Professional indemnity
Professional indemnity pays when a translation or interpreting error costs your client money.
Insurance broker / Business types / Professional services
Insurance for translators, interpreters and translation agencies in Germany
One wrong word in a user manual, a transposed figure in a contract, a misunderstood sentence in the negotiating room: translation errors are rarely noticed at once, but then they are printed, signed or taken to court. Protection against them is inexpensive in this profession. This page explains what you need and what it costs.
The question almost everyone asks first
Is insurance worth it if my jobs are small?
Yes, because the loss has nothing to do with your fee. You might earn 80 euros for a page of an operating manual, yet a mistake in it can trigger a recall or a reprint of 10,000 brochures. Professional indemnity with 100,000 euros cover starts at around 55 euros a year; for specialist translations in medicine, engineering or law, 250,000 euros makes sense.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Errors in the manual
A mistranslated safety instruction in an operating manual can lead to accidents, recalls and liability claims against the manufacturer.
- 02
Reprints
A mistake in a catalogue, on packaging or in advertising copy is only discovered after printing. The client claims the printing costs.
- 03
Contract texts
An imprecise translation of a contract or a certificate leads to litigation, missed deadlines or invalid clauses.
- 04
Interpreting
In a doctor's consultation, in court or in negotiations a sentence is rendered wrongly. This can cause both personal injury and financial loss.
- 05
Confidentiality
Patents, business figures and patient data pass through your hands. A hacked email account or a lost laptop breaches confidentiality.
- 06
Voice and health
Interpreters live on concentration, voice and hearing. A longer absence hits freelancers who have no sick pay.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Strongly advised
Business liability
For injury and property damage on assignments, for example in the interpreting booth or at the client's office.
Cyber insurance
Helps with hacked accounts, data loss and reporting duties when you handle confidential texts and patient data.
Occupational disability
Protects your income if your voice, hearing or concentration let you down; the state pension offers the self-employed little help.
Depends on the business
Electronic equipment
Replaces laptop, headset and interpreting equipment after breakage, power surges and theft on the move.
Business legal expenses
For fee disputes with agencies and clients, which are common in the profession.
What it costs: example prices
The premium depends mainly on annual turnover and the sum insured. Specialist fields such as medicine, engineering and law, and assignments abroad, can increase it.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Professional indemnity | Translator, turnover 30,000 euros, 100,000 euros cover | around 55 to 150 euros a year |
| Professional indemnity | Medical and technical translation, turnover 120,000 euros, 250,000 euros cover | around 200 to 600 euros a year |
| Business liability | Interpreter working at clients' premises, 3 million euros cover | around 60 to 150 euros a year |
| Cyber insurance | Translation agency with three workstations | around 200 to 500 euros a year |
| Electronic equipment | Laptop, headsets and interpreting equipment worth 8,000 euros | around 80 to 250 euros a year |
For comparison: A translator's professional indemnity costs about as much a year as one or two standard pages of specialist translation.
Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026. The entry premium comes from published tariff examples, the other figures are guide values from our own quoting experience. Some professional associations offer their own group contracts; we obtain the exact quote for you.
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Freelance
For: Translator working from a home office
- Professional indemnity
Together around 55 to 150 euros a year
Request this package02
Interpreting
For: Conference, court and negotiation interpreters working on site
- Professional indemnity
- Business liability
- Electronic equipment
- Cyber insurance
Together around 400 to 900 euros a year
Request this package03
Agency
For: Translation agency with employees and medical, technical and legal work
- Professional indemnity
- Business liability
- Cyber insurance
- Electronic equipment
- Business legal expenses
Together around 900 to 2,000 euros a year
Request this packageThe worst day in a translation agency
Six things that really happen to translators and interpreters, all on a single day. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€41,800
-
A machine manufacturer calls: the French operating manual gives a wrong torque value. He has 3,000 copies reprinted.
-
A price in a furniture store's catalogue has been translated wrongly. Customers insist on the offer, and the retailer claims the difference.
-
At a conference a technician trips over the cable of your mobile interpreting system and is injured.
-
Through a hacked email account, confidential patent documents go to strangers. Forensics and notifying the client.
-
The laptop with all your terminology databases is stolen on the train.
-
An agency refuses to pay three invoices, alleging poor quality. You sue for your fee.
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
- Name every activity in the policy: translation, interpreting, proofreading, post-editing, subtitling and language teaching.
- Choose 250,000 euros cover if you translate operating manuals, medical texts, contracts or patents.
- Make sure you have worldwide cover if your translations are used abroad or you interpret abroad.
- Agree a liability cap in your terms of business, and that the client checks print approvals himself.
- Check whether your professional association's group contracts are cheaper, and compare the terms, not just the price.
- Back up terminology databases and translation memories off site; only a cyber or electronics policy pays the cost of restoring them.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We compare association contracts too
As a broker we collect quotes from several insurers and set them beside the group contracts of professional associations, so that you see terms and price side by side.
Claims are our daily work
In boat insurance we settle claims ourselves. We know how to report and document a translation error properly.
One contact for work and private life
Professional indemnity, income protection, health insurance and pension are managed for you in one place.
Family business since 1989
Free of charge for you, as the insurer pays our commission. You speak to people who know your policy.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Do translators in Germany need professional indemnity?
Not by law, but it is inexpensive and protects you against claims far larger than your fee. Many agencies now require proof of cover in their framework agreements.
What does professional indemnity for translators cost?
With 100,000 euros cover and low turnover it starts at around 55 euros a year. Specialist translators with 250,000 euros cover pay more like 200 to 600 euros.
Are sworn translators required to be insured?
No, being sworn or authorised by a German court does not require compulsory insurance. Given the weight of certified documents, it is still strongly recommended.
Am I covered when interpreting in court?
Yes, if interpreting is named in the policy. Make sure the policy does not only cover written translations.
Does the insurer pay if the client is unhappy with the quality?
No, you owe any corrections yourself. What is insured is the loss the error causes, such as printing costs or a recall.
Does the cover also apply to machine pre-translated texts?
If you check and approve the text, you are liable for it. Have post-editing explicitly included in the description of your activities.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Interpreter
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):
- 74.30 Übersetzen und Dolmetschen
Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), WZ 2025. All business types
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