Allotment garden insurance in Germany: cover for your Laube and what is inside
If you have taken on a Kleingarten or Schrebergarten in Germany, the small garden house on it, the Laube, is yours to insure. Your home contents policy usually stops at your front door. Cover comes either from a stand-alone policy called Laubenversicherung or from a group contract your garden association has arranged.
Do I need separate insurance for my German allotment garden house?
Usually yes. Things kept permanently in an allotment are generally not covered by the contents insurance for your flat, and the garden house is a building, not contents. A Laubenversicherung covers the building and what is in it against fire, burglary, storm and hail, and depending on the policy also against escape of water and vandalism. The law does not require it, but many associations ask tenants for at least fire cover. Ask your association first whether its regional federation has a group contract you can join.
The 24 square metre rule and why insurers care
Allotments in Germany are governed by the Federal Allotment Garden Act, the Bundeskleingartengesetz. Section 3 allows one simple garden house with a floor area of no more than 24 square metres, and a covered patio counts towards that figure. Its construction and fittings must not make it suitable for permanent living. The plot itself should not exceed 400 square metres.
Many policies for allotment holders are built around exactly this frame. If the house you took over is larger, has an extension the association never approved, or you spend more than weekends there, say so before you sign. Otherwise the argument after a fire is not about the fire but about whether this building was insured at all.
Group contract or your own policy
Many regional federations of garden associations have framework contracts with an insurer. The federation is the policyholder and members of affiliated associations can join. These contracts are generally cheaper than an individual policy, but the sums insured and limits are fixed and the paperwork is in German. Your association board, the Vorstand, is the first place to ask.
A policy of your own makes sense when the group contract only covers fire, when the sums are too low for a house you have refitted, or when your garden house is not on an allotment site at all. Do not assume the association has you covered: what it insures is often the shared facilities, or the buildings against fire only, and not your furniture and tools.
Fire, burglary and storm in detail
The core perils are fire, lightning and explosion, burglary including vandalism after a break-in, and storm and hail. Escape of water, power surge and glass breakage are added in some policies. Flood, heavy rain and snow load count as further natural hazards in Germany and almost always need a separate module.
With burglary the details decide. Cover applies to theft from the locked garden house, not to a barbecue lifted from the patio. Some policies require particular locks or restrict what may stay in the house over winter, when the site is empty. Read those conditions before your first winter.
What is covered
The garden house itself for fire, lightning and explosion
Storm and hail damage to roof, walls and windows
Burglary from the locked garden house
Vandalism after a break-in and forced doors, depending on the policy
Contents: furniture, garden tools and electrical equipment
Escape of water and glass breakage where agreed
Clearing and demolition costs after an insured loss
What is not covered
Simple theft from the plot without a break-in, under many policies
Flood and heavy rain without the natural hazards module
Cash, jewellery and valuables, usually excluded or tightly limited
Garden houses lived in permanently or let out, depending on the wording
Extensions and outbuildings that are not permitted or not declared
Wear, rot and lack of maintenance
Who needs it
Tenants of a German allotment with their own garden house, old or new
Anyone storing a mower, tools, furniture or electrical equipment there
New tenants who paid the previous tenant for the house when taking over
Owners of a garden house on a leisure plot away from where they live
Who does not need it
A policy of your own if the group contract of your federation covers house and contents with suitable sums
Separate cover for a shed in the garden of your own home, if buildings and contents insurance already include it
Wheel of misfortune
Spin the wheel of bad luck
Six things that really happen. The wheel picks yours and shows who pays.
Cost:
Budget policy Strong policy
See all six cases
Lightning burns the house down, rebuilding and demolition, often five figures. Budget policy: pays, Strong policy: pays. Fire and lightning are the core of every policy. What matters is whether the sum also pays for removing the ruin.
January break-in, mower gone, about €500 to €2,000. Budget policy: pays in part, Strong policy: pays. Burglary is covered. Basic policies restrict what may stay in the house over winter and reduce the payment.
Storm strips the roof, about €1,000 to €4,000. Budget policy: pays, Strong policy: pays. Storm and hail are standard. Damage to contents from rain coming in afterwards is then usually included.
Barbecue stolen from the patio, about €200 to €800. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays in part. This is simple theft without a break-in. Only policies covering items outdoors pay, and mostly up to a small limit.
Heavy rain floods the plot, soil, furniture and equipment. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays. Flooding is not a storm peril. Only the natural hazards module pays, often with a deductible of its own.
Rotten roofing felt lets rain in, repair of the roof. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: does not pay. Wear and lack of maintenance are not insured events. Keeping the roof tight remains the tenant’s job.
What it costs
This is one of the cheaper insurance contracts in Germany. The premium depends mainly on the sums insured for the house and its contents and on which perils are included. Group contracts through a federation are generally cheaper than individual ones.
Example
Typical range
Simple garden house with a low sum insured, entry-level policy
about €35 to €65 a year
Individual policy with good benefits for house and contents
about €110 to €160 a year
What drives the premium
Sum insured for the garden house
Sum insured for contents
Perils chosen: fire only or the full package
Individual policy or group contract
Deductible and natural hazards module
The ranges come from published prices and from the comparison by Stiftung Warentest, the German consumer testing body. Contents sums of €2,000 to €5,000 are common. Your premium is only fixed in the quote.
