01
Small BU inside the contents policy
Sum equal to the contents sum, twelve months, same perils. Simple and often sufficient for small firms.
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Business interruption insurance in Germany: keeping the business alive after a loss
Business interruption insurance pays your lost profit and ongoing costs when an insured physical loss stops or slows down your business. In Germany it is called Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung, often shortened to BU, which is easy to confuse with the personal disability insurance of the same abbreviation. The concept is close to UK gross profit cover, the details are German.
The question almost everyone asks first
What does business interruption insurance pay in Germany?
It pays the operating profit you lose and the fixed costs that keep running, such as salaries, rent, leasing and interest, while the business is interrupted after insured physical damage. Typical triggers are fire, water from pipes, storm or burglary on your premises. Payments run until the business is back to normal or the indemnity period ends, usually after twelve months. Losses without physical damage, such as illness or a weak market, are not covered.
Do the maths
The downtime clock
After a fire the building is replaced in weeks. Customers take longer to come back. Wages, rent and loans keep running, every day.
Months counted as 30 days.
No physical damage, no claim
German business interruption cover follows property damage. If your premises burn down, the policy pays. If your only supplier burns down, the power grid fails or the authorities close your restaurant for hygiene reasons, the standard policy does not, because nothing of yours was damaged.
Extensions exist for suppliers and customers (Rückwirkungsschäden), for failure of public utilities and, as a separate product, for closure orders under the Infection Protection Act (Betriebsschließungsversicherung). The pandemic court cases in Germany showed how much depends on the exact wording of such cover.
Setting the sum insured
The sum insured is your expected operating profit plus fixed costs for one year, or for the full indemnity period if it is longer. Your tax adviser (Steuerberater) can derive it from the profit and loss account: turnover minus variable costs such as materials and goods purchased.
Use expected figures, not last year's. A growing company insured on historic numbers is underinsured, and the proportional reduction under § 75 VVG applies here too. Good wordings waive underinsurance up to a margin or refund premium if the actual figure turns out lower.
How long is long enough?
The indemnity period starts on the day of the loss. Twelve months is often enough for an office that can move to temporary space. A manufacturer with its own building and special machinery with long delivery times may need 18 or 24 months, plus time to win back customers.
Smaller businesses often buy a simple version inside their contents policy (Klein-BU), where the business interruption sum equals the contents sum. That is cheap and convenient, but check whether that figure matches your real annual profit and costs.
What is covered
- Lost operating profit during the interruption
- Continuing costs such as salaries, rent, leasing and interest
- Interruption after fire, lightning or explosion
- Interruption after water, storm, hail or burglary, if agreed
- Costs to reduce the loss, such as temporary premises
- Extra costs of keeping the business running
- Losses caused by damage at named suppliers or customers, if included
What is not covered
- Losses without physical damage, such as recession, strikes or illness
- Closures ordered by authorities for infection control
- Cyber incidents without physical damage
- Machinery breakdown unless machinery interruption is added
- Delays caused by lack of funds for rebuilding
- Contractual penalties owed to customers
Who needs it
- Manufacturers relying on machinery that cannot be replaced quickly
- Trade businesses with a workshop and staff
- Restaurants and hotels with high fixed costs
- Retailers with long commercial leases
- Medical practices and laboratories
Who can do without
- Freelancers without premises, whose bigger risk is their own illness
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
- Fire shuts the workshop for 8 months, six figures, more for larger firms. Budget policy: pays, Strong policy: pays. Physical damage on your premises, followed by lost profit and running costs: the textbook claim.
- Sole supplier's plant burns down, weeks or months of lost sales. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays. No damage at your site means no claim under basic cover. Supplier extensions (Rückwirkungsschäden) close that gap.
- Grid failure across the business park, a few thousand euros a day, depending on size. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays in part. Strong policies add public utility failure, capped and usually after a waiting period.
- Rebuild takes 20 months, not 12, eight months without cover. Budget policy: pays in part, Strong policy: pays. A twelve month indemnity period simply ends. With 24 months the remaining time is covered.
- Health authority closes the kitchen, days or weeks of revenue. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: does not pay. No physical damage, no business interruption claim. Closure orders need separate closure insurance.
- Police cordon after fire next door, a few days of lost trade. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays in part. Your premises are intact, so basic cover does not pay. Some wordings include denial of access for a short period.
What it costs
The premium follows the sum insured, the indemnity period and the fire risk of your business. A small business interruption element inside a contents policy costs far less than a standalone policy. There are no reliable published price ranges.
What drives the premium
- Sum insured: profit plus fixed costs
- Length of the indemnity period
- Type of business and fire risk
- Dependence on key machines, suppliers or customers
- Perils included and extensions
- Time deductible, for example the first 24 or 48 hours
Premiums depend too much on sum and business type for meaningful averages. Your premium is known once we have a quote.
