.
Renewal requires proof of training and practice,
and experts are checked when there is cause or by random sampling.
Am I covered by statutory accident insurance as a self employed consultant?
Only if you join your Berufsgenossenschaft voluntarily under section 6 SGB VII.