The policy levels on the market
01
Fire cover for the house
The minimum many associations ask for: the building for fire, lightning and explosion. Contents and burglary stay uninsured.
02
House and contents
Building and contents for fire, burglary, storm and hail. This is the usual scope of group contracts and individual policies.
03
Extended cover
Adds escape of water, glass, vandalism without a break-in, items left outdoors and further natural hazards, with higher sums and no reduction for underinsurance.
How to recognise a good policy
Criterion
Minimum standard
Strong policy
Why it matters
Sum insured for the house
current value of a simple timber house
rebuilding at today’s prices including demolition
After a fire the ruin has to be removed before anything is rebuilt.
Sum insured for contents
€2,000
€5,000 or more, new for old
Mowers, cordless tools and garden furniture add up quickly.
Underinsurance
applied
insurer waives the underinsurance reduction
Otherwise every claim is paid only in proportion if the sum was set too low.
Burglary and vandalism
theft from the locked house
also vandalism and damage from attempted break-ins
The broken door often costs more than what was taken.
Items outdoors
not covered
furniture, barbecue and tools on the plot up to a limit
In summer much of it stands outside, not behind a locked door.
Further natural hazards
storm and hail only
flood, heavy rain and snow load as a module
Many sites lie next to railway embankments, streams and in hollows.
Winter conditions
valuables must be removed
no special restrictions
Break-ins happen mostly when nobody is on the site.
Insurers on the German market
Some German property insurers sell allotment cover as a product of its own, others insure garden tenants through the framework contracts of the regional federations. Your association can tell you which insurer stands behind its contract. This list is a market overview, not a ranking.
Insurer
Background
Janitos
property insurer based in Heidelberg, part of the Gothaer group
Dialog
the broker insurer of Generali in Germany
Baloise
German company of the Swiss Baloise group, formerly Basler
Allianz
agents and brokers, garden cover within contents insurance
Zurich
German branch of the Swiss Zurich group
Feuersozietät
public insurer for Berlin and Brandenburg
From the BaFin register
155
155 insurers supervised by BaFin, the German regulator, are licensed for this class of insurance.
The federation is the policyholder and members join. Cheap and simple, with fixed sums.
Individual Laubenversicherung
Your own contract for house and contents with sums you choose, also for garden houses outside allotment sites.
Garden module in contents insurance
Some contents policies include items kept in an allotment as an extra. The garden house as a building is not insured this way.
Natural hazards module
Adds flood, heavy rain, backflow and snow load, often with its own deductible and waiting period.
Myth or truth
True or false?
Five things people say about this insurance. Guess first, then see the answer.
A German allotment garden house may be no larger than 24 square metres.
This is true.
Correct. Section 3 of the Federal Allotment Garden Act says so, and a covered patio counts. Older, larger houses may be protected as existing buildings, but the insurer should know.
My contents insurance pays if someone breaks into the garden house.
This is false.
Generally not. Things kept permanently in the allotment are outside the away-from-home extension. That is what allotment insurance is for.
The association has insured everything, so I need nothing.
This is false.
Usually the association’s contract covers shared facilities, or the houses against fire only. Furniture, tools and burglary are often left open.
Many associations require tenants to hold fire insurance.
This is true.
True. No statute demands it, but tenancy agreements and garden rules often do.
I can live in the garden house all summer.
This is false.
No. Under the Act the house must not be suitable for permanent living, and many policies exclude houses that are lived in.
Common mistakes
Assuming the contents policy for your flat also applies in the garden house
Relying on the association’s insurance, which often covers buildings against fire only
Never adjusting the sum insured after refitting a house you took over
Leaving expensive cordless tools in the house over winter despite restrictions in the wording
Not declaring sheds and extensions
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Is allotment insurance compulsory in Germany?
Not by law.
Many associations do require at least fire cover in the tenancy agreement or garden rules,
so that a burnt-out house can be cleared.
Your tenancy agreement, the Pachtvertrag, tells you what applies.
Does my German contents insurance pay for a break-in at the allotment?
Generally not.
The away-from-home extension of contents insurance only applies to things that are temporarily
elsewhere.
What stays in the allotment needs its own cover or an explicit garden module.
How big may the garden house be?
The Federal Allotment Garden Act allows no more than 24 square metres of floor area including a
covered patio.
Many policies for allotment holders use the same limit.
Larger garden houses on other land can be insured under policies without that restriction.
What does it cost?
Simple contracts start at around €40 a year.
In the comparison by Stiftung Warentest a low-priced policy with good benefits cost €110 a year
and one with more benefits €156.
Group contracts are usually below that.
I do not speak much German. How do I join the group contract?
Ask the board of your association for the membership form of the federation’s insurance.
The documents are in German, and a broker can go through the sums and conditions with you.
Are garden furniture and the barbecue on the patio covered?
Only if the policy includes items outdoors.
Simple theft without a break-in is excluded or limited to a small amount under many wordings.
What happens to the policy when I give up the garden?
The wording decides.
Under group contracts cover usually ends with membership.
Individual policies can be cancelled at the end of the tenancy or passed to the next tenant.
Report the change in good time.
Is flooding included?
Not automatically.
Storm and hail are part of basic cover.
Flood and heavy rain are further natural hazards and need a module that not every policy offers.
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