Skip to content

Insurance broker / Business types / Health and care

Insurance for live-in care agencies and home care for seniors in Germany

Live-in care agencies in Germany (24-Stunden-Pflege) place or post carers who live with seniors in their homes. The risk sits in three places: in the home, where people fall and things break; in the placement, where mistakes cost money; and in employment law, which keeps catching up with agencies and families. This page shows what an agency should insure and what it costs.

Insurance for live-in care agencies

The question almost everyone asks first

Who is liable if a placed carer does not help a senior get up and she falls?

It depends on your model. If the carer is employed by your agency or a partner company, the claim usually goes against the employer and its liability policy. If you only place carers, you are liable for errors in the placement. Be clear about your model and have it described exactly in the policy.

What goes wrong in this trade

  1. 01

    Falls at home

    Seniors fall getting up, in the bathroom and on the stairs. Afterwards the question is whether the carer acted correctly.

  2. 02

    Damage in the home

    A hob is left on, the washing machine overflows, a vase falls. Other people's property suffers in everyday life.

  3. 03

    Money and valuables

    Carers have access to cash, cards and jewellery. If something is missing, suspicion follows fast.

  4. 04

    Employment law and status

    Minimum wage for on call time, false self employment, posting rules: claims hit agencies and families alike.

  5. 05

    Placement errors

    A carer does not match the care needs, a changeover fails, information was wrong. The family wants compensation.

Risk radar
Liability 4Fire and water 1Theft 3Cyber 3Downtime 2Health 4

Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.

The insurance you need

Essential

Business liability

Pays for injury and property damage from the agency's work and, if carers are employed by you, from care in the home.

Strongly advised

Professional indemnity

Covers pure financial loss from advice and placement, which public liability does not pay.

Cyber insurance

Helps after attacks on client data, care levels and ID copies, and with reporting duties.

Depends on the business

What it costs: example prices

Premiums depend on turnover, number of households and your model: agencies that only place carers pay less than businesses with their own employed carers.

InsuranceExampleTypical range
Business liabilityPlacement agency with up to 30 householdsabout €300 to €900 a year
Business liabilityBusiness with its own employed carers, 50 householdsabout €1,500 to €4,000 a year
Professional indemnityFinancial loss from placement, €250,000 coverabout €400 to €1,000 a year
Business legal expensesAgency with office staff, employment and contract legal expensesabout €600 to €1,400 a year

For comparison: Liability and financial loss cover for a small agency cost about as much a year as a few days of live-in care in one household.

Guide prices from our quoting practice, as of October 2026.

There are hardly any published tariff examples for these agencies;

the sources below support the legal statements.

We obtain the exact quote for you.

Sources of the price examples

Our suggestions: three packages

01

Placement

For: agency placing self employed or posted carers

  • Business liability
  • Professional indemnity
  • Cyber insurance

Together about €1,200 to €3,000 a year

Request this package

02

Agency

For: agency with office team, many households and partner companies

  • Business liability
  • Professional indemnity
  • Business legal expenses
  • Cyber insurance

Together about €2,500 to €6,000 a year

Request this package

03

Employer

For: business with its own employed carers

  • Business liability
  • Professional indemnity
  • Business legal expenses
  • Cyber insurance
  • Group accident insurance

Together about €5,000 to €12,000 a year

Request this package

The worst day in live-in care

Five things live-in care agencies really experience, all on a single Friday here. Tap through the day and see who pays.

Damage so far€71,000
  1. A senior falls on the way to the bathroom at night; the employed carer did not hear the bell.

    €30,000 · Paid by: Business liability

  2. A pan is left on the hob and the family's kitchen is covered in soot.

    €9,000 · Paid by: Business liability

  3. A family claims the cost of emergency care because the promised carer never arrived.

    €5,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity

  4. A former carer sues for pay for on call hours.

    €12,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses

  5. ID copies and care levels from the client database appear online.

    €15,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance

Which package would you have had?

Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €71,000

Illustrative amounts before any excess.

What is paid depends on the policy terms.

Practical tips from your broker

  1. Describe your model precisely in the policy: placement, posting via partners or your own employment.
  2. Include financial loss from placement; public liability usually does not cover it.
  3. Have damage to property in the client's home and lost keys explicitly included.
  4. Record working and on call times; since the Federal Labour Court ruling they are at the heart of every dispute.
  5. Advise families who employ directly to register their carer with the Unfallkasse and to check their private liability policy.

Why NAMMERT for your business

We sort out your model

Norman Nammert acts as an insurance broker and obtains quotes from several insurers. We check which cover fits placement, posting or employment.

We know claims from practice

In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. That experience goes into our advice.

Advice in English

Agency, team and your private cover with one contact person. Advice is free of charge; the insurer pays our commission.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and answers

Does the minimum wage apply to on call time in live-in care?

According to the Federal Labour Court judgment of 24 June 2021 (5 AZR 505/20),

foreign carers posted to German households are entitled to the minimum wage for on call time too.

Is a carer employed directly by the family covered by accident insurance?

Yes, employees are covered by statutory accident insurance.

For households the state Unfallkassen are responsible; the family registers the carer there.

What insurance does a placement agency need?

Public liability for injury and property damage and professional indemnity for placement errors,

plus legal expenses and cyber cover.

How much does liability insurance cost for an agency?

About €300 to €900 a year for a placement agency with up to 30 households,

about €1,500 to €4,000 with your own employed carers.

These are guide prices from our quoting practice.

Does insurance pay if money goes missing in the home?

Public liability does not cover theft by your own carers.

Fidelity insurance covers that and is taken out separately.

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request quotes for Live-in care

The recommended covers are ticked.

Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Business liability insurance in Germany (Betriebshaftpflicht)

For example electrical installation in homes, café with outdoor seating, online shop for furniture

For example work at clients' sites, own products, exports to the US, parent company abroad

Professional indemnity insurance in Germany (Berufshaftpflicht)

For example tax adviser with payroll, freelance software developer,

architect for residential buildings

For example current policy abroad, clients in the US, side activities,

expiry date of existing cover

Business legal expenses insurance in Germany (Firmenrechtsschutz)

For example plumbing business, tax practice, online shop for electronics

Existing disputes cannot be insured, but knowing about them helps us advise you

Cyber insurance for businesses in Germany

Rule of thumb: cost of three to four weeks of downtime plus recovery

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Related trades

Home care

Home care

Who pays if a carer loses a patient's key?

Household help

Household help

Is my personal liability insurance enough if I clean for clients?

Freelance nurse

Freelance nurse

As an agency nurse, am I covered by the care home's liability insurance?

Boat or yacht? NAMMERT has its own cover concepts for boats, arranged by the same broker.

Boat insurance

Your broker: Norman Nammert, trading as NAMMERT.

Insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act.

Broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH is a separate company.

It does not arrange your contract.

Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated