Professional indemnity
Pays when patients are injured by treatment, equipment or training, including home visits and treatment in care homes.
Insurance broker / Business types / Health and care
Insurance for physiotherapy, occupational therapy and massage practices in Germany
In physiotherapy you work with your hands on the body, often with people after surgery, with osteoporosis or in pain. A wrong move in manual therapy, a burn from a fango pack or a fall from a training machine can get expensive. Add home visits, equipment worth as much as a car and the question of what happens if you are out of action yourself. This page shows what you need and what it costs.
The question almost everyone asks first
Do I need professional liability insurance to be approved by the health insurers?
It is not required by law for physiotherapists, and whether the health insurers' approval body asks for proof varies. It is essential all the same: if you treat a patient after a hip operation and they fall from a training machine, you are personally liable. Hospitals, care homes and landlords ask for proof anyway.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Treatment injury
Manual therapy on the cervical spine, mobilisation after surgery, stretching with osteoporosis: injuries caused by treatment are the typical liability claim.
- 02
Heat, cold, current
Fango, hot air, ice and electrotherapy can burn the skin, especially in people with impaired sensation.
- 03
Falls in training
Treadmill, cable pull and balance training with older patients: a fall quickly ends in a fracture.
- 04
Home visits
On home visits you work in other people's flats and care homes, with other people's keys and other people's care beds.
- 05
Equipment and furnishings
Treatment couches, training equipment, ultrasound and shockwave devices easily cost €50,000 and more.
- 06
Your own body
Back, shoulders, thumbs: anyone who works with their hands for hours every day will be out of action at some point, often for good.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Occupational disability
Your body is your tool; state benefits come nowhere near enough if you can no longer work in your profession.
Strongly advised
Business contents
Replaces couches, training equipment and furnishings after fire, burst pipes, storm and burglary.
Business interruption
As practice downtime cover it keeps paying rent and salaries if the practice is idle after damage or because you are ill.
Depends on the business
Electronic equipment
Covers shockwave, ultrasound, electrotherapy and practice IT even after operating errors and power surges.
Business legal expenses
For disputes with health insurers over billing and deductions, or with your landlord or staff.
Company pension (bAV)
Therapists are scarce; a company pension helps you keep them.
What it costs: example prices
Professional liability is cheap for physiotherapists. What counts is the number of therapists, turnover, home visits, equipment based training and whether you offer additional methods such as osteopathy or work as a Heilpraktiker.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Professional indemnity | Single handed practice, around €50,000 turnover, €3 million cover | about €70 to €150 a year |
| Professional indemnity | Practice with five therapists, home visits and equipment training | about €200 to €500 a year |
| Business contents | Practice contents up to €75,000, together with the liability policy | about €100 to €250 a year on top |
| Business interruption | Practice downtime with a €200 daily rate, including illness | about €300 to €800 a year |
| Occupational disability | Age 35, €1,500 monthly pension until 67 | about €900 to €1,600 a year |
For comparison: Professional liability and practice contents cost about as much a year as ten physiotherapy sessions at the statutory health insurance rate.
Guide prices as of September 2026, based on published tariff examples and on our own quoting practice. Disability income premiums depend heavily on age and health; we obtain the exact quote for you.
Sources of the price examples
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Starter
For: self employed therapist without own premises, home visits or work in someone else's practice
- Professional indemnity
- Occupational disability
Together about €1,000 to €1,800 a year
Request this package02
Practice
For: own practice with treatment rooms, equipment and staff
- Professional indemnity
- Business contents
- Business interruption
- Occupational disability
Together about €1,500 to €3,000 a year
Request this package03
All round
For: large practice with training area, shockwave and several locations
- Professional indemnity
- Business contents
- Business interruption
- Electronic equipment
- Business legal expenses
- Occupational disability
- Company pension (bAV)
Together about €3,000 to €6,500 a year
Request this packageThe worst day in the physio practice
Six things that really happen in physiotherapy and occupational therapy practices, all on a single Tuesday. Click through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€56,300
-
A patient with osteoporosis breaks a rib during mobilisation.
-
A fango pack was too hot, and a patient with diabetes has a burn on the back.
-
On a home visit the care home's master key is lost, and the locking system is replaced.
-
The shockwave device falls off its trolley and the handpiece breaks.
-
Water from the flat above floods two treatment rooms; couches and floor are soaked.
-
The practice runs half closed for a week, appointments are lost and salaries keep running.
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 home visits, treatment in care homes and hospitals, and lost keys with at least €50,000 included expressly.
- Name every method in the policy: manual therapy, lymphatic drainage, equipment training, osteopathy, dry needling and classes.
- Choose at least €3 million for injury claims; €5 million often costs hardly more.
- Insure couches and training equipment at new value, and remember leased equipment.
- Check that practice downtime cover includes your own illness: for therapists that is more likely than a fire.
- Take out disability income cover early, while your back and shoulders still have a clean medical record.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know your methods
As a broker we compare several insurers and make sure every method you offer is in the policy, not just standard physiotherapy.
We know claims handling
In boat insurance we settle claims ourselves. We know which records the insurer wants to see after a treatment injury.
Practice and private cover together
Professional liability, practice, the car for home visits and your disability income cover sit with one contact.
Family business since 1989
Advice is free for you, as the insurer pays our commission. You speak to people who know your policy.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Is professional liability compulsory for physiotherapists in Germany?
Not by law. In practice, yes: hospitals, care homes, landlords and many partners require it, and a single treatment injury can threaten your livelihood.
How much does professional liability cost for physiotherapists?
For a single handed practice about €70 to €150 a year; for practices with several therapists, home visits and equipment training about €200 to €500.
Are employed therapists covered through the practice?
Yes, when working for the practice. Anyone treating freelance on the side, for example at a sports club or with their own patients, needs their own professional liability.
Am I covered on home visits?
Only if home visits are in the policy. Also look for lost keys and damage to other people's property, such as a care bed.
Am I insured with the BGW as a self employed therapist?
Self employed people in health professions such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy are normally insured with the BGW by law and pay a contribution for it. Doctors, dentists, psychotherapists and Heilpraktiker are exempt.
Do I need disability income insurance?
If you live from your work, yes. The state reduced earning capacity pension is low and does not look at your profession. For therapists doing physical work, private cover is particularly important.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Physiotherapy
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
Am I covered for every therapy I offer?
Am I liable if a member is injured on a machine?
How high does my professional liability cover have to be?
Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 86.95 Erbringung von physiotherapeutischen Dienstleistungen
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