Insurance for pharmacies and pharmacy owners in Germany
In a pharmacy, one mixed up packet can put someone in hospital, and the fridge may hold vaccines and insulin worth as much as a small car. Since the e-prescription arrived, every sale also depends on the technology working. This page sets out which insurance a pharmacy needs and what it costs.
Will insurance pay if we hand out the wrong medicine?
Yes. The pharmacy's professional and public liability cover pays if a patient's health is harmed by a mix up, a wrong dose or a compounding error, and it also fights off unjustified claims. What is usually not covered is a statutory health insurer refusing to reimburse a prescription because of a formal error. These clawbacks, known in Germany as Retaxation, can only be insured to a limited extent and through separate add ons.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Dispensing errors
Similar names, similar packs, a queue at the counter: handing over the wrong product or the wrong strength can have serious consequences.
02
Compounding in house
Ointments, capsules and solutions made on the premises: one weighing error turns the pharmacy into a manufacturer with full liability.
03
The cold chain
Vaccines, insulin and biologics in the fridge are often worth tens of thousands of euros. If the fridge fails over a weekend, all of it is lost.
04
Technology and e-prescriptions
Stock management software, the dispensing robot and the connection to the national health data network: an attack or a fault stops dispensing and puts patient data at risk.
05
Burglary
Narcotics, high priced drugs and the till attract burglars; the damage to doors and cabinets often costs more than what is taken.
06
Home delivery
Your courier takes medicines to patients' homes. Accidents on the round and deliveries to the wrong address are part of everyday life.
Replaces stock, fittings and refrigerated medicines after fire, water and burglary, and after a fridge breakdown if the cold storage add on is included.
Helps after attacks on your stock management and e-prescription systems, after a loss of health data and with your duties towards the data protection authority.
Pharmaceutical technicians and licensed pharmacists are in short supply; a company pension helps you keep them.
What it costs: example prices
Pharmacies pay a moderate amount for liability cover and considerably more for stock, technology and loss of income. What matters is turnover, the number of licensed pharmacists, how much compounding you do, whether you sell by mail order and the value of your stock.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Professional indemnity
Pharmacy, liability cover of 3 to 10 million euros, basic tariff
around 125 to 350 euros a year
Professional indemnity
Pharmacy with compounding, care home supply or mail order, extended cover
around 400 to 1,500 euros a year
Business contents
Stock and fittings worth 300,000 euros, cold storage included
around 800 to 2,000 euros a year
Cyber insurance
Pharmacy with e-prescriptions and customer files, 250,000 euros cover
around 500 to 1,100 euros a year
Electronic equipment
Dispensing robot worth 150,000 euros
around 500 to 1,500 euros a year
For comparison: A pharmacy's liability and contents cover costs about as much a year as the fixed pharmacy fee earned on 150 prescription only packs.
The basic liability tariffs come from public examples and in some cases already include insurance
tax.
The other figures are guide figures excluding insurance tax from our own quoting practice,
Six losses that pharmacies really experience, all on one Monday after a weekend on emergency duty. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€103,000
The medicines fridge reads 14 degrees. Vaccines, insulin and two biologics have to be discarded.
€23,000 · Paid by: Business contents
A gripper breaks and the dispensing robot stops dead. Engineer call out and spare parts.
€6,500 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
A patient is given ten times the prescribed strength of a blood thinner and is admitted to hospital with bleeding.
€45,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity
The stock management system is encrypted by ransomware and e-prescriptions cannot be retrieved. IT forensics and restoration.
€16,000 · Paid by: Cyber insurance
An elderly customer trips on the step at the entrance and breaks her wrist.
€7,000 · Paid by: Business liability
Pulling out of a parking space, the delivery car clips a cyclist's back wheel and the cyclist falls.
€5,500 · Paid by: Fleet insurance
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €103,000
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Choose at least 5 million euros of cover for bodily injury; a single serious dispensing error can lead to a pension payable for life.
Have compounding, batch production, care home supply and blister packing named in the policy if you offer them.
Insure refrigerated stock with its own limit and check whether a temperature alarm is a condition of cover.
Ask about cover for Retaxation clawbacks and check carefully which cases it includes, because many exclusions are standard.
Include loss of income after a cyber attack: without stock management and e-prescriptions, dispensing comes to a halt.
If you sell through your own website, make sure you hold the transit insurance that the Apothekengesetz (Pharmacy Act) requires for mail order.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We compare pharmacy policies
Professional liability, cold storage and cyber cover are shaped differently by every insurer. As a broker we set several quotes side by side so you can compare cover and premium.
We know claims from the inside
We handle boat claims ourselves. After a fridge failure we know that the temperature log, the batch list and purchase prices decide how much you are paid.
Pharmacy and family with one contact
Your dispensary, branches, delivery service, your team's pensions and your own cover are looked after together, on +49 3375 29 12 77.
Family owned since 1989
Pharmacies are often run over generations, and so are we. Our advice costs you nothing; the insurer pays for it.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Is professional liability insurance compulsory for pharmacists?
The professional codes of the regional chambers of pharmacists require pharmacists to hold
adequate liability cover.
Each federal state sets out the details itself.
What does liability insurance cost for a pharmacy?
Basic tariffs start at around 125 euros a year.
With compounding, care home supply or mail order and higher limits,
a few hundred to over a thousand euros is usual.
Are employed pharmacists covered through the pharmacy?
For their work in your pharmacy, usually yes, through the owner's policy.
For locum work in other pharmacies or side jobs they need their own professional liability cover.
Will insurance pay for spoiled refrigerated stock?
Only if cold storage or spoilage cover is included.
Make sure the limit is high enough for expensive individual medicines too.
Does a pharmacy need cyber insurance?
It is strongly recommended.
A pharmacy processes health data and is connected to the national health data network;
an outage stops dispensing.
Is our delivery service covered?
Delivery mistakes fall under professional liability,
accidents with the vehicle under motor insurance.
If staff use their own cars for deliveries, that should be arranged separately.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Pharmacy
The recommended covers are ticked.
Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.
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We will be in touch within one working day. If it is urgent: +49 3375 29 12 77.
