Insurance for vehicle builders, coachbuilders and boatyards in Germany
Trailer, special body, motorhome or sailing yacht: whatever you build will later move with people inside it. A fault on an axle, a brake or a hull fitting then becomes an accident, and if it is in the series, a recall. This page explains how vehicle builders and boatyards in Germany protect themselves, and why for boats we are more than a broker.
Who pays if a customer's boat or vehicle is damaged in our hall?
General liability often covers other people's property that you work on or look after only in part, or not at all. Damage during work and damage to property in your care must be expressly included, with a sum of their own if values are high. For boats there is another point: many owners have hull insurance, which pays and then takes recourse against you. For boats we are an underwriting agency ourselves and know these cases from settling claims.
What goes wrong in this trade
01
Faults in safety critical parts
A badly welded tow hitch, a wrongly fitted brake line, a leaking seacock connection: faults like these end with people injured.
02
Recall across a series
If a fault turns up on several vehicles, every keeper must be informed and the vehicles put right, often under the supervision of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt).
03
Fire in the hall
Resins, paints, sanding dust and welding make body building and boat building a fire risk. Customers' vehicles and boats then burn too.
04
Test drives and transfers
Accidents on trade plates, during delivery runs or on the first outing of a new boat.
05
Valuable property in your care
Motorhomes, classic cars and yachts in conversion or winter storage are often worth more than your own hall.
06
Laminate and solvents
Styrene, epoxy and paints strain the airways and skin. Occupational illness is a real issue in boat building.
In vehicle and boat building, premiums depend on whether you build one offs or series, whether your products go on the road or on the water, and how many customers' vehicles and boats stand at your premises.
Insurance
Example
Typical range
Business liability
Small body, trailer or boat building firm up to €500,000 turnover
around €500 to €1,800 a year
Business liability
Body manufacturer or boatyard with 30 staff, extended product liability and damage to property in your care
around €4,000 to €12,000 a year
Business contents
Workshop, moulds and projects under construction worth €1.5 million
around €2,000 to €5,000 a year
Car insurance
Trade plate for test drives and transfers
around €300 to €1,200 a year
Machinery breakdown
Paint booth, lifting gear and mill with a new value of €400,000
around €1,500 to €3,500 a year
For comparison: Liability and contents insurance for a small boat builder cost about as much a year as antifouling and craning for three sailing yachts.
Guide figures excluding German insurance tax, as of September 2026,
from published tariff examples for comparable manufacturing firms and our own quoting.
Trade plate premiums depend heavily on claims history and region.
Hull insurance for finished boats is not included.
Six losses that happen at vehicle and boat builders, put together on one day just before the season starts. Tap through and see who pays.
Damage so far€646,500
A strap on the travel lift snaps and a customer's boat drops a metre onto the cradle. Hull and keel are damaged.
€48,000 · Paid by: Business liability
On a test drive with trade plates, an employee runs into the back of a small car.
€9,500 · Paid by: Car insurance
The axle bolts on 40 delivered trailers are too weak. Recall and repair.
€36,000 · Paid by: Business liability
The paint booth extraction fails with a motor fault, and the booth is out for two weeks.
€11,000 · Paid by: Machinery breakdown
On the low loader to the boat show a support breaks and the display boat's hull is damaged.
€22,000 · Paid by: Cargo insurance
Resin ignites during laminating. The hall, the moulds and two hulls under construction burn.
€520,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €646,500
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
Include damage to customers' vehicles and boats during work and in your care, with a sum that matches the most valuable object in your hall.
For boat building: clarify when the risk passes to the customer, and whether boats under construction are insured as your own goods or as customer property.
Agree recall costs as a separate block if you build series; liability insurance does not pay for recalls.
Check trade plates and transfer runs for who may drive and for trips abroad.
Insure moulds and tooling at new value; a new hull mould often costs more than a whole boat.
If you take boats into winter storage, custody, crane work and fire in the hall belong together in the policy.
Why NAMMERT for your business
For boats we are an underwriting agency
We design our own boat insurance and handle the claims ourselves. We know what hull damage costs, how a surveyor calculates and when a hull insurer takes recourse against the yard.
A broker for everything else
We compare liability, workshop, motor and machinery cover across several insurers and put the wordings side by side.
Yard, vehicles and customers' boats together
Gaps open up between the yard, transport and the owner's hull cover. We look after all sides and know where they meet.
A family business since 1989
One fixed contact who knows both the yard and the water, and who speaks English. Free for you; the insurer pays our commission.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Does a boatyard need special insurance?
Yes.
Besides liability and contents, there is damage to customers' boats in your care, crane work,
winter storage and boats under construction.
Standard workshop policies often do not cover this.
Do trade plates need insurance?
Yes.
Trips on trade plates need motor liability,
which usually runs under a separate policy for the plate.
Who pays for a recall of trailers or bodies?
Only recall insurance.
Product liability pays once someone has actually been harmed.
What does insurance cost for a small boat builder?
Liability, contents and a trade plate usually cost small firms between €1,200 and €3,500 a year,
depending on the value of customers' boats in the hall.
Can you also insure our customers' boats?
Yes.
For boats we are an underwriting agency.
Your customers can insure their boat with us,
and after a loss the yard and the insurer speak the same language.
Which Berufsgenossenschaft is responsible?
For vehicle and boat building it is usually the BG Holz und Metall,
the statutory accident insurer for wood and metal.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Vehicle and boat building
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.
