Insurance for funeral directors and funeral homes in Germany
In a funeral home mistakes must not happen, and when they do, they weigh twice as heavily. A mourner falls on the wet steps to the chapel, the cold room fails over the weekend, the private ambulance has an accident. This page shows which insurance you need for that, what it costs and what is often missing.
Which insurance do I really need as a funeral director?
Public liability and motor insurance for your vehicles are essential. Liability pays if relatives or mourners are harmed, or if you damage something in a chapel, at the cemetery or when collecting the deceased from a home. After that come contents, equipment and business interruption, because without premises and cooling you cannot accept a funeral.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
A fall at the funeral
Wet steps outside the chapel, an uneven cemetery path, a trailing cable from the sound system. Mourners are often elderly, and falls have serious consequences.
02
Collections in other people's homes
Carrying through a narrow stairwell damages banisters, door frames or furniture. It happens more often than you might think.
03
The cooling fails
A fault at the weekend, and a viewing is no longer possible. For the family it is a second catastrophe, for you a liability case.
04
An accident with the hearse
Transfers often run on country roads and motorways, at night too. Accidents hit the vehicle, the coffin and everyone involved.
05
Mistakes in the process
The wrong urn sent, the crematorium appointment missed, a death notice with the wrong date. This can trigger costs and claims for compensation.
06
Lifting and infection
Carrying in narrow stairwells, heavy coffins, contact with infectious diseases: the work takes a toll on backs and health.
For disputes over unpaid invoices with groups of heirs and over conditions imposed by cemetery authorities.
What it costs: example prices
Public liability is comparatively cheap for funeral directors. Vehicles and equipment cost more. What matters is turnover, staff and whether you run your own chapel of rest and cooling.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Small funeral home, 3 million euros cover, with an excess
about 100 to 250 euros a year
Business liability
Funeral home with five employees, its own chapel and transfers
about 300 to 800 euros a year
Car insurance
Hearse with third party liability and comprehensive cover
about 700 to 1,800 euros a year
Business contents
Display, fittings and office worth 50,000 euros
about 150 to 400 euros a year
Electronic equipment
Cold room and equipment worth 30,000 euros
about 200 to 500 euros a year
For comparison: Public liability and contents cover for a small funeral home cost roughly as much per year as a simple wooden coffin.
Guide figures excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026.
Liability comes from publicly quoted tariff examples; vehicle,
contents and equipment are guide figures from our own quoting experience.
The motor premium depends heavily on your no claims record and the vehicle's value.
Six things that really happen to funeral directors, all on one single Friday. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€129,800
The cold room failed overnight with a faulty compressor. Emergency engineer, spare part, transfer to someone else's cooling facility.
€6,500 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
During a collection from a third floor flat, the banister of an old building is damaged.
€2,800 · Paid by: Business liability
A mourner falls on the wet steps outside your chapel. Broken upper arm, hospital, compensation.
€14,000 · Paid by: Business liability
On the motorway a lorry runs into the back of the hearse. The body is destroyed and the vehicle is off the road for weeks.
€45,000 · Paid by: Car insurance
At a graveside service, a neighbouring grave and its headstone are damaged while the decorations are set up.
€3,500 · Paid by: Business liability
An electrical fire in the display room. Coffins, urns and office are covered in soot and the funeral home stays closed for two weeks.
€58,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €129,800
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Have work in other people's premises, at cemeteries and in crematoria expressly named in your public liability policy.
Include the loss of third party keys and access cards, for example for cemeteries, care homes and the homes of the deceased.
Insure the cold room and cooling equipment with electronic equipment or machinery insurance, not only under contents.
Choose comprehensive cover for the hearse with new value compensation for the body, and clarify whether a replacement vehicle is paid for.
If you accept money for pre paid funerals, hold it in trust and keep it strictly separate from business assets.
Have at least 3 million euros cover for injury and property damage; 5 million often costs only a few euros more.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We see what is missing from the policy
Cooling, other people's premises, cemeteries, keys: as a broker we get quotes from several insurers and check whether your daily work is really covered.
We know claims handling from the inside
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. When a claim has to be resolved quickly and discreetly, we know what the insurer needs.
Vehicles and premises from one source
Public liability, hearse, buildings and your private provision are handled together, with one contact person.
A family business since 1989
Many funeral homes have been family businesses for generations, and so are we. Our advice costs you nothing; the insurer pays our commission.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Is public liability compulsory for funeral directors in Germany?
Not by law, but cemetery authorities, crematoria and landlords often require it.
Motor third party liability for your vehicles is compulsory.
What does insurance for a funeral home cost?
Public liability starts at about 100 euros a year.
With vehicle, contents and cooling equipment,
a small funeral home is usually between 1,800 and 4,000 euros.
Which statutory accident insurer is responsible for funeral directors?
Usually BG Verkehr, because transfers are a core part of the work.
Those who only arrange funerals usually belong to the VBG,
and joinery businesses with a funeral service to the BGHM,
the Berufsgenossenschaft for wood and metal.
Does insurance pay if the cooling fails?
Electronic equipment or machinery insurance pays for the fault in the unit.
The consequences for relatives, such as a viewing that cannot take place, can be a liability claim.
Are graveside services covered?
Yes, if work outside your own premises is included in the policy.
Check this, especially if you set up decorations, equipment or marquees.
Do I have to insure pre paid funeral plans?
Money for pre paid funerals belongs in a trust account or in the client's own funeral expenses
insurance, so that it is protected if the funeral home becomes insolvent.
There is no insurance obligation for you.
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