Business liability
Covers damage in clients' homes, falls by people in your care that you are to blame for and, if included, lost keys.
Insurance broker / Business types / Services
Insurance for household helpers and companion carers in Germany
You work in other people's homes, often alone, often with your clients' keys and sometimes with people who are unsteady on their feet. Most claims are small but frequent: a broken heirloom, a scratched hob, a lost front door key. Rare but serious: an elderly client falling while out for a walk with you. This page shows how to protect yourself.
The question almost everyone asks first
Is my personal liability insurance enough if I clean for clients?
No. Personal liability only covers your private life, not paid work for others. As soon as you look after households as a self employed person or with your own service, you need public liability cover, ideally including loss of keys and damage to things you are cleaning or using. Household helpers employed directly by a private household, on the other hand, are covered through their employer and the public accident insurance fund (Unfallkasse).
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Small damage, often
A porcelain figure falls while you dust, a scourer scratches the ceramic hob, the parquet swells after mopping. Little on its own, a lot added together.
- 02
The client's key
If you look after several households, you carry many keys. A lost bunch means new locks, and in a block of flats a whole locking system.
- 03
A fall in your company
On the way to the doctor or on a walk, an elderly person falls. If the carer failed in her duty of supervision, liability comes to you.
- 04
Accused of theft
Jewellery or cash goes missing and suspicion falls on the helper. Even an unfounded accusation costs nerves, time and sometimes a lawyer.
- 05
Driving clients
Shopping trips and doctor's appointments in your own car. If there is an accident, it must be clear that the journey is insured.
- 06
Backs and knees
Cleaning, carrying, supporting: the work is physical. Being off sick means less income straight away.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Strongly advised
Accident insurance
Self employed people are not always insured with a Berufsgenossenschaft. Private accident cover pays after a fall from a stepladder even then.
Car insurance
If you drive clients in your own car, declare the business use to your motor insurer.
Occupational disability
Protects your income if your back or joints no longer allow you to do the work.
Depends on the business
Business legal expenses
Helps with unfounded accusations of theft, unpaid invoices and disputes with the care fund over billing.
Group accident insurance
For services with employees, a plus when recruiting reliable staff.
Cyber insurance
For services that plan visits in an app and store clients' health data.
What it costs: example prices
Premiums are low because the typical claims are small. They rise if you care for people in need of care, employ staff or want a high limit for loss of keys.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Business liability | Self employed household helper, 3 million euros cover, with loss of keys | about 80 to 200 euros a year |
| Business liability | Companion care for people in need of care, recognised under state law | about 120 to 300 euros a year |
| Business liability | Service with ten employees, household help and care | about 500 to 1,300 euros a year |
| Accident insurance | Owner, 100,000 euros base sum with progression | about 100 to 250 euros a year |
| Business legal expenses | Self employed, no staff, contract and criminal legal cover | about 200 to 400 euros a year |
For comparison: Public liability for a self employed household helper costs roughly as much per year as four to six hours of work for one client.
Guide figures from our own quoting experience, excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026, derived from publicly quoted tariffs for cleaning and caretaker services with a similar risk. Comparison sites rarely quote premiums for household helpers themselves; we obtain the exact quote for you.
Sources of the price examples
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Start
For: self employed household helper with a few clients
- Business liability
- Accident insurance
Together about 180 to 450 euros a year
Request this package02
Companion
For: recognised companion care with trips in your own car
- Business liability
- Accident insurance
- Car insurance
- Business legal expenses
Together about 900 to 1,900 euros a year
Request this package03
Service
For: household and care service with employees and app based scheduling
- Business liability
- Business legal expenses
- Group accident insurance
- Car insurance
- Cyber insurance
Together about 2,500 to 5,500 euros a year
Request this packageThe worst day as a household helper
Six things that really happen to household helpers and companion carers, all on one single day. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€26,000
-
While dusting, a Meissen porcelain figure falls off the shelf.
-
The wrong cleaner leaves permanent marks on a natural stone worktop.
-
On the way to the pharmacy, a client you are guiding by the arm trips on a kerb. Broken wrist.
-
The bunch with five clients' keys is gone. In one block of flats the locking system has to be replaced.
-
Cleaning windows, you slip off the step and break your ankle. Six weeks without work.
-
A family claims jewellery went missing after your visit and withholds your pay. Lawyer and a claim for payment.
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
- Include loss of third party keys with at least 30,000 euros, more for blocks of flats.
- Make sure damage to things you are cleaning or using is covered. Exactly these are excluded in some tariffs.
- Name care and companion services expressly in the policy if you do more than clean.
- Keep a key log with the client's signature on handover and return.
- Check with the Berufsgenossenschaft whether you are insured as a self employed person or should take out voluntary cover.
- Before driving clients, check that your motor insurer knows about the business use.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know the small gaps
Keys, items you work on, accompanying clients outside the home: this is exactly where tariffs differ. As a broker we compare several insurers for you.
We know how claims are settled
In boat insurance we settle claims ourselves. We help you report even a small claim so that it is paid quickly.
Work and private life together
Public liability, car, accident cover and your private protection all come together with us, with one number for everything.
A family business since 1989
Our advice costs you nothing; the insurer pays our commission. You talk to people who take their time.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Does a household helper need public liability insurance?
Not by law. If you work self employed you should still have it, because personal liability insurance does not pay for paid work.
What does insurance for a household helper cost?
Public liability starts at about 80 euros a year. With companion care and a high limit for keys you are usually at 120 to 300 euros.
Do I need insurance to bill the long term care fund?
To be recognised as a provider of everyday support services, many federal states require proof of liability insurance. The rules differ from state to state, so ask the recognition office.
Am I insured as a mini jobber in a private household?
Yes, through the accident insurance that the household registers for you with the Minijob-Zentrale, the central office for marginal employment. Damage you cause is then usually carried by your employer or their personal liability policy.
Who pays if a person in my care falls?
Your public liability policy, if you failed in your duty of supervision. If the fall could not be foreseen, you are not liable and the insurer defends you against the claim.
Is theft by me or my staff insured?
No, deliberate acts are never insured. Legal expenses cover helps against unfounded accusations, and fidelity insurance against real dishonesty by staff.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Household help
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
Who pays if a carer loses a patient's key?
What happens if one of my cleaners loses a client's master key?
Who pays if a young person from our residential group damages something?
Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 96.40 Vermittlungstätigkeiten für überwiegend persönliche Dienstleistungen
- 96.91 Erbringung von haushaltsbezogenen Dienstleistungen
- 97.00 Private Haushalte mit Hauspersonal
- 98.10 Herstellung von Waren durch private Haushalte für den Eigenbedarf ohne ausgeprägten Schwerpunkt
- 98.20 Erbringungen von Dienstleistungen durch private Haushalte für den Eigenbedarf ohne ausgeprägten Schwerpunkt
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