The policy levels on the market
02
Standalone fire and multi-peril BU
Own sum from your accounts, indemnity period of your choice, water, storm and burglary included.
03
All risks BU with dependencies
Covers interruptions from any non-excluded damage, plus suppliers, customers and utilities.
How to recognise a good policy
| Criterion | Minimum standard | Strong policy | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indemnity period | 12 months | 18 to 24 months or based on recovery time | Rebuilding and regaining customers often takes more than a year. |
| Underinsurance waiver | none | waiver up to an agreed margin | Growth quickly makes last year's figures too low. |
| Supplier and customer extension | excluded | named and unnamed suppliers and customers | Many businesses stop because someone else has a fire. |
| Public utilities | excluded | power, gas, water and telecoms with a sub-limit | A fire at a substation can stop a whole industrial estate. |
| Extra costs | only loss mitigation costs | own limit for temporary premises and outsourcing | Staying operational keeps customers from leaving. |
| Time deductible | several days | 24 to 48 hours at most | For short interruptions, the deductible decides whether anything is paid. |
Insurers on the German market
Business interruption in Germany is written by the same property insurers that cover contents and buildings, often in the same contract. Larger sums and supply chain covers are the domain of industrial and broker-focused insurers. This list is a market overview.
| Insurer | Background |
|---|---|
| Allianz | BU as extension or standalone |
| AXA | commercial property with BU options |
| HDI | Talanx group, mid-sized firms and professions |
| R+V | mid-market customers |
| Zurich | commercial and industrial customers |
| Helvetia | property and engineering lines through brokers |
| Mannheimer | part of the Continentale group, trade-specific schemes |
| HDI Global | industrial insurer of the Talanx group |
From the BaFin register
95
95 insurers supervised by BaFin, the German regulator, are licensed for this class of insurance. (Finanzielle Verluste, Gewinnausfall)
Show all 95 names from the register
- ADLER Versicherung AG
- Allcura Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE
- Allianz Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Alte Leipziger Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Ambra Versicherung AG
- andsafe Aktiengesellschaft
- ARAG Allgemeine Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- ARAG SE
- AXA Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Baloise Sachversicherung Aktiengesellschaft Deutschland
- Bayerische Landesbrandversicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Bayerischer Versicherungsverband Versicherungsaktiengesellschaft
- Bergische Brandversicherung Allgemeine Feuerversicherung V.a.G.
- BGV-Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- CONSTANTIA Versicherungen a.G.
- DARAG Deutschland AG
- Debeka Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft Sitz Koblenz am Rhein
- Delvag Versicherungs-AG
- Deutsche Assistance Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- DEVK Allgemeine Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Dialog Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Die Haftpflichtkasse VVaG
- Dolleruper Freie Brandgilde
- ERGO Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- EXTREMUS Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Feuersozietät Berlin Brandenburg Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- GARANTA Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Gartenbau-Versicherung VVaG
- Generali Deutschland Versicherung AG
- Gothaer Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Gothaer Versicherungsbank VVaG
- Great Lakes Insurance SE
- GRUNDEIGENTÜMER-VERSICHERUNG Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit
- GVV-Kommunalversicherung, Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit
- Hamburger Feuerkasse Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- HanseMerkur Allgemeine Versicherung AG
- HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG
- HDI Global SE
- HDI Global Specialty SE
- HDI Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit
- HDI Versicherung AG
- Helvetia Schweizerische Versicherungsgesellschaft AG Direktion für Deutschland
- Helvetia Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- HUK-COBURG-Allgemeine Versicherung AG
- Hübener Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- INTER Allgemeine Versicherung AG
- Interlloyd Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- InterRisk Versicherungs-AG Vienna Insurance Group.
- ISSELHORSTER Versicherung V.a.G.
- KRAVAG-LOGISTIC Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- Landschaftliche Brandkasse Hannover
- Lifestyle Protection AG
- Lippische Landesbrandversicherung AG
- Lucura Versicherungs AG
- LVM Landwirtschaftlicher Versicherungsverein Münster a.G.
