Business liability
Covers injury and property damage during installation and groundworks; adequate limits for utility strikes and damage to things you work on are what matter.
Insurance broker / Business types / IT, media and creative
Insurance for network operators, providers and fibre installers in Germany
A digger hits the gas main while laying fibre, a router update knocks out 3,000 connections, an attacker reads out customer data. In telecoms a single error can hit many people at once. This page shows what cover is needed for that and roughly what it costs.
The question almost everyone asks first
Are we liable if our customers have no internet for a day because of a fault?
Towards consumers, liability for financial loss is capped per customer under the German Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz); towards business customers, whatever the contract says applies. If the cause is your mistake, such as a wrong configuration, claims for lost sales can follow. IT or financial loss liability covers these, not standard public liability.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Utility strikes in groundworks
Trenching and directional drilling hit power, gas and water lines. On top of the repair, utility operators claim outage and follow on costs.
- 02
Outages caused by mistakes
A faulty update, a wrongly set route, a disconnected cable: business customers lose sales and want compensation.
- 03
Cyber attacks
Providers are attractive targets. Attacks on customer data, DDoS and ransomware hit operations and data protection at the same time.
- 04
Working at height
Masts, roofs and ladders: engineers fall, tools drop onto passers by or cars.
- 05
Kit in the field
Street cabinets, radio links and server rooms are damaged by lightning, water, accidents and vandalism.
- 06
Copper and tools
Cable drums, fusion splicers and test equipment on sites and in vans are stolen regularly.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Strongly advised
Professional indemnity
IT and financial loss liability pays when customers lose sales because of your mistakes in the network or services.
Cyber insurance
Covers attacks on the network, customer data and billing, including forensics, notifications and business interruption.
Electronic equipment
Replaces network equipment, servers, radio links and test gear after lightning, power surges, water and operating errors.
Business interruption
Protects income if a data centre or equipment site is out of action after physical damage.
Depends on the business
Machinery breakdown
Covers directional drilling rigs, mini diggers and cable pulling machines used in network build.
Fleet insurance
Installation vans are stores on wheels; from three vehicles a fleet policy pays off.
Group accident insurance
Extra protection for engineers who work at height and on the roads.
What it costs: example prices
The range is wide: a small phone system installer pays little, a fibre builder doing groundworks much more. What matters is turnover, activity, the limit for utility strikes and the number of customers served.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Professional indemnity | IT and financial loss liability for a freelance network specialist | about €300 to €2,800 a year |
| Business liability | Fibre installation with five staff and some groundworks, €5 million limit | about €1,500 to €4,000 a year |
| Cyber insurance | Regional provider with 5,000 customers, €1 million limit | about €1,500 to €4,000 a year |
| Electronic equipment | Network and server equipment worth €200,000 | about €1,000 to €2,500 a year |
| Machinery breakdown | Directional drilling rig worth €150,000 | about €1,200 to €2,200 a year |
For comparison: A small fibre installer's public liability costs about as much a year as ten to twenty finished, spliced home connections bring in.
Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026. The IT liability figure comes from publicly quoted comparison values, the machinery figures are based on published rates for mobile plant, and the other values are guide figures from our own quoting work.
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Service
For: Phone systems, network engineering and service without groundworks
- Business liability
- Professional indemnity
- Electronic equipment
Together about €800 to €2,500 a year
Request this package02
Network build
For: Fibre and cable construction with groundworks, vehicles and machinery
- Business liability
- Professional indemnity
- Machinery breakdown
- Fleet insurance
- Group accident insurance
Together about €6,000 to €18,000 a year
Request this package03
Provider
For: Regional network operator or provider with its own network and end customers
- Business liability
- Professional indemnity
- Cyber insurance
- Electronic equipment
- Business interruption
- Fleet insurance
Together about €8,000 to €25,000 a year
Request this packageThe worst day in network operations
Six events of the kind telecoms businesses really experience, all on one Tuesday. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€143,400
-
Directional drilling strikes a medium voltage cable. A business park is without power for hours.
-
A faulty firmware update takes 40 business customers offline for a day. Two claim lost sales.
-
An engineer on a mast drops a spanner, which hits the windscreen of a parked car.
-
A DDoS attack with a ransom demand knocks out the customer portal and billing.
-
Lightning strikes a radio link site and destroys the antenna and equipment.
-
A fusion splicer and test equipment are stolen from the site container.
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 damage to underground lines included at the full limit, not just a small sub limit.
- Financial losses from outages belong in separate IT or financial loss liability, matched to your customer contracts.
- Check that your limitation of liability towards business customers has been validly agreed; it lowers both risk and premium.
- Damage to other people's buildings, roofs and installations you work on must be written into the policy, otherwise in house wiring jobs are not covered.
- Insure field equipment sites against lightning, power surges and vandalism under an electronics policy.
- Ask subcontractors in network build for proof of liability cover before they set foot on your site.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We know the sub limits
Utility strikes, damage to things you work on, financial loss from outages: the differences hide in subordinate clauses. As a broker we compare several insurers line by line.
Claims experience from our own settlements
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves. We know how to document a cable strike and its follow on costs properly.
Business, fleet and staff in one place
We coordinate liability, machinery, vehicles, group accident and company pensions with each other.
Family run since 1989
Our work is free for you; the insurer pays our commission. You have named contacts, even when things are urgent on site.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Do telecoms companies need compulsory insurance?
Not by law. But during network build, local authorities, network operators and main contractors almost always demand public liability with specific limits.
Does public liability cover damage to other people's lines?
In principle yes, but often only up to a sub limit and with a higher excess. For groundworks the full limit should apply.
Who pays if customers lose sales because of a fault?
If you are liable, financial loss liability. Public liability does not cover such pure financial losses.
Is a DDoS attack covered?
Under a cyber policy usually yes, including business interruption and the costs of defence and communication. Check how long the outage has to last before it pays.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?
For telecoms companies the BG Verkehr, for electrical and installation firms usually the BG ETEM. The statutory accident insurer decides which applies once you register.
What does insurance for a small fibre installer cost?
With liability, financial loss, machinery, vehicles and group accident usually €6,000 to €18,000 a year, depending on the share of groundworks.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Telecommunications
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
Do I need IT liability and cyber insurance, or is one enough?
Will the insurer pay if a cable fire breaks out months after my job?
Who pays if we hit a power cable while digging and an industrial estate loses power?
Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 61.10 Leitungsgebundene, drahtlose und satellitengestützte Telekommunikation
- 61.20 Wiederverkaufs- und Vermittlungstätigkeiten für die Telekommunikation
- 61.90 Sonstige Telekommunikation
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