Business liability
With extended product liability for financial losses at the customer, for example from misprints, wrong dimensions or insufficient strength.
Insurance broker / Business types / Manufacturing
Insurance for paper makers and packaging businesses in Germany
Paper, board and corrugated card are stored in high stacks and burn accordingly. At the same time your customers pack food, medicines and electronics in them, and a misprinted or too weak pack hits their goods. This page sets out what paper and packaging businesses in Germany should insure.
The question almost everyone asks first
Who pays if 200,000 folding boxes carry the wrong allergen information?
Reprinting the boxes themselves is your warranty risk. But if your customer has to repack, recall or destroy goods, that creates financial losses which only extended product liability with the right building blocks will carry. Some policies exclude printing errors. That is the first point we check when we compare.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Fire in the store
Paper reels, cartons and waste paper carry an enormous fire load. A warehouse fire is hard to put out, and the firefighting water ruins the rest.
- 02
A misprint with consequences
Wrong barcode, missing mandatory information, mixed up artwork: the customer's packing line stops or the goods must be relabelled.
- 03
The packaging gives way
Corrugated board that is too weak lets pallets collapse in the warehouse or goods arrive damaged.
- 04
The paper machine stops
A paper machine or corrugator is huge and one of a kind. A broken cylinder or drive stops the whole business.
- 05
Substances in food packaging
Mineral oil residues or printing inks can migrate into food and trigger recalls.
- 06
Cuts and entanglement
Rollers, guillotines and die cutters draw in hands and clothing. These are the typical serious accidents.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Business contents
Replaces machines, base paper and finished goods after fire, firefighting water, storm and burglary.
Business interruption
After a warehouse fire or machinery damage, business interruption cover secures wages, customers and profit.
Strongly advised
Machinery breakdown
For paper machines, corrugators, printing presses and die cutters, whose spare parts often take months.
Depends on the business
Cyber insurance
Prepress, order data and machine control are networked; an attack stops every customer's orders.
Cargo insurance
For reels and pallets on the way to the customer or between sites.
Fleet insurance
If you deliver with your own lorries.
What it costs: example prices
In paper and packaging, fire insurance makes up a large share of the premium because of the fire load. Turnover, customer sectors and the building blocks of product liability add to it.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Business liability | Small packaging or carton maker up to €1 million turnover | around €600 to €1,800 a year |
| Business liability | Packaging maker with 50 staff, food industry customers, extended product liability | around €4,000 to €12,000 a year |
| Business contents | Machines and stock worth €2 million | around €3,500 to €9,000 a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Die cutting and gluing machines plus printing unit with a new value of €1 million | around €3,000 to €7,000 a year |
| Business interruption | Business interruption after fire and machinery breakdown, 18 months | around €2,000 to €6,000 a year |
For comparison: Liability, contents and business interruption for a small carton maker cost about as much a year as one full lorry load of corrugated board.
Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026, from comparable manufacturing firms and our own quoting. Paper mills with their own paper machine are always priced individually and are well above these figures. We obtain the exact quote for you.
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Cartons
For: Small packaging and carton makers with cutting and die cutting
- Business liability
- Business contents
- Business interruption
Together around €2,500 to €7,000 a year
Request this package02
Packaging
For: Manufacturers with printing, die cutting and food industry customers
- Business liability
- Business contents
- Business interruption
- Machinery breakdown
- Cyber insurance
Together around €12,000 to €30,000 a year
Request this package03
Mill
For: Corrugated board and paper mills with large stores and their own fleet
- Business liability
- Business contents
- Business interruption
- Machinery breakdown
- Cyber insurance
- Cargo insurance
- Fleet insurance
Together around €30,000 to €80,000 a year
Request this packageThe worst day at the packaging plant
Six losses that happen at paper and packaging firms, all on one day before Christmas. Tap through.
Damage so far€1,268,000
-
The flatbed die cutter jams; the crankshaft has broken. Three weeks' delivery time for the spare part.
-
A confectionery maker reports wrong barcodes on 150,000 folding boxes. Its goods must be relabelled.
-
Pallets collapse in a customer's warehouse because the boxes were too weak. Glass bottles are destroyed.
-
Prepress is encrypted, and orders from 40 customers are stuck.
-
A forklift with an overheated battery sets the reel store on fire.
-
The Christmas trade is lost and customers switch to other suppliers for the time being.
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
- Have printing and labelling errors expressly included in extended product liability.
- If you make food packaging, look at your customer's recall costs as a separate block.
- Allow generously for firefighting water and clearance costs; after a warehouse fire the remaining stock is usually soaked.
- Charge forklift batteries in a separate fire compartment; that lowers the risk and often the premium.
- Set the indemnity period for business interruption at 18 to 24 months if you have machines with long delivery times.
- Insure customer property such as printing plates, cutting dies and supplied goods with a sum of its own.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We compare clauses, not just prices
Whether misprints are covered often decides tens of thousands of euros. As a broker we compare the wordings of several insurers.
We know claims settlement first hand
In boat insurance we settle claims ourselves. We help you document a warehouse fire properly, from stock lists to downtime.
Works, fleet and staff
We align property, liability, vehicles and workplace pensions with each other, and can walk you through it in English.
A family business since 1989
One fixed contact. Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Are misprints on packaging covered?
No insurance pays for making the packaging again. Follow-on costs at the customer can be insured through extended product liability if printing and labelling errors are not excluded.
Why is fire insurance so expensive?
Paper and board have a high fire load, and firefighting water destroys even unburnt goods. Insurers therefore look closely at stacking heights, distances and sprinklers.
What does insurance cost for a carton factory?
Small firms usually pay €2,500 to €7,000 a year for liability, contents and business interruption.
Do I need recall insurance?
If you make food or pharmaceutical packaging, it makes sense. A recall at the customer can come back to you.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?
For paper mills it is BG RCI; for paper converting and packaging it is BG ETEM. Both are statutory accident insurers.
Is the packaging register a form of insurance?
No. Registering with LUCID and joining a dual system for collecting packaging are duties under the German Packaging Act, but they do not replace insurance.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Paper and packaging
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.
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Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 17.11 Herstellung von Holz- und Zellstoff
- 17.12 Herstellung von Papier, Karton und Pappe
- 17.21 Herstellung von Wellpapier und -pappe sowie von Verpackungsmitteln aus Papier, Karton und Pappe
- 17.22 Herstellung von Haushalts-, Hygiene- und Toilettenartikeln aus Zellstoff, Papier und Pappe
- 17.23 Herstellung von Schreibwaren und Bürobedarf aus Papier, Karton und Pappe
- 17.24 Herstellung von Tapeten
- 17.25 Herstellung von sonstigen Waren aus Papier, Karton und Pappe
Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), WZ 2025. All business types
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