- Mannheimer Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Markel Insurance SE
- Mecklenburgische Versicherungs-Gesellschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit
- MVK Versicherung VVaG
- MÜNCHENER VEREIN Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG
- Neuendorfer Brand-Bau-Gilde
- Newline Europe Versicherung AG
- NV-Versicherungen VVaG
- NÜRNBERGER Allgemeine Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft
- OKV - Ostdeutsche Kommunalversicherung auf Gegenseitigkeit
- Ostangler Brandgilde, Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit (VVaG)
- OSTBEVERNER Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit (VVaG)
- Pallas Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Provinzial Nord Brandkasse Aktiengesellschaft
- Provinzial Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- R+V Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- RheinLand Versicherungs Aktiengesellschaft
- Rhion Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Schleswiger Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit
- SHB Allgemeine Versicherung VVaG
- SIGNAL IDUNA Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Sparkassen-Versicherung Sachsen Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- SV SparkassenVersicherung Gebäudeversicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- uniVersa Allgemeine Versicherung AG
- Vereinigte Hagelversicherung VVaG
- Vereinigte Tierversicherung, Gesellschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit
- Versicherer im Raum der Kirchen Sachversicherung AG
- Versicherungskammer Bayern Versicherungsanstalt des öffentlichen Rechts
- VHV Allgemeine Versicherung AG
- VOLKSWOHL-BUND SACHVERSICHERUNG AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
- VPV Allgemeine Versicherungs-AG
- Waldenburger Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- WGV-Versicherung AG
- WWK Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Württembergische Gemeinde-Versicherung auf Gegenseitigkeit
- Württembergische Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft
- Würzburger Versicherungs-AG
- Zurich Insurance Europe AG
- Öffentliche Feuerversicherung Sachsen-Anhalt
Source: BaFin company database, retrieved 18 September 2026. Insurers from other EU countries selling through a branch or without a German office are not included.
Legal basis and sources
Products and add-ons
Small BU (Klein-BU)
Built into the contents policy, sum tied to the contents value.
Fire business interruption
The classic standalone cover after fire, lightning and explosion, extendable to further perils.
Machinery and electronics BU
Pays lost income after a technical breakdown that fire BU does not cover.
Supplier and customer extension
Covers interruptions caused by damage at businesses you depend on.
Extra costs insurance
Pays the cost of continuing operations instead of lost profit, suited to offices and data centres.
Myth or truth
True or false?
Five things people say about this insurance. Guess first, then see the answer.
Premiums for business interruption cover are tax deductible in Germany.
This is true.
Yes, they are a business expense. The flip side: any payout counts as business income and is taxed.
A business interruption payout is tax free because it replaces a loss.
This is false.
No, it replaces profit and costs, and profit is taxable. Plan for that when you look at cash flow after a loss.
The indemnity period ends when you reopen.
This is false.
No, it runs from the date of the loss for the agreed period. Lower sales after reopening are still covered until it ends.
The insurer compares your result with what you would have earned, not with last year.
This is true.
True, the benchmark is the expected result without the loss, including growth and seasonality. Clean monthly figures make that easy to show.
Working from temporary premises reduces your payout, so it pays to wait.
This is false.
Wrong. You are obliged to limit the loss, and the insurer pays the extra costs of temporary premises as far as they reduce the interruption.
Common mistakes
- Confusing Betriebsunterbrechung with Berufsunfähigkeit, both abbreviated BU
- Insuring last year's figures in a fast-growing business
- Choosing twelve months when special machinery takes a year to arrive
- Expecting cover for illness of the owner or official closures
- Adding flood to the property policy but not to business interruption
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Is BU in Germany the same as disability insurance?
No, the abbreviation is used for both. Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung protects the business after physical damage. Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung is personal income protection if you can no longer work in your profession. Always check which one a document refers to.
Does business interruption pay if I am ill?
Standard German business interruption does not, because there is no physical damage. For practices and small firms there are separate products that cover fixed costs during the owner's illness, sometimes called Praxisausfallversicherung.
Are my employees' salaries covered?
Yes, salaries are continuing costs and are paid as long as employment continues. That means you can keep your team through the interruption and restart with the same people.
Does it cover a power cut?
Only if insured damage on your premises caused it or failure of public utilities has been added. A general grid failure without damage at your site is not covered by the standard wording.
What records do I need for a claim?
Management accounts, previous years' figures, current monthly results and order books. The insurer compares expected and actual results. Clean, up-to-date bookkeeping speeds up settlement considerably.
Was COVID-19 covered by business interruption in Germany?
Not under standard property-based business interruption, since there was no physical damage. Disputes concerned separate business closure policies, and the outcome depended on the exact wording. New closure policies are now worded much more narrowly.
Can I choose a longer indemnity period later?
Yes, at renewal or by agreement during the year, subject to the insurer's approval and an adjusted sum insured. It cannot be extended after a loss has happened.
Does a cyber attack trigger business interruption cover?
Not under the property-based policy, because data encryption is not physical damage. Cyber insurance includes its own business interruption section for that case.
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Often goes with it
Is business contents insurance required in Germany?
Do I need buildings insurance for a commercial property in Germany?
Isn't machinery already covered by my business contents insurance?
Why do I need electronic equipment insurance if I have contents insurance?
Do I need cyber insurance for my company in Germany?
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