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Insurance for textile printing, embroidery and garment decoration in Germany

A hundred club shirts with the wrong logo, an embroidery machine with a bent hook, a parcel of workwear that never arrives: in garment decoration the losses are rarely huge, but they often involve goods that are not yours. Here is how screen printing, transfer printing and embroidery businesses in Germany protect themselves and what it costs.

Insurance for textile printing and embroidery businesses

The question almost everyone asks first

Who pays if I misprint my customer's shirts?

No insurance pays for redoing your own work. For the ruined garments your customer supplied, business liability can pay if processing damage is included. If you bought the blanks yourself, the loss stays with you.

What goes wrong in this trade

  1. 01

    Customer goods ruined

    Wrong colour, misplaced design, curing too hot: supplied jerseys or workwear can no longer be used.

  2. 02

    Machine breakdown

    Embroidery heads, carousel, dryer and heat press run flat out in peak season. A fault before a club event costs orders.

  3. 03

    Dryer fire

    Tunnel dryers and flash cure units run hot, and solvents and cleaning rags burn easily.

  4. 04

    Other people's brands

    A customer supplies a design that belongs to someone else. Warning letters often reach the printer too.

  5. 05

    Shipping and collection

    Parcels of finished workwear get lost or damaged and the customer wants compensation.

  6. 06

    Data and web shop

    Customer logos, print files and your web shop sit on computers that an attack can lock.

Risk radar
Liability 3Fire and water 4Theft 3Cyber 3Downtime 3Health 2

Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.

The insurance you need

Essential

Business liability

With processing damage to supplied garments and product liability for goods you sell yourself.

Business contents

Replaces embroidery machines, print carousel, dryer, blanks and customer goods after fire, water, storm and burglary.

Strongly advised

Machinery breakdown

For breakdown of embroidery machines, presses and print equipment through operator error or short circuit.

Business legal expenses

Helps in disputes over complaints and payments. Whether trade mark and copyright disputes are included varies between policies.

Depends on the business

Cargo insurance

For goods in your own vehicle and in the post when the parcel carrier's liability is limited.

What it costs: example prices

Textile printing and embroidery are usually inexpensive to insure. Machine values, the value of customer goods on site and whether you run your own web shop matter most.

InsuranceExampleTypical range
Business liabilitySmall embroidery or print shop, turnover up to €200,000, including processing damageabout €150 to €350 a year
Business contentsMachines and stock worth €120,000about €300 to €800 a year
Machinery breakdownTwo multi head embroidery machines worth €60,000 togetherabout €400 to €900 a year
Business legal expensesSmall business with contract and employment legal expensesabout €350 to €800 a year
Cyber insuranceWeb shop, €100,000 sum insuredabout €400 to €1,000 a year

For comparison: Liability and contents cover for a small embroidery shop costs about as much a year as two dozen embroidered polo shirts.

Guide figures from our own quoting work, excluding German insurance premium tax, October 2026.

We obtain the exact premium from several insurers.

The sources below support the legal statements.

Sources of the price examples

Our suggestions: three packages

01

Bench

For: One person business with a heat press or one embroidery machine

  • Business liability
  • Business contents

Together about €400 to €900 a year

Request this package

02

Print shop

For: Screen printing and embroidery with a few staff and corporate customers

  • Business liability
  • Business contents
  • Machinery breakdown
  • Business legal expenses

Together about €1,200 to €2,800 a year

Request this package

03

Decorator with web shop

For: Garment decoration with online shop, shipping and several machines

  • Business liability
  • Business contents
  • Machinery breakdown
  • Cyber insurance
  • Cargo insurance
  • Business interruption

Together about €2,800 to €6,000 a year

Request this package

The worst day in garment decoration

Six losses from screen printing and embroidery, squeezed into the Friday before the city run. Tap through and see who pays.

Damage so far€67,800
  1. The hook of an embroidery head breaks; the machine stands and the engineer can only come in three days.

    €3,200 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown

  2. 250 supplied running shirts were cured with the press too hot and show shiny marks.

    €4,500 · Paid by: Business liability

  3. A competitor sends a warning letter: the design your customer supplied infringes his trade mark.

    €3,800 · Paid by: Business legal expenses

  4. A parcel with 80 embroidered jackets for a trade business disappears in transit.

    €4,800 · Paid by: Cargo insurance

  5. Cleaning rags next to the dryer ignite; print room and store are covered in soot.

    €45,000 · Paid by: Business contents

  6. Ransomware encrypts the web shop and the week's orders are gone.

    €6,500 · Paid by: Cyber insurance

Which package would you have had?

Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €67,800

Illustrative amounts before any excess.

What is paid depends on the policy terms.

Practical tips from your broker

  1. Include processing damage to supplied garments in your liability policy and set the limit by your largest order.
  2. Insure customer goods in your store under contents cover; they are not automatically included.
  3. Ask customers to confirm in writing that they hold the rights to supplied designs.
  4. Check whether your legal expenses policy covers trade mark and copyright; many exclude it.
  5. Keep cleaning rags in closed metal bins and away from dryers.
  6. Check your parcel carrier's liability limit and insure valuable shipments separately.

Why NAMMERT for your business

Customer goods properly included

Processing damage and third party property are the typical gaps in this trade. We watch for them and compare several insurers.

Independent broker

Cover is arranged by Norman Nammert as an insurance broker, not tied to any insurer, and explained in English.

Family business since 1989

Business, vehicle and private cover in one place. Free for you; the insurer pays our commission.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and answers

What insurance does an embroidery business need?

Business liability with processing damage and contents insurance for machines and goods.

With expensive multi head machines, machinery cover is worth it.

Are misprinted customer garments covered?

Garments supplied by the customer can be covered through processing damage in your liability

policy.

Your own labour and blanks you bought are not insured.

What does insurance for textile printing cost?

Small businesses usually pay about €400 to €900 a year for liability and contents.

That is a guide figure from our quoting work.

Am I liable if a customer's design infringes someone's trade mark?

Warning letters can reach the printer as well.

A written rights confirmation from the customer helps,

and suitable legal expenses cover can pay lawyers' fees if this area is included.

Do I need a master craftsman certificate for an embroidery shop?

No.

Embroiderers are part of the textile designers in Annex B of the Crafts Code,

the licence free crafts.

Am I liable for shirts I sell under my own name?

If you are the manufacturer of the goods,

you are liable under the Product Liability Act for injury and property damage caused by defects,

even without fault.

Product liability within your business policy covers such claims.

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request quotes for Textile printing

The recommended covers are ticked.

Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Business liability insurance in Germany (Betriebshaftpflicht)

For example electrical installation in homes, café with outdoor seating, online shop for furniture

For example work at clients' sites, own products, exports to the US, parent company abroad

Business legal expenses insurance in Germany (Firmenrechtsschutz)

For example plumbing business, tax practice, online shop for electronics

Existing disputes cannot be insured, but knowing about them helps us advise you

Business contents insurance in Germany (Inhaltsversicherung)

For example café with bakery, accounting firm, car repair shop

At purchase price, 0 if no stock

For example flood cover, customer property, tools in vehicles, loss of income

Machinery breakdown insurance in Germany

Today's price for equivalent new machines including freight and installation

For example machine list, leasing, security measures, previous claims

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Related trades

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Will insurance pay if we receive a cease and desist letter over an image?

Boat or yacht? NAMMERT has its own cover concepts for boats, arranged by the same broker.

Boat insurance

Your broker: Norman Nammert, trading as NAMMERT.

Insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act.

Broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH is a separate company.

It does not arrange your contract.

Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated