Insurance for advertising and marketing agencies in Germany
Agencies rarely break things, but they often get things wrong: an image used without a licence, an advertising claim that draws a legal warning, a campaign with the wrong price in it. Those are pure financial losses, and ordinary public liability insurance does not pay for them. This page shows which cover fits and what it costs.
Will insurance pay if we receive a cease and desist letter over an image?
Yes, provided your professional indemnity expressly includes copyright, trade mark and personality rights. The insurer then checks whether the claim is justified, pushes back on inflated amounts and pays damages that are genuinely owed. A plain public liability policy pays nothing here, because nobody was injured and nothing was damaged. Deliberate infringements, such as knowingly using unlicensed images, are never covered.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Image and trade mark rights
A stock photo whose licence has expired, a typeface without a web font licence, a slogan that sails too close to someone's trade mark: in Germany the formal warning letter (Abmahnung) often arrives months after launch.
02
Mistakes in the campaign
A wrong price in the brochure, a mixed up discount code, a date that is off. The client has to reprint or sell at a loss and sends you the bill.
03
Unfair competition law
Misleading claims, influencer partnerships without an ad label or promotions that break the rules lead to injunctions and demands to cover the other side's legal costs.
04
Hijacked logins
Agencies run ad accounts and social media profiles for their clients. If one is taken over, ads run on someone else's card and data leaks out.
05
Missed deadlines
An ad booking deadline slips past, a trade fair opens without the materials: the client loses sales and holds you responsible.
06
Kit and office
Computers, screens and cameras are the main physical assets. A power surge, spilt coffee or a break in can halt production for days.
Covers injury and property damage, for example at a shoot, while building a trade fair stand or when a visitor falls in your office; often in the same policy as the financial loss cover.
Good creatives are hard to find; a company pension scheme is something even small agencies can offer.
What it costs: example prices
The premium depends mainly on turnover, the limit for financial loss and whether you offer riskier work such as prize promotions or influencer campaigns.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Professional indemnity
Sole trader, financial loss only, €100,000 limit, €500 excess
about €220 to €400 a year
Professional indemnity
Sole trader with €70,000 turnover, financial loss plus injury and property damage up to €2 million
about €350 to €700 a year
Professional indemnity
Agency with eight staff, €800,000 turnover, €500,000 financial loss limit
about €1,000 to €2,500 a year
Electronic equipment
Computers, screens and camera kit worth €30,000
about €200 to €450 a year
Cyber insurance
Small agency with access to client accounts, €250,000 limit
about €400 to €1,000 a year
For comparison: A sole trader's professional indemnity costs about as much a year as three hours of agency time at €100 an hour.
Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026.
The entry level examples come from publicly quoted tariffs; the figures for larger agencies,
electronics and cyber are guide values from our own quoting work.
Six things that really happen at agencies, all squeezed into one Monday. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€48,900
A warning letter lands in the inbox: a photo on a client's campaign page was not licensed. Back payment of the licence fee plus lawyers' costs.
€4,800 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
A retailer's brochure shows the television at €49 instead of €499. The client has to reprint and wants compensation.
€18,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
A client's ad account has been taken over, and overnight someone else's ads ran up several thousand euros.
€9,500 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
During a shoot in the client's shop a lighting stand tips over and smashes a glass display case.
€3,200 · Paid by: Business liability
A thunderstorm causes a power surge: two workstations and a monitor are dead.
€7,400 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
A client refuses to pay the final invoice and claims the campaign was defective.
€6,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €48,900
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Make sure copyright, trade mark, unfair competition and personality rights infringements are named expressly in your professional indemnity.
Set the financial loss limit by your largest client: if you run campaigns with six figure media budgets, €100,000 is not enough.
Check whether your framework contracts ask you to accept more liability than the law requires. Contractual promises are only covered if the insurer agrees to them.
Have freelancers and subcontractors included in your policy, or ask them to show you their own.
Ask whether the cyber policy also covers the client social media and ad accounts you manage.
For influencer campaigns, prize promotions and legal copy, the activity should be described precisely in the policy, otherwise the scope becomes a dispute after a claim.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We read the small print for you
Whether warning letter costs, client accounts or contractual liability are covered is found in the policy wording, not the price. As a broker we compare both across several insurers.
Claims experience first hand
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. We know how an insurer assesses a warning letter and prepare your notification so that it does not sit in a queue.
Agency and personal cover in one place
Financial loss, cyber, company car and your own protection all run through us, instead of three contacts at three insurers.
Free for you, family run since 1989
The insurer pays our commission. You speak to people who know your policy, even when a claim is reported years later.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Does an agency need public liability or professional indemnity?
Usually both, in a single policy.
Typical agency claims are financial losses, which need professional indemnity.
Injury and property damage at shoots or events fall under public liability.
What does insurance for a small agency cost?
A sole trader pays about €220 to €400 a year for professional indemnity.
A bundle for an agency with an office and a few staff usually costs €1,500 to €3,500 a year.
Are warning letters over image rights covered?
Yes, if copyright infringements are included and the breach was not deliberate.
The insurer checks the claim and pushes back on excessive amounts.
Who is liable if a freelancer makes a mistake?
Towards the client it is usually your agency.
Whether your policy covers freelancers' errors depends on the wording,
so settle that before the first job.
Does professional indemnity cover claims from social media campaigns?
Yes, if the activity is described in the policy:
for example a missing ad label or an unlawful prize draw.
Hijacked accounts, on the other hand, belong in cyber insurance.
Does my agency have to join a Berufsgenossenschaft?
Yes, as soon as you employ staff, usually the VBG.
This statutory accident insurer covers accidents at work and on the commute.
As the owner you can join voluntarily.
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